In this pacing race between new ventures and business organisations, the key element to reach a diverse audience is through the marketing tactics. Whenever you are in a store, the small stalls that offer a taste of sausages for free, attract you. At the moment you might be excited to taste the sausages for free, however, for that particular sausage company the goal differs.

The main goal of the sausage company would be to publicize their products and bring in new customers. This is one of the marketing strategies amongst various ventures and companies. For every new venture, understanding what is marketing, is essential to see a long term run that is profitable too. 

The very reason to be known and get the customers on board, has given rise to the concept of marketing mix. It might sound similar to the salad mix, however, requires various strategies and knowledge about forthcoming strategies. The marketing mix has 7 principles and essentially means the right or appropriate focus on various aspects of the marketing plan. With these principles, the idea of how to promote a brand or venture becomes reality. 

In the following set of information, there will be a complete elucidation on what is marketing. Further, there will be complete information provided for the concept of marketing mix. The information will also look into the 7 principles in detail. Along with all these, there will also be a complete highlight on the factors that promote marketing mix. 

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What is Marketing?

Marketing is explained as the curation of a particular product and articulation about it to the target market group. In a more simplified understanding, marketing refers to the ‘buying factor’ of a good or service. That is, it is that promoting factor which makes the consumer to consume a good or use a service. The ideal processes included in marketing are venturing, creating and delivering a particular product that caters to people’s needs. In all these processes, there is one more essential step which stays involved. It is the process of creating awareness about the particular product or service. 

Venturing is the process in which a venture or an organisation looks for the unmet needs of the consumers. This is the fundamental step to initiate towards a product or service plan. Further, the creating process is about solutions to the unmet need. A venture or an organisation dwells in finding the right product or service that could be the ideal solution to the consumer’s needs.

This takes to the next step that is delivering. It is essentially about deciding the various distribution channels that would connect to the consumers. However, in all these marketing processes, advertising is an essential part too. It is how a venture introduces the products or services in the public. It is the main factor which determines how the hype for a product is. 

Studies suggest marketing as a ‘management process’ or an ‘activity’ [1]. Marketing refers to a management process as it is inclusive of maintaining and continuous devising. The exploration of new ways of bringing one’s venture to the forefront never stops. Similarly, marketing meaning involves the well maintenance of various variables involved in promotion of the brand, venture or organisation. Marketing is defined as an activity because it requires active participation of the assigned team to look or modify the inclusive factors strategically. It also refers to activity, as there is a task of physical and creative potential to promote the venture or organisation. 

There is a drastic change in how marketing is being viewed today. It has completely shifted from one medium to another, and is completely relying on its newest medium. For many decades, marketing has existed in various forms. It was initially the drum rolls that went through the street and introduced a new product. Later with the telephone and telegraph system, marketing shifted to a telephonic mode, which is slightly still prevalent. In the current run of time, marketing has shifted to a sub concept known as ‘e-marketing’. 

E-Marketing is also regarded as Internet Marketing. It is the latest branch added to the marketing meaning. According to this marketing meaning, the entire marketing process takes place in virtual mode. The progress in technology and the advent of the internet are the driving tools for e-marketing. It involves the understanding of consumer needs through virtual tools such as pollings, surveys and questionnaires. Further, the creating part for a venture could be either physical or virtual.

The creation of products is essentially physical and for services, there would be virtual portals to meet the consumers’ needs. The venture can adapt to an online mode of delivering by asking the people to acquire the products or services online. Further, the most important part is the advertisement, which takes place through e-posters, e-pamphlets, short videos, etc. 

Taking up the marketing processes is most essential for any venture to prosper. It is not just about how one takes the venture at the forefront. It is also about whether the product or service initiated is relevant to the consumer need and market. In a nutshell, marketing encompasses all tools that any new as well as existing venture would require to continuously connect with its target consumers. They build up the entire staircase for the ventures and brands to look out for new ideas in keeping their products or services in trend. 

