THE MARKETING MIX – Assignment.

THE MARKETING MIX – Assignment
Roger Muthama
Task 1
1.1 How the features and benefits of a product/service
can be used in the marketing mix
When marketing your products/services the including of
the features and benefits of these goods and service are
essential. Features tell your customers what the product
or service offers. (What does this product consist of – The
components of the product – The highlights of your
service). The features are the general factors that bring
about your product, the influences of your service.
Benefits tell your customers why the features of your
products/services are distinctive.( Our products consist
these features because they improve ... ) The benefits of
a product give the customer good reason why to choose
your product instead of any others in the space. Through
the integration of features and benefits, you can capture
the customer by showing them you know their problem(s)
and then giving them a solution that is backed with
positive facts.
The following is an example of how an organisation like
Hard Graft tools can implement this strategy in there
marketing mix.

Available chainsaws in the
market a made of unreliable materials. The steel on the
saw in light and bends easily making it difficult to cut big
or hardwood trees. The plastic on the handles is low
quality so melts when working outdoors for a short
period. The engine used are inefficient for their size,
using excessive amounts of fuel than necessary.
Basically, in the Hard graft tools marketing campaign,
you will use the opposite of these features. “Products are
built of tough steel, engines are hybrid and work off
electric charge and fuel, Acetal plastic is used.” Those are
the features of what steps the Hard graft tools
organisation took to be dominant against their
competition. Then comes the need for the benefits of
your product. The Chainsaw developed by Hard Graft
tool is “ more efficient as engine is improved, more
reliable as it is built of better quality resources, can serve
a longer period, overall gives more value for money.”
The importance of giving benefits is not to gloat about
yourproduct, instead it is to provide understanding of why

the features matter. Features can get rather technical for
an ordinary person to properly understand. Going back to
the Hard Graft tool example, a feature included in my
example is ‘acetal plastic’. For a costumer buying this
who isn’t heavily educated on types of plastic this doesn’t
mean anything to them. Therefore, in the marketing
campaignyou explain what Acetal plastic is and why it is
special to your product. In this case acetal plastic is a
very strong kind of plastic that is well decorated in
construction and engineering.
1.2 Use of the marketing mix at each stage of the
product life cycle
Above is the product life cycle illustrated, that is the
process a product goes through from entry into the
market place till exit when it has served its capacity and
there is no more demand.
Before introduction there is a point that has been
excluded in the figure above. Development. This stage
is crucial for the future of a product hence it important to

begin carrying out the marketing mix from this stage
before the introduction stage. Why? Because you can
showcase your innovation to the consumers. Releasing
beta products to give them an idea of what to expect. As
an organisation you make it know that this is not the end
product but part of the testing, a few aspects may not be
to full end product quality.For example, Hard Graft tools
may be about to release a new high tech nail gun into the
market. How they can market this is by producing and
supplying say 500 limited prototypes(500 pieces). The
loyal customers will certainly purchase these as they will
feel part of the organisation, this feeling of entitlement of
customers to a company is good as they interact with
positive and negative feedback regarding the prototype.
If you consider a watchmaker, say Rolex (the most
iconic). For such an organisation to release prototype
watch to test the market, due to the limited pieces they
can be great investments as such watches tend to
consistently increase in value. This case is the same for a
designer brand like Adidas. Develop a product that is
ahead of its time, but to ensure success, test a limited
number of pieces to see how well they handle he real
world. That way you avoid money loss and embarrassing
the organisation image.
By marketing at this stage you can build hype towards
the launch of your complete product. Depending of the
feedback you received your final product may be much
better that the prototype and will be available for a larger
population.

