Objectives:
● Describe the benefits of marketing
● Explain the concept of utility
● Cite examples of types of utilities
Key Terms:
● The impact of marketing affects the economy and standard of living in countries around
the world
○ Marketing is a Global Force
● Marketing plays an important role in the economy because it provides the means for
competition to take place
● In a competitive marketing place, businesses try to create new or improved products at
lower prices than their competitors
○ These efforts force them to be efficient and responsive to consumers
○ Business look for ways to add value to a consumer’s shopping experience
New and Improved Products:
● Marketing generates competition, which fosters new and improved products
● Businesses always look for ways to satisfy customers’ wants and needs to keep
customers interested
● This creates a larger variety of good and services
Target Market Continued:
● Identifying the target market correctly is an important key to success
● Example: Everyone needs shoes
○ Different sizes
○ Different styles
○ Different ages
● A product may have more than one market
○ Example: Children’s Cereal
■ Have to get the child to ask for it
■ Parents who approve
Customer Profile:
● To develop a clear picture of their target market, businesses create a customer profile
● A customer profile lists information about the target market such as age, gender, income
level, marital status, ethnic background, geographic residence, attitudes, lifestyle, and
behavior.
● Marketers spend a lot of time and money on research to collect data so that they
understand the characteristics of their target market’s customer profile
Marketing Mix:
● The marketing mix includes the four basic marketing strategies - the four P’s
○ Product
○ Place
○ Price
○ Promotion
● Marketing professionals or businesses use these elements to communicate with and
reach their intended target market
● Marketers control decisions about each of the four P’s and base their decisions on the
people they want a s customers
Product:
● Product decisions begin with choosing what products to make and sell
● Much research goes into product design
● A product’s features, brand name, packaging, service, and warranty are all part of the
development
● Companies also need to decide what to do with those products they currently sell
● Those products may require updating or improvements to be competitives
● By developing new uses or identifying new target markets a company can extend the life
of a product
Price:
● Price is what is exchange for the product
● Price strategies should reflect what customers are willing and able to pay
● The marketers must consider the price they will charge their organizational customers,
including resellers
● Pricing decisions also consider prices that the competition charges for comparable
products
● Price strategies include arriving at the list price or manufacturer’s suggested retail price,
as well as discounts, allowances, credit terms, and payment period for organizational
customers
● Companies may use special promotional pricing that would adjust the suggested retail
price, Companies frequently use this technique to launch new products
Place:
● Knowing where one’s customers shop helps marketers make the place decision
● Place strategies determine how and where a product will be distributed
● Marketers need to determine whether the product can be sold directly to the customer
over the internet, through catalogs, or through a reseller.
● Other place decisions include deciding which transportation methods and what stock
levels are most important.
Promotion:
● Promotion refers to activities related to advertising, personal selling, sales promotion,
and publicity
● Today many companies include social media in a products promotional mix
● Promotional strategies deal with how marketers tell potential customers about a
company’s products
● Strategies include the message, the media selected, special offers, and the timing of the
promotional campaigns
The “fifth” P:
● Since customers are so important, some people believe there should be a fifth P -
people
● Marketers must first clearly define each target market before they can develop marketing
strategies
● The importance of the target market (people) is huge
● Marketers make decisions for the four other elements of the marketing mix based on the
target market
● They are interconnected - each strategy involves making decisions about the best way to
reach, satisfy, and keep customers and the best way to achieve the company’s goals.
