UNIT-1, INTRODUCTION

Meaning & Definition of Marketing:-

Marketing is primarily concerned to the buying & selling of goods &
services. But, the marketing doesn’t include buying & selling only.
Marketing consists of all those activities required to satisfy the
consumer’s demand, needs & preferences. Actually, marketing starts
from the identification of changing customers’ needs, taste &
preferences. Thus, the research & investigation (Marketing Research) is
the starting point of marketing & remain continue till the existence of a
marketing firm. Major concern of marketing is to earn the profit by
serving & satisfying the customers. It is also a kind of social process. Its
activities are designed to meet the needs & expectations of the society.
Human society is changing rapidly over the years which include rapid
change in social values, norms & behaviors’. Hence; marketing is
becoming very complicated & competitive in these days. It is concerned
to the socio-economic development of the society because it ensures the
social & economic development of the society & the nation.

Objectives, plans, policies & programs of a marketing firm can be seen

in the elements of marketing mix i.e. product, price, place & promotion.

Point of Views

 Traditional point of view

 Modern point of view
Definitions of Marketing

1) “Marketing includes activities involved in the flow of

products/services from production to consumption.”
- Converse, Huegy & Mitchell
2) “Marketing is the process of planning & executing the
conception, pricing, promotion & distribution of ideas,
products/services to create exchanges that satisfy individuals
& organizational objectives.” - AMA

3) “Marketing is the process of discovering & translating

consumers’ needs & wants into products & services by
specification, creating demand for these products & services
& then in turn expanding these demands.” - Harry J.
Hansen
4) “The science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to
satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies
unfulfilled needs and desires.” - Philip Kotler
Marketing refers to the activities of a business related to buying and selling a
product or service. It involves finding out what consumers want and determining
whether it is possible to produce it at the right price. The company then makes and
sells it.

Understanding the Marketplace & Customer Needs

Marketing is primarily concerned to the identification of customers changing taste,

preferences, fashion & demand. Human beings have inborn needs & acquired
needs. Hence, a marketer should have the complete knowledge about the term i.e.
Needs, wants & demand.

i) Needs:- Human beings have inborn needs & acquired needs. Need for
food, cloth, shelter, water, sex etc are the inborn needs where as all other
 needs are the acquired needs. Acquired needs are copied / imitated or
learnt from other people like neighbor, friends, relatives etc. A marketer
has to identify the needs clearly.
ii) Wants: - Wants are desires for specific satisfiers of these deeper needs.
Although people’s needs are few, their wants are many. Human wants are
continually shaped & reshaped by social forces & institutions.
iii) Demand: - Demands are wants for specific products that are backed by
the ability and willingness to buy them. Wants become demands when
supported by purchasing power of the customers. Marketers influence
demand by making the product appropriate, attractive, affordable and
easy available to the target customers.

Market Offering – Products, Services & Experience

Customer's needs and wants are fulfilled through a marketing offering -some
combination of products services, information or experiences offered to a market
to satisfy needs or wants. Marketing offerings are not limited to physical products.
They also include services, activities or benefits offered for sale that are essentially
intangible and do not result in the ownership of anything. Examples include
banking, airline and hotel and tax preparation and home repair services. More
broadly, market offerings also include other entities, such as persons, places,
organization, information, and ideas. For examples, beyond promoting its banking
services, BOK runs ads asking people to denote to the Pashupati & Janaki temples.
In this case, the marketing offering is helping to run those temples smoothly

Customer Value & Satisfaction

Customer Value:-

Value refers importance/worth/usefulness of something. Customer

value is the amount of benefits which customers get from purchasing
product or services. Customer value is high if the customer gains more
benefits as compared to the costs. Just opposite, customer value is low
if the customer gets less benefit as compared to the costs. Key
dimensions to evaluate the customer value are costs, quality, service,
timely availability etc.
 # Lower cost / reasonable cost increase the customer value
# Quality product increase the customer value
# Superior level of service increase the customer value
# Timely availability of product in the market increase the customer
value

Customer Value = Total Customer Benefits – Total Customer Costs

Customer Value = Total Customer Benefits > Total Customer Costs

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:

