Marketing Mix: Product and Price

• The marketing mix consists of product, price, place (physical distribution), and promotion.

Product

• A product can be goods, services or anything of value offered to the market for sale.
• Hindustan Lever offers consumer products like Close-Up toothpaste, Lifebuoy soap, Surf detergent, and refined vegetable oil.
• Tata offers Tata Steel, trucks, salt, and other products.
• LG Electronics offers televisions, refrigerators, and computers.
• Amul offers milk, ghee, butter, cheese, and chocolates.
• The concept of a product relates not only to the physical item but also benefits from the customer's viewpoint, such as whitening teeth from toothpaste.
• The product concept includes extended product aspects like after-sales services, handling complaints, and spare parts availability, which are important in consumer durable goods.
• Product decisions involve features, quality, packaging, labeling, and branding.

Price

• Price is the amount customers pay to obtain a product.
• Factors like discounts to customers, traders, and alignment with customer-perceived value must be considered.

Place (or Physical Distribution)

• Activities focusing on making a firm's products available to target customers.
• This includes selecting dealers and intermediaries to reach customers and providing support like discounts or promotional campaigns.
• Intermediaries keep inventory, demonstrate products, negotiate prices, close sales, and provide post-sale services.
• Other decisions relate to managing inventory, storage, warehousing, and transportation from production to buyer location.

Promotion

• Includes activities that communicate availability, features, and merits to persuade target customers to buy.
• Marketing organizations undertake promotional activities and spend money on promotion through advertising, personal selling, and sales promotion techniques.
• A large number of decisions need to be taken in advertising such as deciding the message and media.
• A successful market offering depends on mixing ingredients to create superior customer value while achieving sales and profit objectives.
• Alternative mixes can be adopted by a firm in order to achieve their goals effectively

Products

• From a customer's perspective, a product is a collection of utilities purchased to satisfy a need
• A buyer purchases a product for the benefits they receive with social. physiological, and functional benefits.
• A motorcycle provides functional utility through transportation, prestige, esteem, and acceptance from a group.
• These things should be considered while planning a product.