Topic 1.4.3 The marketing mix

Question 1

What is the marketing mix?

Answer 1

The marketing mix is a combination of the four factors a business must consider to meet the customer needs-price,product,promotion and place.
A business need to get the right mix of the 4ps.

Question 2

Importance of price

Answer 2

Customer want value for their money,good price for the quality of product they are offering.

Question 3

Importance of product

Answer 3

Product must meet customer needs.A business must consider its product range,brand an USP of its products,may do this by conducting market research.

Question 4

Importance of promotion

Answer 4

Promotion creates awareness of the product or service and helps boost sales and builds a brand and communicates the feature of a product.
-Form of advertising

Question 5

Importance of place

Answer 5

Businesses must sell at a retail store,online stores and directly from manufacturers.
Helps the product reach the customer.
Located at a town centre could attract high levels of customers

Question 6

Balancing marketing mix based on competitive environment?

Answer 6

Price is important for a business located on a busy high street but less important for an online web developer that focuses on making a creative and function product for their client.
A business may do a low price,this may create a price war with other businesses
Small businesses can’t reduce price too much because they have higher costs to begin with

Question 7

Impact of changing customer needs in marketing mix?

Answer 7

A business has to conduct more market research to identify the change in customer needs and to stay up to date with the market.When a new product is introduced,the marketing mix will be different to when the product is established and the branding has grown.

Question 8

Impact of technology(e-commerce) in marketing mix

Answer 8

Place- A small business can build a large customer base through selling online-target customers anywhere in the world and don’t need physical premise.
Price-Customers have more access to information,makes them more knowledgeable about prices through comparison websites,so some business have to change their prices to remain competitive. A business may be able to lower prices due to cost savings made from using technology in the production process
Promotion-Digital communication-websites,social media
Product-Social media allow businesses to conduct market research and get first hand comments from customers to identify how to meet their needs.