Satisfaction is the fulfillment of one’s wishes, expectations or

needs. Satisfaction is a type of customer attitude towards the company
& its offers. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction occurs when customers
compare their pre-purchase expectation with post-purchase
performance of the product/service. Customer has some expectations
with the products that s/he is going to purchase. S/he will be satisfied
if the product meets or exceed the expectations otherwise dissatisfied.
If the product exceeds the expectation, then the customer is highly
satisfied.
In marketing, customer satisfaction is comparison between
customer’s expectation & product performance. Hence, a marketing
firm should try to create high customer satisfaction through the
development of customer value.
# Pre-Purchase Expectation
- Experimental ( as past experience )
- Social ( according to the friends & relatives )
- Commercial ( according to the medias )
- Economical ( expect some kind of economic benefits )
 # Post-Purchase Experience
- Satisfaction
- Dissatisfaction
- Delighted / highly satisfied

Customer Satisfaction = Actual Performance = Expectations

Customer Satisfaction / Delighted = Actual Performance > Expectations

Customer Dissatisfaction = Actual Performance < Expectations

Exchange Relationships

The defining characteristic of an exchange relationship is that benefits are

given with the expectation of receiving a comparable benefit in return or in
repayment for a comparable benefit received in the past. When exchange
rules are followed appropriately, each relationship member considers the
exchange to be fair. Relationships between customers and storeowners often
exemplify exchange relationships. For instance, a customer may pay a
storeowner Rs 500 for a package of paper towels. Typically, relationships
between employees and employers are also exchange relationships.

Exchange relationships are not exploitative relationships. They provide a fair

way for people to obtain many goods and services that might not be available
to them in close, communal relationships in which benefits are given to
support the other’s welfare non-contingently. Occasionally, when
interpersonal trust is low, exchange rules are applied within relationships
which are, normatively and for most individuals, communal in nature, such as
marriages and other family relationships.

Marketing Orientation
Company Orientation towards the Market Place is the principles, thoughts &
philosophy of the marketing. These orientations are those philosophies
developed by the marketers according to the requirement of the concerned
phase of the development the marketing. It denotes business philosophy,
attitude & course of business thinking. Hence, marketing companies have to
deal with the market place as per market dynamism. Followings are the
major company orientation towards the market place.
1. The Production Concept: - This production concept was introduced &
mostly practiced from the beginning of marketing activities to till 1920
A.D. This concept emphasizes the mass production that helps to
minimize the production cost. Customers demand & buy only those
products that are widely available at cheaper price. Some of the
assumptions of this concept are:
# Mass production minimizes the production cost
# Mass production ensures mass selling
# Use of improved technology for production
# Customers demand/prefer cheaper & widely available products
# Use of promotional tools is not required
# Ignores customers satisfaction

2. The Product Concept:- This concept was developed & mostly practiced
from 1920 A.D. to 1930 A.D. This concept emphasizes on the production
of quality products. According to this concept, customers not only
demand cheaper & widely available products but also prefer quality
products. It suggests improving the quality of product. Hence, this
 concept belief on the production & supply of quality products at cheaper
price. Some of the assumptions of this concept are given below.
# Consumers are conscious in the quality of products
# Consumers prefer only quality products at cheaper price
# Consumers compares the products with the competing products
# Improve the quality of products
# It ignores the customer satisfaction
# It ignores the use of promotional tools

3. The Selling Concept:- This concept was developed & mostly

practiced from 1930 A.D to 1950 A.D. This concept emphasizes to the
use of promotional tools such as advertising, personal selling, sales
promotion, publicity & public relation. Production & supply of quality
product at cheaper price didn’t fulfill the objective of marketer.
Therefore, the selling concept was developed. A marketing firm should
provide required information about the products & the institution to the
potential customers, otherwise selling of those products is impossible.
Hence, effective use of promotional tools is most essential according to
this concept. Some of the assumptions of this concept are given below.
# Aggressive use of promotion mix
# Motivation to intermediaries & customers
# Main objective is to sell large quantity of products
# Fulfill the requirement of seller
# Neglect the customers’ needs & satisfaction