The idea of marketing mix stems from the above understanding of what is marketing. This is further explained and interpreted in the next section. 

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What Is the Concept of Marketing Mix?

In the very simple or basic sense, the concept of marketing mix is the amalgamation of various marketing tools, techniques and strategies. These amalgamation’s sole purpose is to persuade the people to buy the products or use the services of a company. It is considered to be one of the fundamentals of any business or venture. For an existing business, it is the ladder to climb better and for a new venture, it is the stepping stone. With the complete application, it becomes easier for the venture to bear the competitive market world. 

The Economic Times define marketing mix as, “set of actions or tactics” that are used by a company to “promote its brand” or “the product in the market.” Typically, there were only four principles earlier. These were- Price, Product, Promotion and Place. The price indicated the strategic pricing of the product or service, after knowing who the customers are. The Product included the brand’s creation which serves the need and is also subtly different in what is already there in the market. The Promotion includes the venture’s advertisement of the product and the distribution channels. Lasly, the Place included where and to whom the venture is selling its product or service. 

The elements in a marketing mix are always interconnected. The price determines how well the product can be placement.similarly, the price determines the sale of the product. Again, the place where the product is being sold, determines what price it can be sold at. These elements of marketing mix never cease to influence each other. 

Marketing mix is also responsible and much needed for effective marketing. To take a product beyond one’s office or venture, requires strategic planning. Since it covers all the necessary domains such as price, product, etc., it is ideal for marketing. Further, these elements also help in deciding the future progress of the organization. It helps them to track the progress and make a very strategic shift. These shifts can be regarding the pricing, or product modification or the geographic location of it. 

Currently, the principles of marketing mix have been increased from four to seven. These seven principles to cover the entire process of marketing majorly. This is further explained in detail in the next section. 

7 Principles of Marketing Mix

Like every strategy that has a well formed base, the marketing mix model also has it. There are seven principles governing the concept. These principles majorly cover how marketing can be initiated and progressed in the competitive domain. These principles include:

Product

Product refers to the tangible or intangible goods or services that are being sold. Anything that a venture has curated and which satisfies the needs of customers, is said to be a product. Ultimately, your product is the essential determinant of how far can your venture go. It is what the people are asking for and if that satisfies the need, it peaks the success of the venture. A venture can release more than one product, however, this release must be strategic. Ideally, the company must release fewer products and work strategically towards it. This would provide the  organisation to first understand how a product is working and the other products must be carried forward. 

Place

Regarding place in the marketing mix, the question is to where exactly are the products being sold. This factor has a strong hold on the success of the product with its price. Ideally, the place is defined to be the channels through which a venture sells its product or makes it accessible to the users. If the channels are highly accessible to the customers then it will eventually propagate a well-defined sales. However, if the channels are less accessible or they are truncated, then the sales of the product would see discrepancies. 

Price 

The price in a marketing mix refers to the strategic way of bringing in more profit with more customers. Price is one of the principles which determines as to how the customer would react towards the product. If the product is new and its price is high, then the customers would withdraw from purchasing it. A venture must build up the price of the product gradually, and also keep it relatively less in the initial period. Further, the inclusion of sales, discounts, act amongst the financial strategies of the companies. Also, price selection depends on the good or service that a venture is being selling or decides to sell. 

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Promotion 

Promotion as a principle of marketing mix is essential to create a customer base, increase it over time and add more to it. The entire purpose to curate a customer base is to retain customers and promote secondary promotion. This secondary promotion is through word of mouth generally. However, in today’s digital world, social media also plays an essential role. Promotion is the technique to advertise one’s products, ventures or services. This can be through sending out flyers, using the tv advertisement slots or social media platforms. In recent times, influencer marketing is also a tactic to promote, wherein renowned influencers promote their posts or videos towards one venture. 

