The Other Elements of the Marketing Mix
Tommy Hilfiger is one of our favourite brands and oh boy ! do they know their Marketing Mix. The reason why we are partial to Tommy’s’ brands is that we trust the quality of their products. 90% of the time the stitching, the fabric quality and the design of their Product resonate with the consumer.
It is easy to see that they have spent time in optimising their marketing mix to meet the needs of their customers. So what can we learn from Hilfiger even without reading case studies about their marketing? Easy, they have put the consumer at the centre of all their marketing activities. Ensuring the price is right for the three key segments, Tommy Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger and Hilfiger collection. They have mixed their 4 P’s well.
What is Marketing Mix ?
The Marketing mix is a set of controllable marketing variable that an organisation blend to produce the response it wants (Kotler and Armstrong, 1981). It might be more accessible to think of the marketing mix as a tool kit at your disposal, which you can use to influence your customers.
…think of the marketing mix as a tool kit at your disposal, which you can use to influence your customers.
We have discussed before that Marketing has both tangible and intangible aspects. Businesses always want to measure one thing or another … I say go with the flow! No, but seriously, it is still a challenge when it comes to measuring intangibles like brand equity. Which at best can only be estimated (Ambler 2003[1]).
Moreover, keep in mind that companies are seldom just goods or services; they are a complex blend of the two in varying proportions.
Constantly changing External Environment
The year 2020 has proved that businesses operate in a volatile, uncontrollable environment, coupled with a constant constraint of limited resources. A business can thrive or ride this wave by putting the consumer at the centre of all strategies; this means developing and implementing a customer-orientation philosophy. A company will be better placed to delight its consumers if it can determine the latent needs and supply an appropriate marketing mix.
The Marketing mix concept is one of the core concepts of marketing theory. In an earlier blog, Hippos to Horses Marketing wrote about McCarthy’s[2]4Ps, i.e. Product, Price, Promotion and Place. However, there have been proposals that say that the 4 Ps do not take into consideration the unique nature of the service industry.
There is no doubt that consumer goods marketing has developed powerful tools like the 4 Ps. However, when applied to other areas such as service, these then become only partially valid. 4Ps fail to recognise the unique features of services marketing. Think about it for a minute the Product is dependent on the person who is delivering the service; therefore, product consistency is vital.
The Importance of online shopping in 2020
So back to our Tommy Hilfiger analogy, we are currently shopping online, and we are not the only ones. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world. According to a survey of about 3,700 consumers, in nine emerging and developed economies.
More than half of the survey’s respondents now shop online more frequently and rely on the internet for news, health-related information and digital entertainment. Online shopping limits the human interaction with have with the shop attendants and our ability to try on clothes before buying them.
Online shopping brings in a different dimension to our relationship with the Brand, the service part. Does Tommy deliver on this intangible part of their Product? Yes and No! Yes on the free next day delivery, free returns and recyclable packaging. No! due to the fact the Netherlands website is only available in Dutch … although to be fair it forces us to learn Dutch. So you see it is not easy to put a monetary value to the service offered.
Marketing can be seen as relationship management, i.e. creating and maintaining a network in which a business thrives.
How is Tommy Hilfiger still ranked in the Hippos to Horses hall of fame? That’s easy they have built a relationship with us, they send weekly emails with offers product launches and lately an opportunity to co-design. The sharing of information that is unique and limited to subscribers makes us feel special and an extension of the Brand.
Marketing can be seen as relationship management, i.e. creating and maintaining a network in which a business thrives. This relationship needs time to be built, and time to be natured, it becomes central in strategic planning both for the organisation and marketing. There is a strong case for building relationships; in addition to promoting Product.
It was with this in mind that Boom and Bitner’s (1981)[3]Give an extension of the 4Ps framework to include Process, Physical Evidence and Participants. Their extension has gained widespread acceptance amongst the marketing community mainly because they cover the intangible elements of the marketing concepts, the service. In Part 1 of the Marketing mix blog, we mention the 7 Ps briefly. This blog will highlight it essential to your business, whether you sell an actual physical product or a service.
In the current global economic uncertainty, it is essential to build relationships with your customers. Long term relationships are more critical than obtaining immediate sales; these tend to last longer than brand loyalties (McKenna, R 1985[4]). Business relationships are particularly critical for this sustenance of your business.
