What is marketing mix?
The term “marketing mix” is a foundation model for businesses, centered around product, price, place, and promotion (also known as the “4 Ps”). In accordance to customers, Marketing mix is a variety of different factors that can influence a consumer’s decision to purchase a product or use a service.
On the business perspective,the marketing mix refers to the set of tools like actions, or tactics, that a company uses to promote its brand or product, to sell its products or services in the market. It most commonly refers to the 4p’s of marketing-
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion
Lets simply understand the power of 4p’s in the marketing mix!!
- Think of a cake
- All cakes need 4 basic ingredients- flour, egg, sugar, milk
- However, you can play with the flavor and taste of the cake by changing these ingredients slightly.
- For example- sweeter cake= add more sugar
PRODUCT
The product is either a tangible good or an intangible service that is seem to meet a specific customer need or demand. All products follow a logical product life cycle and it is vital for marketers to understand and plan for the various stages and their unique challenges.
Marketers must always have a clear concept of what their products stand for, and what differentiates them from the competition, before they can be marketed successfully. Today, the internet can be considered either the medium for purchase, via e-commerce, or the product itself, such as a social media service. Because of this, it’s vital that marketers fully understand the product they are selling, how it meets the needs of their target customer, and what makes their product stand above the competition. For example- think of a variety of products APPLE offers: i phone, Tablets, Ear pods.
PRICE
Marketing is responsible for establishing the price of their service/product. Businesses must consider the costs of all the inputs (materials, labor etc) Mark-up Price is how much profit do you want to make on every product/customer, should be considered.
Price not only refers to the monetary value of a product, but also the time or effort the customer is willing to expend to acquire it. Determining this will be a critical factor in revenue for the brand as it will impact profit, supply, demand, and how much marketers should spend on a promotion or marketing strategy.
The price tells a lot about your product to the customers. If a product is priced too high or too low, the product – and brand – could fail.Companies must use effective pricing strategies to sell their products in a competitive marketplace so they can make a profit.
PLACE
Place refers to providing customers access to the product, and it also calls into play convenience for the customer. Marketing, through digital means or otherwise, is about putting the right product, in the right place, at the right price, at the right time, in front of the customer.
Some key questions that marketers need to answer include:
- Where are target customers shopping?
- Are they using desktops or mobile devices?
- Are they shopping for similar products online, or in brick-and-mortar stores?
- Where are they engaging on social media?
PROMOTION
So far, we are all set with the product/service and its pricing. Now, how to make an audience aware of the product? Within the framework of the four p’s, promotion refers primarily to marketing communications.
These communications use channels such as public relations, advertising, direct marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, or sales promotions. With the exceptional access offered by innovation and technology, marketers can now promote products easier, more effectively, and with more personalisation than ever before, thus leading to greater outcomes and ever-increasing expectations.
Importance of marketing mix for your business
The importance of marketing mix lies in its ability to help your business determine the suitability of the product or service for a particular targeted consumer base. Identifying and arranging the elements of its marketing mix allows a business to make profitable marketing decisions at every level.
These decisions help a business in the following ways:
- Develops its strengths and limit its weaknesses.
- Become more competitive and adaptable in its market.
- Improve profitable collaboration between business and partners
- Marketing mix helps in increasing the product portfolio. Whenever you want to make significant changes in the product, you are making the minor changes in the marketing mix itself. you can make changes to the product features, to its pricing and possibly to its promotion. As a result, your business can end up with an enlarged product portfolio.
- While designing the marketing mix for an existing product, the company can come up with a new product as well. marketing mix tells how a product which can be a physical object or a service can be made functional and emotional to satisfy the customer’s need, and to offer value, be delivered as the way customer demanded.
Here’s the detailed marketing mix of OREO cookies for your further understanding
Oreo cookies
source- https://rkmarketingdesk.business.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/7f8ec-oreos_full_600.jpg
about OREO
Oreo is a sandwich cookie which consist of two wafers with a sweet crème filling. It was originated in 1912 by Nabisco in United States. At present, Oreo cookies are popular in around 100 countries. These cookies are also referred to as Oreo Biscuits in some countries like UK, India.