4. The Modern Marketing Concept: - This concept was developed &

mostly practiced from 1950 A.D to 1970 A.D. The concept concerned to
the customer satisfaction is the modern marketing concept. Hence, this
concept emphasizes the marketing research to identify the customers
changing taste, preferences & priority. Only those marketers become
success who are involve in the production & supply of goods & services
that satisfy the customers. Integrated marketing should be followed in
this concept. Some of the assumptions of this concept are given below.
# Marketing Research is essential to identify the customers’ demand
# Profit through the customer satisfaction
 # Market should be segmented
# Integrated marketing plan is essential

5. The Societal Marketing Concept:- This concept was developed &

mostly practiced from 1970 A.D to 1990 A.D. Marketing firms are the
indispensable part of the society. Therefore, they are responsible toward
the welfare of the society. Marketers should responsible for the
protection of environment & consumer health, effective use of natural
resources, enhance the living standard of workers & consumers and
provide employment opportunities etc. Some of the assumptions of this
concept are given below.
# Gives priority to the fulfillment of social responsibility
# Customers neglect those products who doesn’t fulfill the social
obligation
# Profit through proper consideration to the interest of consumers, society
& the nation.

6. The Holistic Marketing Concept:-This concept of marketing was

developed after 1990 A.D. and existing till now. Marketing activities
were becoming complicated & unpredictable. It was very difficult to a
marketer in the sole effort to get success in the market. According to this
concept, all matters are concerned & possible. Customers have varieties
of requirements, taste & preferences. cell & CG are trying to implement
this concept in Nepal. Followings are the elements of The Holistic
Marketing Concept.
i. Internal Marketing:- Internal marketing is concerned to the
satisfaction of the employees working within the marketing firm.
Satisfied employees are the assets/backbone for success. Success
can’t be achieved in the lack of satisfied employees. Only the
satisfied employees can deliver quality goods & services to satisfy
the customers & a marketing firm can use various tools to maintain
internal marketing such as ensuring attractive salaries & wages,
participating in the workshops, seminars & training etc. to them &
 provision of many more financial & non-financial incentives & the
job security.
ii. Integrated Marketing: - It is concerned to the effective utilization
of organizational resources. It includes marketing tools, activities,
channels, inter-department relation & their co-ordination. It also
includes proper & appropriate co-ordination of the elements of
marketing mix. The main aim of integrated marketing is to satisfy
the customers through the joint effort of all concerned parties and
the individuals.
iii. Relationship Marketing:- It is concerned to maintain cordial &
long term relationship with all the stakeholders of the marketing
firms. Stakeholders include customers, suppliers, distributors,
bankers, government authorities, investors, analysts etc.
iv. Performance Marketing:- It is considered as an important tool of
a holistic marketing. It consists of the evaluation of the
performance. It guides the marketing firm towards the fulfillment
of social obligation. It provides social acceptance to a marketing
firm.

Engaging Customers & Managing Customer relationship

15
Engaging customers and managing
customer relationships (pp. 15–18)
The first three steps in the marketing process – understanding the marketplace and
customer needs, designing a customer-driven marketing strategy and constructing
marketing programs – all lead to the fourth and most important step: building
profitable customer relationships. We first discuss the basics of customer relationship
management. Then we examine how companies go about engaging customers on a
deeper level in this age of digital and social marketing.
Managing Customer Relationship (CRM)

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the combination of practices,

strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze
customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle. The goal is
to improve customer service relationships and assist in customer
retention and drive sales growth. CRM systems compile customer data across
different channels, or points of contact, between the customer and the
company, which could include the company's website, telephone, live chat,
direct mail, marketing materials and social networks. CRM systems can also
give customer-facing staff members’ detailed information on customers'
personal information, purchase history, buying preferences and concerns.

Importance of customer relationship management

Customer relationship management is an essential part of ensuring the success of
your business:
It helps to build a bond with customers, which reduces the amount of work involved in
getting them to purchase from the company (compared to attracting new customers).

 It increases the likelihood that customers will make additional future

purchases.

 It helps with building loyalty with the company brand.