In the current global economic uncertainty, it is essential to build relationships with your customers
As you can see, we are now trying to add the intangible element of the marketing mix to the previous tangible 4 Ps. If your Product is predominately service-based, it is by its very nature, inherently intangible. As a business owner, you must gain an understanding of the market structure; they work on developing strategic relationships with key industry stakeholders.
These relationships are more critical, especially for a small business, then price wars, flashy promotions or even advanced technology. Suppose you have worked hard to develop an authentic relationship with your Tribe. Through the principle of reciprocation (basic laws of social psychology), your Tribe will want to give you something back. They will buy your products.
Marketing services requires a different kind of marketing and a diverse marketing mix
Marketing services requires a different kind of marketing and a diverse marketing mix, hence the addition of the following 3 Ps as proposed by Booms and Bitner’s, i.e. Participants, Physical Evidence and Process.
Elements of the Marketing Mix :Participants
If your business is a service business, then there is simultaneous production and consumption of your Product. The person delivering the service is in a pivotal position to influence customers perceptions. This person is, in fact, part of the Product, and that is why product quality is in separately fromthe quality of the service provider.
If you are a business owner and servicer provider remember to pay particular attention to the quality of employees and to monitor their performance. Is there a way you can reduce the variability on the service provided? Think of writing down procedures that every service provider (yourself included) must adhere too.
Write down what you do and make this the standard operating procedure (SOP). Everyone who will be performing that job has to follow SOP.
The employees of your business can be a decisive element in helping your company differentiate itself to gain a competitive advantage.
The employees of your business can be a decisive element in helping your company differentiate itself to gain a competitive advantage and deliver value to customers. The achievement of customer orientation is possible if your employees perceive themselves as being there to serve customers. They need to recognise that their only reason for there employment is to help the organisation create value for customers. The 5th P stands for People power, and it is vital to recognise the role they play in building up your business.
Elements of the Marketing Mix:Physical Evidence
Physical Evidence is the environment in which this service is delivered. It includes any tangible goods the facilitate the performance of the service. Physical Evidence is substantial because customers use real clues to assess the quality of the service provided. At Hippos to Horses marketing, we judge the quality of a restaurant by the state of the washroom.
The physical environment, i.e. buildings, décor, furnishings are instrumental in customers assessment of the quality and level of service they can expect. The physical environment is part of the Product itself. Think about it, if your desk is cluttered you limit your productivity.
Physical Evidence is substantial because customers use real clues to assess the quality of the service provided
Elements of the Marketing Mix: Process
The procedures, mechanisms and flow of activities by which the service is acquired are referred to as a Process. Think about it the process of ordering clothes online is different from that of shopping in a store. In the latter, you can try on clothes, choose other clothes, look for any factory errors. As a business owner, you have to ensure that customers understand this process of acquiring your service and that this is acceptable to them. These additional Ps, show or guide the business owner on how to interact with a customer, All 3 Ps result form the large degree of direct contact between your business and your Tribe.
As a business owner, you have to ensure that customers understand your business processes.
Finally, remember these elements are a set of controllable marketing variable that you can blend to produce the consumer response you want. Think of an Organisation or Brand that you admire, spend some time thinking about the reasons that draw you to them. Is there something you can copy and adapt for your hustle? Go ahead and dazzle your Tribe.
Final Thoughts of the Other Elements of the Marketing Mix
In a previous blog , we discussed the importance of putting your customer at the centre of all your business strategies . If you know your customers better than they know themselves , then you are the one they will run too to seek solutions to their problems. The other elements of the marketing mix focus on the HOW ! Get all seven correct and you are well on your way to a rewarding business.
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[1] Ambler, T. (2003), Marketing and the Bottom Line, 2nd ed., FT Prentice Hall, London.
[2] McCarthy, E.J. (1964), Basic Marketing, Richard D. Irwin Homewood, IL
[3] Booms, B.H. and Bitner, M.J. (1981) Marketing Strategies and Organization Structures for Service Firms. In: Marketing of Services, American Marketing Association, Chicago, 47-51.
[4] Mckenna, R (1985), The Regis Touch. Addison- Wesley, Massachusetts.
Related Topic : Marketing Mix -Part 1