Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix
What is Marketing Mix? Marketing mix is a set of element or concept to create our marketing strategy. The element of marketing mix has change many times since it first coined in 1953 by Neil Borden. The first set of element set from marketing mix contain four element called 4P. The 4P concept is contain product, price, promotion  and place.
The product element stated about what kind of product we sell or produce. By knowing what kind of product or service  we sell, we can define or choose our product segment target and know our positioning on the market so we can evaluated our strategy for the product.The price element stated about the product pricing itself. How much we will charging price from our costumer for the product or service they used and make sure that the price is worth for them. The promotion element stated about what promotional channel we will use to make people aware of our product. How long will it will be promoted, the promotional scope and also how much budget we can spend for promoting the product. The place element stated about the scope our product marketing. Is it will be released as local or as international product. Where are going to sell it and so on.
But as time pass by, the concept has expanded not only using four element but now sometimes it called 7P. Some element has been added such as people, physical evidence and process for the service marketing. The People stated who will involved and doing all these marketing strategy, because choosing the wrong person can make the strategy doesn’t goes well. The physical evidence stated about  the material part of a marketing. How choosing your medium and other material part to makes sure you can deliver a good message about your product or service  value.  The process element stated how the marketing procedure, mechanism and activities will be done.

What is marketing?

One that of the most important on company is marketing. Because it is very unuseful for c company  if it can made a good product or service but can’t deliver those product or service to the market. but then what is marketing? On the Marketing Management book wrote by Phillip Kotler-Kevin Lane Keller, they define marketing as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. So, from here now we can understand that marketing is not only about selling product or service to the market, but we are trying to sell the value that needed by the people.

Then, is selling product or service not important? It is still important. Selling also important things, because  without sell anything we cant get any revenue from our business. And without revenue and good profit we can’t provide any product or service to deliver to our customer again.  But selling is not marketing, it is only a part of marketing itself.

Peter F Drucker said that “There will always be a need for some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be needed is to make the product or service available.”

That is prpobably the mistake of a lot of marketer. They are oly trying to sell product and service without trying to sell the value. A good marketer have to know not only selling product or service, but also need to know how to get and keep customer that really need those product and service value and then grow the value.  This approach will make the customer feel that they are not just a buyer, but it will make them feel that they’re also owner of this product or service made by our company.

So, how the customer know the value of our product or service? Communicate the value of your product or service first. Show the advantage using those product or service, don’t push them in the first place to buy it without knowing what is your product can do. And make sure you are communicate those product and service value to the right market target based on our product and service specification. Of course it would be a big mistake like trying to sell iPad to Bill Gates, that would be a mess!