Marketing for Business

Marketing For Business

Introduction

In this assignment I am going to cover six tasks related to my chosen product, in task 1 I will be describing the marketing mix in general, in task 2 I will carry out market research and in tasks 3 to 6 I will cover explain the marketing mix for my selected product.

For my research I have selected the latest ipod touch and will use the findings of my market research to create a new marketing mix. I have used web sites, books, class notes, etc. to complete my research.

Task 1 - Marketing Mix in General

Four elements of the marketing mix are Product, Price, Place and Promotion. They are the variables that marketing managers can control in order to best satisfy customers in the target market.

Reference for image: http://www.learnmarketing.net/marketingmixdiagram.jpg

Product

The product is the physical product or service offered to consumers. In this case of physical products, it also refers to any services or conveniences that are part of the offering. The product is made up of three levels of product which are:

 Core product: This is when the product is not tangible, physical product, because it is the benefit of the product that makes it valuable for the customer. For example a car, the benefit is convenience i.e. the ease at which you can go where you like, when you want to.

 Actual product: This is when the product is tangible, physical product, so you can use the product. Again with the car example, it is the vehicle that you test drive, buy and then collect.

 Augmented product: This is the non-physical part of the product it usually consists of lots of added value which the customer may or may not want to pay. So when you buy a car, part of the augmented product would be the warranty, the customer service support offered by the car's manufacture, and any after-sales service.

Price

Pricing is one of the most important elements of the marketing mix, as it is the only mix, which generates a turnover for the organisation. The remaining 3p's are the variable cost for the organisation. It costs to produce and design a product; it costs to distribute a product and costs to promote it. Price must support these elements of the mix. Pricing is difficult and must reflect supply and demand relationship. Pricing a product too high or too low could mean a loss of sales for the organisation. There are many ways to price a product, the most important pricing strategies are:

 Premium pricing: This is when a high price is charged for a high quality product or