In today’s global business environment, it is clear to see that effective marketing is a key driving force for the success of any company, product or person. Marketing is a necessity for survival of any business, it is the key contributing factor to sustainable success and makes the difference between which companies will be successful and those that will fail to grow.
The importance of marketing to managers of successful organizations cannot be over emphasized. Competent managers (those that have a good understanding of marketing) are able to: –
- Apply the elements of the marketing mix to develop strategies for marketing management.
- Build and manage brands to support businesses
- Create consumer segmentation and positioning plans for new and existing markets.
- Create an integrated marketing communication plan to support brands.
- Apply digital marketing techniques and strategies.
- Evaluate ethical issues in sales and marketing.
As a provider of defense / security hardware and engineering solutions, our company offers a wide range of products and services. As such, management has to initiate effective marketing. Our marketing objectives includes but are not limited to the following:
- Launching of New Products
- Introduction of the Company to New Local or International Markets
- Increase Return on Investments (ROI)
- Increase Return on Equity (ROE)
- Increase Company Profits
- Attract New Customers
- Retain Current Customers
- Increase Company Sales
To realize our marketing objectives, we introduced the 4 Ps of marketing created by Jerome McCarthy in 1960 as a marketing model in our company, the 4Ps encourages a focus on Product, Price, Promotion and Place. These are four essential factors that are involved in marketing a product or service.
1. Product
Defining our product is key to its distribution. From the product variety, quality, design, features, brand name etc. Our marketers have to understand the total life cycle of our products, and our executives need a plan for approaching products at every stage of the product life cycle.
2. Price
Price is the amount that our clients or consumers will be willing to pay for our products. Our marketers must link the price to the product’s value, while also considering supply costs, competitors’ prices, seasonal discounts, and retail mark-up.
3. Place
Place can be described as the consideration of where our product should be available, in brick-and-mortar stores and/or online, and how it will be displayed. The placement allows our company to showcase our product in the right media to get the attention of our clients.
4. Promotion
Promotion communicates to our consumers that they need our product and that it is appropriately priced. Promotion encircles advertising, public relations, and the overall media strategy for the introduction of our product.
Why 4Ps?
The 4P framework helps you consider different components to your marketing approach as well as helps illustrate the need for consistency between the various components. It is not only important that you have developed an approach for the product, pricing, promotion, and the place it will be sold, but also that there is alignment between the various parts. They are not each isolated decisions but should be reviewed and determined together.
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References:
Strategic Marketing