Physical Evidence

Physical evidence refers to the existence of the venture or the brand physically other than the purchase records. A venture must build its physical presence through having its own websites, logos, social media platforms and stores. This infuses people with the idea that your venture is not just in name, but it is also physically accessible. This also acts trustworthy for the customers as they know where they are spending. Further, this also brings to their notice that there is actually a store and it’s realistic. 

People

In the marketing mix, people are all those who are indirectly or directly involved in the venture. Here, people who have initiated the venture and are working through it are directly connected to it. Further, the customers and the third party are the indirect people to every venture. The distributors of the product or service in a venture are indirectly involved in the venture. A venture requires both directly and indirectly involved people to run the venture. It requires customers, people for operation and the distributors of different channels. 

Process

The entire marketing mix and the other operations of a venture rely on a static process. This process might witness a shift or gradual progression when a venture peaks up. By process, it means that a venture should figure out the steps involved from product creation to its accessibility to the customers. These processes or processes must be devised in accordance to the resources and the capital available at the venture. A venture can also hire expertised guidance to devise a proper and appropriate process for execution. 

These are the seven principles of marketing mix. The whole process of marketing mix serves the purpose of curating, channelising and reaching out varied products to the customers. 

What Promotes Marketing Mix?

There are various factors that promote marketing mix. These factors also are indicative of how well the mix works in the long term. These are:

• Product nature is a crucial factor in promoting mix. Depending on the product nature, the customer would be gained or withdrawn. 
• Geographic location is another promoting factor for mix. The more the area is accessible, the more will be the upgradation for the venture. 
• Market nature is another factor to promote or demote the mix application. If the market size is huge, it will be relatively hard for a venture to streamline its processes for sales and products. 
• Buyers income and characteristics matter too. The customers would be more interested in day to day products as luxurious products are affordable to a few only. 
• Distribution channels are the prominent factor to promote or demote mix. The more the channels are, the more would be the sales. The venture, in order to penetrate into the global market, must have established global and domestic channels. 

These are the factors that affect marketing mix. Taking note of these factors ensure how well the application of marketing mix is for a venture, company or business. 

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Conclusion 

In this particular article we highlighted what is marketing, and discussed the model of marketing mix. Further, we went through the seven principles in detail. There is also an elucidation on how these seven principles influence each other. Lastly, there is a complete elaboration on the factors that promote marketing mix. 

Commonly Asked FAQs

1. What is marketing?

Marketing is explained as the curation of a particular product and articulation about it to the target market group. In a more simplified understanding, marketing refers to the ‘buying factor’ of a good or service. That is, it is that promoting factor which makes the consumer to consume a good or use a service. 

2. What is E-Marketing?

E-Marketing is also regarded as Internet Marketing. It is the latest branch added to the marketing meaning. According to this marketing meaning, the entire marketing process takes place in virtual mode. The progress in technology and the advent of the internet are the driving tools for e-marketing.

3. What is the marketing mix model?

In the very simple or basic sense, the concept of marketing mix is the amalgamation of various marketing tools, techniques and strategies. These amalgamation’s sole purpose is to persuade the people to buy the products or use the services of a company. It is considered to be one of the fundamentals of any business or venture. For an existing business, it is the ladder to climb better and for a new venture, it is the stepping stone.

4. What are the 7 principles of marketing mix?

The 7 principles of are:

• Product
• Place
• Price
• People
• Process
• Physical Evidence
• Promotion 

5. What factors promote marketing mix?

The factors that promote are:

• Product nature is a crucial factor in promoting mix. Depending on the product nature, the customer would be gained or withdrawn. 
• Geographic location is another promoting factor for mix. The more the area is accessible, the more will be the upgradation for the venture. 
• Market nature is another factor to promote or demote the mix application. If the market size is huge, it will be relatively hard for a venture to streamline its processes for sales and products. 

References

• Marketing Mix
• The 7Ps of The Marketing Mix: Streamline your Strategy