 It provides customers with an image of the company brand when they are
looking for solutions to other issues, or when they are looking for options
related to what you provide.

 It helps with creating a stronger association between the company and the
customers, which can help with smoothing over problems with products or
in the customer relations process.
  It encourages customers to promote the brand to friends, family members
and colleagues, which will help to grow the business.

Capturing Customer Value

The process by which companies create value for customers and build strong
customer relationships to capture value from customers in return. Broadly defined,
marketing is a social & managerial process by which individuals/organizations
obtain what they need/want through creating & exchanging value with others.

Customers are the key player in companies’ existence. Actually, customers are the
source of real growth. As a result, companies need to create a sustainable
relationship with the customers to capture their value. To understand that how a
company can create and capture customer value, a marketer needs to define
marketing technology and marketing process.
A simple definition of marketing is to manage a profitable customer relationship.
In marketing process, a company creates value for the customer and capture value
from the customer in return. In other words, “marketing is a social and managerial
process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and wants
through creating and exchanging value with others” (Armstrong & Kotler, 2014).
Marketing process comprises of five steps. In the first four steps shown in Figure
1: A Simple Model of the Marketing Process, marketing process focuses on
creating value for customers.
Relationship Levels

Different levels are created while buying goods by the customers. They are: basic
level, reactive level, accountable level, proactive level and partnership level.

Levels of Relationship Marketing

1. Basic level

At this level, the seller sells products to the customers. But do not establish
relationship with them anyway. They only sell products to them.

2. Reactive level

At this level, the seller of the company sells goods to the customers and encourages
them to ask if they have any problems and questions. At this level, the sellers
become ready to solve problems of the customers after selling goods.
3. Accountable level

At this level, the seller phones the customers at a time to check whether the
product is meeting the customers' expectations or not. They solicit for suggestions
if any improvement is necessary.

4. Proactive level

At this level, the seller and other employees phone the customers from time to time
with suggestions about improved product use. They find out whether the customers
are satisfied with the improved products or not. If they are not fully satisfied, they
will ask for suggestions and advices.

5. Partnership level

At this level, the company works regularly with the customers to find out methods
for delivery of products. At this level, the company treats the customers as
partners.

Relationship Tools

1. Quality Assurance
2. Financial Benefits
3. Social Benefits
4. Technical Benefits
 Customer Engagement
Customer engagement is the ongoing cultivation of a relationship between the
company and consumer that goes far beyond the transaction. It's an intentional,
consistent approach by a company that provides value at every customer
interaction, thus increasing loyalty.

Customer satisfaction is how much consumers like or dislike your product,

service, or experience. Both are essential when interacting with consumers, but
customer engagement also involves listening to build a report and provide a
tailored solution. Effective listening is a powerful skill that affects the entire
customer experience. The better a rep can listen, the more they can tailor a solution
based on the customer’s distinct job role, problems, and intended results.

Today’s Digital & Social Media

Customer engagement has never been more important than it is right now. With so
many stores having to temporarily close their doors, marketing efforts have had to
move exclusively online.

Gone are the strategies focusing on traditional and print marketing—people aren’t
going out enough to see them.

Social media has been a core content marketing platform for most businesses,
regardless of their size. And in the current environment, these channels are
becoming even more necessary.

From increasing website visits to building customer loyalty, social media offers a
number of advantages when most marketing avenues are closed to businesses.

We share a few reasons why social media is the best customer engagement option
for companies right now.
Reasons for using Social Medias
1. Increasing Social Media Users

Because social media is free to use—aside from financial investments in

advertising—it has become a lucrative (beneficial) form of communication for
businesses across the board.

Large percentages of online users are utilizing social channels to keep in touch
with the news, find entertainment to distract them, or to educate themselves.
But it isn’t enough to have a social channel—businesses also need to be active on
as many platforms as possible.

Now is the time to revive dead accounts or create profiles on new channels like
Snapchat and TikTok—which are popular among younger audiences.

2. Build Bridges to Customers

While social media platforms are being used by individuals, professionals, and
businesses, it is important to remember that these channels were created for
personal communication.

