Marketing mix

The essentials

The marketing mix is the set of marketing tools that a firm combines to get the desired response from its target market. These tools are controllable by the firm and are popularly known as the four Ps: product, price, place and promotion. The right combination depends on the needs of the target customers and on the market situation.

Key points

• Product: anything of value offered to the market, including goods, services and ideas. Decisions include features, quality, branding, packaging and labelling.
• Price: the amount of money customers pay for the product. Decisions include setting the price, discounts and credit terms.
• Place (or physical distribution): activities that make the product available to customers at the right place and time. Decisions include the choice of channels, transport, warehousing and inventory.
• Promotion: activities that inform and persuade customers to buy. The promotion mix includes advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and public relations.
• The four Ps are interrelated; a change in one (such as raising quality) may require changes in others (such as price and promotion).

Exam tips

• Identify the P from the decision described: a discount is price, a new outlet is place, a TV ad is promotion, a new flavour is product.
• The marketing mix consists of factors under the firm's control, unlike the business environment.

Common mistakes

• Treating 'place' as only the location of the factory. It refers to physical distribution and channels.
• Treating packaging as part of promotion only. In NCERT it is a product-related decision.