Public Relations Lo1 Explain How Public Relations Functions as Part of the Marketing Mix

Public Relations LO1 Explain How Public Relations Functions as Part of the Marketing Mix

The marketing mix, the 4p’s, is the most commonly known marketing term. Its structure is the basic tactical components of a marketing plan. The 4p’s are price, which has to be right for the products image and also competing products, placement, finds the right outlets for the products target market which includes market research, product, must be fit for purpose for the consumer and has to live up to what it says it does and promotion, which is to encourage consumers to buy the product. The marketing mix can be altered by varying the elements, so the offer made to the customer can be altered with different products and budgets, for example, a high profile brand could have an increased focus on promotion and minimise the cost of the product so more people will buy it.

        Public relations were originally placed in the promotion stage of the 4p’s. Promotion focuses on sales promotion, advertising, sales force and direct marketing. Promotion has more of a face to face element which means it is more of a personal approach. The reason for promotion is that it is trying to attract potential customers to buy a company’s product. It is the planned and sustained effort between an organisation and its publics. So, in conclusion, PR and promotion both work closely with their publics and this is why PR fits well in the promotion stage. However, nowadays PR fits and works with all the stages of the marketing mix.

        Public relations also functions in the price part of the marketing mix. Practitioners will research various facts and elements of external publics which could have impact on the price. A group of publics that fall under this monitor are rival companies, the price they charge and offers they have will be analysed and then fed back to the marketing team to produce a price tag.

        Public relations also work with placement to enhance potential customers to buy a product. For example, if the product was men’s aftershave, poor placement would be in a woman’s magazine like cosmopolitan as men don’t particularly buy it. Good product placement would be to advertise it in men’s magazines like GQ or men’s health where the target audience is going to see it. To find the potential placement for a product practitioners do research, communicate with publics out with the organisation (surveys), compile the information then feed it back to the placement department.