Businesses have entered the space—and largely behaved themselves in it—but at

the end of the day, there is a personal level to these channels that cannot be
forgotten.

One doesn’t want to impose on the customer experience on social media,

especially during a crisis situation like the one we are facing now.

People are using social media to reach out to loved ones and friends whom they
can no longer visit—they do not want businesses to interfere in this area.

While businesses are still trying to use social media to sell their products and
services—because their stores are closed—they need to be mindful of how they
achieve sales.

This is the time to build bridges to your customers—not only will they feel more
comforted by knowing that a business they support is looking out for them, but it
will generate more leads.

3. Encourage Customer Loyalty

Companies who haven’t had to rely solely on online methods of communication

with their customers will find that encouraging customer loyalty can be
challenging.

Social media is chock-a-block with content—if you don’t post regularly, you will
likely be missed, and even forgotten.

On the other hand, posting too frequently can come across as spammy, leading to
users unfollowing you.
There is a delicate balance to achieve in this regard, but if one can do it, the
rewards are immense(huge).

Post on social media when your customers are active—during the mornings before
they start work, during lunch hours, and once the workday has ended.

These are the times when people can stop what they are doing and look through
their social feeds—when they’re actively looking for distractions.

But while these are peak hours to reach customers, it can be challenging to post
during what are essentially off-work times for social media teams.

Fortunately, there are a number of social media tools that can be used to schedule
posts during these hours—the posts can be written in advance and uploaded to the
tool with ease.

Encouraging brand loyalty goes beyond posting at the right times—one also needs
to use the right tone of voice when ‘speaking’ to customers online.

Empathy and compassion should be at the heart of all communications—whether

on social media or beyond.

Now is not the time for memes and GIFs—a more somber tone should be used to
reflect the state of the world.

As customers become more accustomed to the situation, brands can relax the tone
they use—but always examine how your customers are responding before
continuing to post.

4. Social Media isn’t Expensive

One of the primary reasons why social media is so widely used by brands is
because it is largely free to use.

Companies can post without payment, have employees join groups to network with
professionals in the field, and reach their audiences organically.

But because of the proliferation of posts and accounts, most social channels have
instituted algorithms that make it difficult to reach everyone that follows you.

With organic reach diminishing every year, to make the biggest impact on social
platforms, paid promotions have become the best option for marketers.
For smaller companies, paying for posts may not seem feasible. However, when
compared to print, television, or Google ads, social media is still far less expensive.

While Google Ads require an investment of anywhere between $5-$50 to sponsor

ads, boosted posts on social media can bring in more views with just $1.

And boosting posts can have a cascading effect—social media is shareable, which
means a post can be liked and shared by one person and seen by many more.

The same cannot be said of Google ads, or for content created for print and
television.

5. Advertising Opportunities

Following on from expenses related to social media versus other media, even
within the advertising sphere, social platforms are far more cost-effective.

During this period of crisis, when so many businesses are trying to cut down on
costs, advertising can seem like a superfluous budgetary expenditure.

But social advertising still offers a number of advantages—you can target your
audience with precision, improving the chances of your content being seen and
acted upon.

For social media ads, you can choose demographics, interests, pages your audience
visits, as well as the time and days they are most often online.

The customization afforded by social ads cannot be easily replicated on other

platforms.

And the analytics on ads is unparalleled—one can learn so much about the
audience and how to improve the next phase of the campaign.

This allows marketers to scale up their advertising to achieve better results in

succeeding campaigns.

Plus, social media ads give marketers the option to retarget their customers—an
important tool for converting one-time purchasers into loyal customers.

Marketers can use campaign analytics and examine website conversions to find
customers who would be more open to purchasing from them again.
Not only does this improve brand recall, but it helps establish a loyal customer
base that will aid in growing your business.

6. Customer Service

Customer service has always been a core element of brand building and
relationship management for B2C companies. And social media has been a
powerful tool in that regard.

Now, with more people spending time online, social media has become one of the
primary ways to address customer issues.

Not only can customers reach out to brands via replies and comments on social
channels, but brands can respond to queries instantaneously via messenger chats.

