Notes: M.Com.

Principals of Marketing (Paper I)

Marketing Mix (Also known as 4P’s)

Historical view of 4P’s

The term "marketing mix" was first used in 1953 when Neil Borden, in his American Marketing
Association presidential address, took the recipe idea one step further and coined the term
"marketing-mix". A prominent marketer, E. Jerome McCarthy, proposed a 4 P classification in
1960, which has seen wide use. The four Ps concept is explained in most marketing textbooks
and classes. (Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_mix)
Elements of the marketing mix
1- Product
2- Price
3- Place
4- Promotion
Elements of the marketing mix are often referred to as 'the four Ps':
Product / Service:
A tangible object or an intangible service that is mass produced or manufactured on a small
scale with a specific mass of units. Intangible products are service based like the tourism
industry & the hotel industry or codes-based products like cellphone load and credits. Typical
examples of a mass produced tangible object are the motorbike and the disposable electric
razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is a bottle bank. Packaging also
needs to be taken into consideration. However, product has its life-cycle which result the growth
will be stopped and started declined when market saturated. To retain its competitive in the
market, product differentiation is required and is one of the strategy to differentiate from its
competitors.
A service is an intangible product that is sold to the customers/consumers directly or indirectly.
The service sector is active all over the world, and many people have interactions with service
businesses on a daily basis. Companies can also have subdivisions that take the form of service
businesses; for example, a computer company may have a service arm that provides support to
its users.
Services are intangible in nature, only appearing when required by the consumer, which makes
the nature of a service business very different from that of other types of businesses. Some
examples of service businesses include the hospitality sector, consulting, appliance repair,
computer support, health care, utilities, business services, real estate, legal services, and
education. In all of these cases, people are being provided with a service, not a product,
whether they are receiving treatment for a medical problem or learning in an elementary school
classroom.
Brand:
“A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company.”
Marty Neumeier
Brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name, term, sign, symbol,
or design, or combination of them) and how it relates to key constituencies: Customers, Staff,
Partners, Investors etc. Some people distinguish the psychological aspect, brand associations

Compiled By: Mirza Rashid Mehmood, MBA (Marketing / Finance)

Trust College of Commerce, Mandi Bahauddin
 Notes: M.Com. Principals of Marketing (Paper I)

like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that
become linked to the brand, of a brand from the experiential aspect.

Brand Experience:
The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known
as the brand experience.

Compiled By: Mirza Rashid Mehmood, MBA (Marketing / Finance)

Trust College of Commerce, Mandi Bahauddin
 Notes: M.Com. Principals of Marketing (Paper I)

Brand Image:
The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct
created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations
associated with a product or service.
People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand
experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has
certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. A brand is therefore one of the
most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is
able to offer in the marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand
management. Orientation of the whole organization towards its brand is called brand orientation.
Careful brand management seeks to make the product or services relevant to the target
audience. Brands should be seen as more than the difference between the actual cost of a
product and its selling price - they represent the sum of all valuable qualities of a product to the
consumer. There are many intangibles involved in business, intangibles left wholly from the
income statement and balance sheet which determine how a business is perceived. The learned
skill of a knowledge worker, the type of mental working, the type of stitch: all may be without an
'accounting cost' but for those who truly know the product, for it is these people the company
should wish to find and keep, the difference is incomparable.
A brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition. When brand
recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a critical mass of positive sentiment in the
marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. One goal in brand recognition is the
identification of a brand without the name of the company present. For example, Disney has
been successful at branding with their particular script font (originally created for Walt Disney's
"signature" logo), which it used in the logo for go.com.
Consumers may look on branding as an important value added aspect of products or services,
as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic (see also brand promise).
From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services also command higher
prices. Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated
branding (such as a generic, store-branded product), people may often select the more
expensive branded product on the basis of the quality of the brand or the reputation of the brand
owner.
Branding Strategies

Compiled By: Mirza Rashid Mehmood, MBA (Marketing / Finance)

Trust College of Commerce, Mandi Bahauddin
 Notes: M.Com. Principals of Marketing (Paper I)

Compiled By: Mirza Rashid Mehmood, MBA (Marketing / Finance)

Trust College of Commerce, Mandi Bahauddin