Key Elements of Marketing Mix

Apart from the 4 Ps of marketing, marketing mix encompasses three key elements that are associated with it.

1. Target marketing – The market that marketers like to target is an important aspect to consider in marketing. For example, a condom manufacturer would like to target his product towards unmarried guys, especially those in the twenties.

Marketing is all about looking at profiting from the product or service from a consumer standpoint. So, which consumers would want their needs met when it comes to any specific product, let’s say a condom which is our example. A consumer would like to have safe sex, and hence would like to go for a condom. So, what kind of people would like to have safe sex. Generally, they are chaps who are not in a relationship tied by a wedlock. And, this type would typically lie in the twenties, and hence our target market.

2. Market Segmentation –  When you break down your market based on various criteria, to be able to better cater to their specifics, you solve an important puzzle in marketing mix called as the market segmentation.

One can breakdown a market on a number of factor. Be in age, geography, gender and habits among others.

Let’s take an example. KFC brands themselves as connoisseurs of chicken dishes. They don’t even try to appeal to the vegetarians by putting up a few namesake items on their menu. They are breaking down their market into meat eating community and others. By segmenting specifically for the meat eaters, they are able to better serve their market.

3. Positioning – Positioning is all about branding. The better you brand a product, harder it will be for it to be taken off consumer’s minds. When a marketer looks at a product, he tries to find the product a unique position in the market that will act as a flash bulb for consumers when certain keys are pressed.

Coke has done a pretty good job of brainwashing consumers – not literally. Whenever somebody sees a black drink that’s fizzing, they think about Coke. Even though there is a good probability that the drink could be Pepsi, the brandishing of Coke pops up.

The idea in positioning is to stay as unique as possible in the market. If your product does everything that a rival product can achieve, why would anybody go for your product. You need to stand out. Let’s say you cannot do anything else in terms of quantity and quality compared to your competitor – cut down the price. Call yourself an affordable product. If you can’t do it, spin a story of a princess who wanted to devour your product and blah blah blah. You get the idea, so take it forward, will ya?