This mitigates the need for 24-hour customer service agents—an expense that
small businesses would not be able to handle on a regular basis.

Social media chatbots can be programmed with stock replies but some of them are
much more sophisticated, equipped to handle even the most complex of queries.

With advances in machine learning AI, chatbots can now learn from every
customer interaction and even mimic real responses—humanizing the brand to
boost customer satisfaction.

This technology still has some limitations, so customer service representatives will
be required at a certain point.

But even in such circumstances, it is massively helpful for companies to stay

engaged with their customers through social media chats.

Conclusion

Social media is an important customer engagement tool in a company’s arsenal.

More people are spending time on these platforms, making them an ideal mode of
communication for brands.

Their cost-effectiveness and the variety of methods offered for reaching audiences
makes social media the best option for boosting brand awareness and customer
loyalty in 2020.
Consumer Generating Marketing

One of the tool of customer – engagement marketing is consumer – generating

marketing, by which consumers themselves play a role in shaping their own brand
experiences and those of others. This might happen through uninvited customers to
customers’ exchanges in blogs, video sharing sites, social media and other digital
forums. But increasingly, companies themselves are inviting consumers to play a
more active role in shaping products & brand content.

As consumers become more connected & empowered and as the boom in digital &
social media technologies continues, consumer brand engagement – whether
invited by marketers or not-will be an increasingly important marketing force.
Through consumer – generated videos, shared reviews, blogs, mobile apps and
websites, consumers are playing a growing role in shaping their own and other
consumers’ brand experiences. Engaged consumers are now having a say in
everything from product design, usage & packaging to brand messaging, pricing &
distribution. Brands must embrace this new consumer empowerment and master
new digital and social media relationship tools or risk bearing left behind.

Creating and Capturing Customer Value

The concept of creating and capturing customer values in the market is the main
goal of businesses. In order to achieve this, is important to understand that today’s
marketing concept has gone through a process of evolution. Today, successful
business are not seen marketing like “only selling and advertising” (Kotler &
Armstrong, 2014); most business, are implementing an effective approach that
allow them create connection with customers needs and improve profits once the
customer is loyal to the business products or services.

The best way to understand customer values is by thinking about the exchange
characteristics between company and customer. If the company exchange is based
only on getting money from customers, then, its approach is not getting customer
loyalty; but if the company exchange is based on satisfying its customer’s
necessity throughout product and service, then, their approach will bring value
from customers, additionally, the money involve in the transaction.
The illustration above, shows the process required to create value for customers
( the first four steps), and the last step in red, represents the company main
objective of capturing value from customers. The process seems to be easy, but
build valuable relationships with customers is complicated. It is known that
customers have different taste, likes, and dislikes, so this requires businesses to
study customers’ behavior at detail. For example, analyzing purchasing behavior,
the marketsing mix (the four P’s) to see if the company have capacity to incoming
demand, or if prices are affordable to customers, etc. Additionally, the company
has to make sure customers are receiving the benefits they are offering. Certainly,
the process requires a lot of efforts but the final outcome (customer loyalty), will
bring the business long- term customers relationships.

To create and capture value from customers, most businesses are implementing
customer relationship management (CRM). They keep customers’ information in
databases to monitor their purchasing styles, needs, and interact with them more
effectively. For example, a company sends a birthday cards to customers to
personalize the attention, customers in return increase its loyalty to the companies’
product or services.
Creating Customer Loyalty & Retention

 Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty describes the decision of a customer to continue purchasing from

a particular business, due to the belief that the business offers the best combination
of product, customer experience and price within its category. A high customer
loyalty will prevent a customer from easily switching to a competitor based on
simple factors such as better advertising or a better price. Predictive analytics
combined with personalized campaign automation helps companies proactively
increase customer loyalty.
Maximizing customer loyalty is an important point of focus for every business.
Generating strong customer loyalty, and the higher customer retention rates it
implies, is much more cost-effective than constantly relying on new acquisitions.
Businesses will want to take a few steps to build loyalty and improve customer
retention.

