What Are 7ps of Marketing Mix? The Ultimate Meaning

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is an integral business terminology which takes into account various processes which are aimed at identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs and demands. Its primary objective is to identify, create, communicate, deliver, and exchange offerings that ultimately satisfy, cater to the needs of and have value for customers, clients, partners, and the society at large.
Marketing is a potent commercial activity that makes a huge difference in the framework and the mechanism in which the global economy functions. It identifies, creates, showcases, delivers the ultimate goods or services as required and inturn, creates a great value to its customers and the economy at large.
Marketing is concerned to be the back bone of business organizations, they cannot function without it.
Businesses employ various marketing strategies which help them to reach their target clients and present them with the opportunities to create something of value.
Marketing is a social process by which a need is created, offered, in exchange of products and services, it is definitely a wider concept which ends with the ultimate goal of satisfaction of customers.
Marketing is a consumer oriented process, without marketing it is practically difficult to reach the potential customers. The prime objective of production is to distribute goods and services by using effective marketing techniques and strategies. Businesses could potentially have the most amazing products or services but if no one knows it exist then the business will not be able to survive in the long run, here arises the need to merge effective marketing practices in its daily life.

World Marketing Association, “Marketing is the core business philosophy which directs the process of identifying and fulfilling the needs of individuals and organisations through exchanges which create superior value for all the parties.”

PHILIP KOTLER defines marketing as “The science and art of exploring, creating and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit.

What Are The 7ps of Marketing Mix?

Table of Contents

Marketing Mix is a concept emerged which is the combination of different marketing variables that an organisation merges and controls to achieve the estimated result from a target market. Marketing mix is nothing but placing the right product, at the right time, at the right place, at the right price. It is considered to be one of the most important elements and tools in order to succeed in the field of marketing and to create a strong impactful position of the business entity.

The 4Ps of marketing is a marketing mix framework which was introduced by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960. It is a strategic and a systematic approach to understanding effectively and managing the key elements of a marketing strategy. The 4Ps stand for Product, Price, Place, and Promotion:

Product:

Product, as the word suggests refers to the tangible or intangible goods and services that a business organisation deals with and offers to its target market.
It involves understanding the functions, advantages, and unique features, as well as how it addresses the needs of the customers.
Success of the business entity entirely depends on the impact of the product in the minds of the customers and the value it creates for them.
There arises a need to do an extensive market research in order to decide the right type of product and its utility.

Price:

Price represents the monetary value the company expects it’s customers to pay for.
Price is an effective parameter which plays an important role in ascertaining demand for a specific product. The cost of the product and willingness of the customer to pay for the same plays a valuable role in pricing the product.
Computation of the right price is an important task for the management of the company as pricing too high may affect the demand for the product and competitor analysis in the market, whereas, pricing too low may affect the profitability of the business.
Each product is assigned a specific price to it by taking into account the cost of production, competitor analysis, and the value it creates to its customers.
Setting the right price is crucial as it influences customer perception, profitability, and market positioning. While estimating the right price the value and utility the product creates for his customers is the basic parameter companies make a research on.

Place:

Place also considered as a distribution channel create a huge impact and forms a great part of the marketing strategy.
Creation of a right product at the right price is important but it’s ultimate distribution becomes the game changer. Businesses need to make the product available to its target customers at the right place, the place of distribution should be accessible to its potential buyers.
Better the chain of distribution, logistics network, effective and efficient management of delivery services, higher the success of the product in its target market.
Place is a crucial element as it is the ultimate distribution channel. The primary focus is on getting the product to the right target customers, at the right place and at the rigt time. It involves strategic and calculated decisions regarding the distribution channels, logistics, inventory management, etc.

Promotion:

Promotion refers to the activities undertaken in order to communicate and promote the product to the target audience. It includes advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing, and other communication efforts aimed at creating awareness and generating demand for the product.
Promotion is an impactful marketing strategy which is primarily aimed to create sales and a brand recognition in the minds of its target customers.
Creating a strong and impactful product image is an essential factor to be taken into consideration.
Promotional activities which help to publicise the product to its target market helps to convey the essential product features to its potential buyers while stating its utility and uniqueness.
The promotion mix consists of tools like advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, sponsorships, loyalty programs, using promotional strategies to aware and introduce the product to its customers. It is an awareness and publicity activity to attract potential customers.

The above mentioned four elements of marketing are linked with the product marketing mix in addition to the four elements, when there is a service marketing there are additional three elements which are taken into account, namely people, procedure and physical evidence.

People:

People refer to those which have a direct or indirect impact on the functioning and management of the business.
It consists of human beings who play an active and impactful role in offering the product, this human interaction can create a certain image of the business entity and play a major role in the success of the organisation. The people from the management, right from the top level, middle level and lower level play a significant role and decide the destiny of the organisation.
The concept of right people at the right place add value to the business is to be taken into consideration. For achieving it’s optimum potential and success the business entity has to necessarily recruit the right people, train them well, develop their skills and run retention programs.

Process:

Process as the word suggests is the continuation of certain business activities until the ultimate goal is achieved.
Process refers to the ultimate steps involved in delivering the company’s production services to its target market. Business processes play an important role while delivering a quality service.
They must be carried on effectively and efficiently in order to reach its target marget and build a good reputation. The advancement of technology helps businesses to effectively monitor the procedures involved and to take necessary actions, if any, whenever necessary.
Effective and time efficient procedures help organisations create goodwill in the long run.

Physical Evidence:

Physical environment as the word suggests refer to the marketing environment wherein the transactions between the customers and the business organisations take place.
This creates a visual impact on the customers and creates a certain image of the organisation in terms of its customer service and hospitality. Since services are intangible in nature service providers try to incorporate certain tangible items into the offerings to enhance its customer experience.
The physical environment includes the location of the business, where it is undertaken, its layout, the interior design and architecture, packaging, branding of the products, the uniform of the staff, the body language of the people and the management employed, the way they act, the waiting areas and premises play an integral role in shaping and creating an impactful image of the organisation.