Introduction stage. The product now penetrates the
market. At thisstageis where an organisation positions its
price. There are certain considerations for this pricing
strategy, you may; Launch the product a high price and
high promotional level. This will often be used by
companies that have a large consumer base and a large
competitor base as well. For example Apple Inc. The
iPhone users remain committed to the brand regardless
of them selling phone worth thousands of dollars. Only a
developed company that has been in the market for
decades can effectively use this strategy. Young
companies will have to incur debt and still not be highly
consumed to cover that debt.
For an organisation like Hard Graft tools, I would
recommend launching the product at a High price with
low promotion. As much as the industry is full of
competitors for example –Hitachi, Bosch, Dewalt, Black &
Decker, Craftsman among many others. The bigger
market for these companies is other businesses (B2B). An
individual that purchases a power drill for their backyard
works will in most cases not buy a new one every year,
they also don’t need the up-to-date technology. Instead,
in the case of a company like Rolls Royce motor cars they
require millions of power tools for their manufacturing.
This is the market to target in the introduction stage of
your product. Rolls Royce themselves practise slow
skimming as well as their products speak for themselves.
For a power tool company to supply a business it isoften
a contract for an agreed period. This is very profitable for

that tool company. The model for this strategy is
developing a product that distinguishes itself from all
other similar goods in the market.
Growth Stage. This is when the profits begin. It is
important to maintain marketing strategy and continue
carrying out research on how to improve the product.
Cost per customer falls in this stage as sales and profit
cover the margin. Competition also increases as other
organisations look at what you’re doing and try to copy
you. This is why marketing must remain strong. To
frequently remind your customers why you are better
than the others offering the same product.
How do you market in this stage?
- Improve product quality as selling continues.
Frequent small improvements especially for products
that have long life cycles, that way the longevity is
maintained.
- Directing promotion to the target market. This is
more efficient as the are active users and know the
experience so can anticipate continuity.
- In somecases reduce price in the form of discounts to
encourage new customers. The best part about a
discount is you give someone who most likely would
have never bought your product to experience it.
Discount can be 5% up to 75% off retail price
depending on how the product is doing so far and
forecasting.

For software as a service company( Saas ) for
exampleAirbnb, Uber, Online brokers and others, the
integration of Referral programs generate a cycle of new
customers that sustain this stage for a long time. Referral
programs are available for active users to invite people
they know for a reward that is redeemable by both. For
example credit of $50 into your broker account, 50% off
on next/first Uber ride. Marketing in the growth stage
fucuses on customer relationship building and fostering
loyalty.
Maturity Stage. This is whe the product achieves its
maximum cpacity in the market. It cannot maintain high
price point so becomes much more affordable for late
adopters. These are buyers that purchase a product after
all the hype dies down. It is the oppportunity for older or
less financial people to upgrade to a new product. For
example someone may not buy the lastest LG Fridge at
product introduction at $1000+, hoowever at this stage
there a certanly other products that have filled that space
bring this product sub $500.
One way to market a product at this stage is through
modification. This means your create improvements to
the products current state. If is a software you encode up
to date system applications. This way you keep old
technology current. Apple have done this perfectly hence
the life cycle of iPhones over 5 years (e.g iPhone 7).
These old devices have access to the lastest software
updates.

Decline Stage.This is the point after the product has
climaxed its capacity. It can serve the market place no
more and has satisfied its purpose. Rather than a
marketing strategy tp discover how to sell the product
more, you as a company strtegise how to exit the market
in the least painful way. This can be through price cuts,
making the product very cheap to encourage buyers and
then discontinuing the product after sell out. Find a new
use for a product, your organisation may have plenty of
inventory left even after a price cut therefore you find
new uses for these left goods. For example Hard Gradt
Tools is left with a large amount of chainsaws past the life
cycle. Take part such as the metal chain and use it in new
to the market products.
In the event you organisation incurred debt beyond its
limits and cannot sustain a product past its life cycle or
develop a new product, a buyout is a good option. Have a
larger, more succesfull company takeover all of your
resources ( debt included). For example in the event
demand for Hard Graft Tools products went low and the
management was unable to recover a developed
organisation like Dewalt can buy them out. As much as
Dewalt will be indebted, they will also own assets such as
land and infrastructure that Hard Graft Tools owned. If
HGT don’t own Real Estate, Dewalt will acquire their raw
materials and human resources.
3.1 Role of direct and indirect distribution channels to
move products and services from Provider – Buyer
Direct Distribution channel