 Customer Retention

Customer retention is a measure of how many customers stay with your business for
the long term. It’s what demonstrates your business’s ability to stimulate customers to
make repeat purchases and spend more money on your products and services over time.
Customer retention refers to the activities and actions companies and
organizations take to reduce the number of customer defections. The goal of
customer retention programs is to help companies retain as many customers
as possible, often through customer loyalty and brand loyalty initiatives. It is
important to remember that customer retention begins with the first contact a
customer has with a company and continues throughout the entire lifetime of
the relationship.
The Marketing Mix and its Components

What is Marketing Mix?

Marketing Mix is a set of marketing tool or tactics or program, used to promote a
product or services in the market and sell it. It is about positioning a product and
deciding it to sell in the right place, at the right price and at right time. The product
will then be sold, according to marketing and promotional strategy. The
components of the marketing mix consist of 4Ps Product, Price, Place, and
Promotion. In the business sector, the marketing managers plan a marketing
strategy taking into consideration all the 4Ps. However, nowadays, the marketing
mix increasingly includes several other Ps for vital development.

What is 4 P of Marketing?
Product in Marketing Mix:
A product is a commodity, produced or built to satisfy the need of an individual or
a group. The product can be intangible or tangible as it can be in the form of
services or goods. It is important to do extensive research before developing a
product as it has a fluctuating life cycle, from the growth phase to the maturity
phase to the sales decline phase.
A product has a certain life cycle that includes the growth phase, the maturity
phase, and the sales decline phase. It is important for marketers to reinvent their
products to stimulate more demand once it reaches the sales decline phase. It
should create an impact in the mind of the customers, which is exclusive and
different from the competitor’s product. There is an old saying stating for
marketers, “What can I do to offer a better product to this group of people than my
competitors”. This strategy also helps the company to build brand value.
Price in Marketing Mix:
Price is a very important component of the marketing mix definition. The price of
the product is basically the amount that a customer pays for to enjoy it. Price is the
most critical element of a marketing plan because it dictates a company’s survival
and profit. Adjusting the price of the product, even a little bit has a big impact on
the entire marketing strategy as well as greatly affecting the sales and demand of
the product in the market. Things to keep on mind while determining the cost of
the product are, the competitor’s price, list price, customer location, discount,
terms of sale, etc.,
Place in Marketing Mix:
Placement or distribution is a very important part of the marketing mix strategy.
We should position and distribute our product in a place that is easily accessible to
potential buyers/customers.
Promotion in Marketing Mix:
It is a marketing communication process that helps the company to publicize the
product and its features to the public. It is the most expensive and essential
components of the marketing mix, that helps to grab the attention of the customers
and influence them to buy the product. Most of the marketers use promotion tactics
to promote their product and reach out to the public or the target audience. The
promotion might include direct marketing, advertising, personal branding, sales
promotion, etc.
What is 7 P of Marketing?
The 7Ps model is a marketing model that modifies the 4Ps model. As Marketing
mix 4P is becoming an old trend, and nowadays, marketing business needs deep
understanding of the rise in new technology and concept. So, 3 more new P’s were
added in the old 4Ps model to give a deep understanding of the concept of the
marketing mix.
People in Marketing Mix:
The company’s employees are important in marketing because they are the ones
who deliver the service to clients. It is important to hire and train the right people
to deliver superior service to the clients, whether they run a support desk, customer
service, copywriters, programmers…etc. It is very important to find people who
genuinely believe in the products or services that the particular business creates, as
there is a huge chance of giving their best performance. Adding to it, the
organization should accept the honest feedback from the employees about the
business and should input their own thoughts and passions which can scale and
grow the business.
Process in Marketing Mix:
We should always make sure that the business process is well structured and
verified regularly to avoid mistakes and minimize costs. To maximize the profit, it
is important to tighten up the enhancement process.
Physical Evidence in Marketing Mix:
In the service industries, there should be physical evidence that the service is
delivered. A concept of this is branding. For example, when you think of “fast
food”, you think of KFC. When you think of sports, the names Nike and Adidas
come to mind. There is great importance of the provision of security guard,
attractive gardening and designing of building in the 3 or 5 star hotel etc. All these
provisions are the examples of physical evidence.