There are around 25 different flavors of Oreo cookies which are consumed globally. The limited-edition series is also popular in 21st century, however classic black and white Oreo is the heart of company.
The ingredients of classic Oreo remained almost unchanged throughout the journey which includes sugar, cocoa, chocolate, palm oil, corn starch etc.
Target market of Oreo cookies
Primary buyers– Oreo cookies are specially designed for children and teenagers. Milk is the main ingredient of the cookies as kids and teens highly consume milk. Oreo is sandwich crème cookies which are liked by kids and teens.
Secondary buyers– Parents and adults are the secondary target for these cookies as they are highly involved in snack- eating habit. Also, they have rising income, hectic life schedule which leads to greater demand of such cookies.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF OREO-
- Each Oreo cookie contain nutritional value of 45 calories that provide instant energy to the consumer. It contains iron, folic acid, vitamin B1, B2, B3.
- The smooth creamy filling is a good source of calcium and protein.
- Oreo cookies are excellent match for eating with different kinds of milk and milk alternatives.
Unique Selling Proportion (USP) of the product-
- Brand equity
- Excellent relationship with customers
- Wide variety of flavors
- Concept of advertisement
- Consumed globally
MARKETING MIX FOR OREO-
Marketing mix for a brand analyses the various aspects of brand and product carefully and explains the marketing strategies used for the marketing and sales of Oreo cookies.
The below mentioned paragraphs describes and explains the four crucial P’s of the product i.e. Product, Price, Place, Promotion.
AFFECT OF PLACE ON COMPANY AND AUDIENCE–
Oreo cookies are consumed in 100 nations. The brand has different distribution strategies according to the needs, desires, expectations of the target markets of various nations.
The brand ensures to sell the product through right sales and marketing distribution channel in different places. For example- in India Oreo cookies were introduced by well- known brand Cadbury India
The place had great affect over the flavor and ingredients of the Oreo cookies, which is affected by the local taste. For example, ingredients of British Oreo biscuits are different than that of US Oreo cookies.
PRICING STRATEGY USED FOR OREO COOKIES-
The brand has adopted various pricing strategies according to different places, time and target markets.
PROMOTION OF OREO COOKIES-
One of the crucial methods adopted by the company for the promotion of Oreo cookies is the concept of advertisement. The advertisement has positions Oreo as a Twist-lick-dunk cookie which is relevant to its main target market that is kids, who are the highest milk consumers. The advertisements also reveal the bonding of children and parents which is admired by kids.
Also, the unique and distinguished packaging design is also easily recognisable by the consumers. The brand also used various popular celebrity involvement in the ads which ultimately aided in raising its popularity.
IMPORTANCE OF 4 P’s FOR OREO AND THEIR PLACEMENT
PRODUCT- Product of the brand will be on the top among four P’s. Oreo cookies are perceived to be so tasty, sweet cookies which are liked by children, teenagers, adults. The major unique factor is the design, taste, flavors of the product has attracted massive customer base. Due to the uniqueness of cookies, Oreo is a leading biscuits brand in around 100 nations.
PROMOTION- Oreo commercials plays crucial role in its popularity. The company has tons of advertisements in different languages. Various celebrities are also involved in the advertisements of Oreo cookies. So, brand has invested a lot on the promotion of their product. Also, I brought up watching the advertisements of Oreo, which made it popular in India. Also due to establishing competition there is always a need of unique promotion.
PRICE- The cost of purchasing Oreo cookies is little high as compared to the normal cookies which make it a premium brand. Also, the product is initially designed for urban population, so the price is always kept high than normal. So, the price is less important than promotion, product.
PLACE- Oreo cookies are available globally, the distribution strategies are also designed according to the needs, expectations and sensibilities of the region. The marketing team ensures that product should be made available through right distribution channel. So, Oreo cookies are easily accessible almost at every retail store, malls, canteens.
REFERENCES THE OREO- MARKETING MIX
All products. (2019). Retrieved on 8 October 8, 2019 From https://www.oreo.com/
Milksfavouritecookie. (2014). Para 4. Retrieved on 8 October 8, 2019From https://milksfavouritecookie.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/segmentation-targeting-positioning/
Marketing mix. (n.d.) retrieved on 8 October 2019 from https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/17326-oreo.html
RK marketing desk 