What is Product in the 4Ps of Marketing Mix?
Consider a consumer product like toothpaste or shaving foam. Most people would like to buy a tube of 150 – 200 gms. If a company chooses to offer the same in a pack size of 500 gms or provides it in a container with an applicator, what are the chances of the company motivating the consumers to buy the product? Negligible.
If the company offers to sell the product only through vending machines located in railway stations, bus stands and airports or other public places what would be the impact on sales? The company will most likely struggle to sell its products because only an occasional traveller might buy from these places.
Marketing Mix is the strategy of marketing a specific product or service to a target audience at the right place with a packaging and price which is promoted to educate, enlighten and motivate the customer or consumer to buy it.
Marketers gather market intelligence about their product and those of their competitors’ through primary and secondary research. This helps them to assess the price which customers are ready to pay for the product and the pack size and packaging that they would normally buy. The entire marketing mix depends on the product.
In this article, we will define what is a product, what are the common types of products and the importance of product in 4Ps of marketing mix.
Definition of a Product
Philip Kotler defines product as tangible thing with tangible and intangible value for consumers. A product satisfies a consumer need or want. The intangible value depends on the location of the product amongst the 5 product levels based on its features and attributes like color, price etc.
E.g. Car or motorcycle is a product. A tyre is a product. A diamond ring is a product.
2 Main Types of Products
There are mainly 2 types of products:
- Consumer Goods or Products – These are the products that we buy in our everyday life and are often called finished goods. There are 4 sub-categories of consumer products. g. Haier washing machine, Brylcreem hair gel, Prada bags and life insurance are different types of consumer products.
- Industrial Goods or Products – Industrial products are used to either make other industrial products or consumer products. g. Tyres or steering wheels are fabricated parts used to make a consumer product – an automobile. Pressure vessel is an example of a capital product used as a part in a manufacturing unit to make cement.
The 4Ps of Marketing Mix
Product – This could be a tangible product or a service. Marketers must determine the type of product to determine their consumer segments, and the competitors.
E.g. – A pen or a loan product from a bank
Price – the price paid by the end-user who uses the product. The price is set based on the perceived value of the product in the target customer segment. If it is a convenience product then consumers often do not choose consciously and often peruse the same item if its attributes remain unchanged.
E.g. $ 3.99 for a pack of 4 AA Duracell batteries
Promotion – This is the integrated marketing strategy from advertisement, offers at the location of sales, and pack design etc. to communicate the value of the product to the customers or end consumers. Shopping products are more expensive than convenience products. Consumers invest more time in comparing shopping products, attributes, features and price before buying. Hence, promotion strategy of such products has more educative aspects and consumer engagement touchpoints compared to convenience products.
Unsought products like life insurance or funeral services are promoted through direct promotion and emails and push advertisement as most customers do not seek these products or need it regularly. These are mostly one-time purchases.
E.g. Large billboards in strategic locations advertising the product
Place – It is the distribution channel to deliver the product to the customer or end consumer. This largely depends on the type of product. Specialty products like high end automobiles or diamonds are seldom sold online or through departmental stores or even supermarkets.
E.g. Grocery, consumer products and white goods are mostly sold through super markets or online through e-commerce websites. Cars or other automobiles are sold through dealerships.
The marketing mix is the core of all marketing strategies, initiatives and activities. In the 4Ps of Marketing Mix, the product has a paramount importance because it is an independent variable while the other 3Ps are dependent variables. A marketer never sets a price and then decides on the product. The product category determines the marketing promotion budget and the place of delivery of the product. All these inputs enable to determine the price at which the company can sell the product competitively.
We will discuss the other 3Ps in upcoming blogs and help you understand the relation between the 4Ps of Marketing Mix. If you have questions or need clarification, leave a comment below and we, at MakeMyAssignments, will get in touch with you.
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