MARKETING MIX

3522 WORDS

For many people, the concept of “marketing mix” is the first thing that they come up with when we ask the question of “what is marketing?” In fact, the marketing mix approach is one of the most famous and widely-discussed concepts in marketing. The term “marketing mix” was coined by Borden (1964) who adopted the idea from Culliton’s (1948) research into marketing costs among manufacturers. It is not a scientific theory, but only a conceptual framework which is based on the “marketing concept” and identifies the principals to which marketers follow to devise strategies to suit their customers’ interest. The idea of marketing mix is similar to that of mixing a cake. Culliton (1948) made the analogies of marketing decisions as the outcome of recipes, and marketers as the “mixers of ingredients” who can choose to adopt various existing recipes at one time, and to develop their own original recipes at another. Marketing mix is suggested to constitute the four fundamental elements of marketing actions; namely, price, place, product and promotion (McCarthy, 1960). Together, these elements act as the means to illustrate the strategic position of a product within the market.

This essay will provide a general description of the marketing mix approach and its contribution as a tool for the implementation of marketing strategies so as to satisfy the needs and wants of the customers.