Marketing Mix: Contemporary Issues in Marketing - BMP4004

This report provides an overview of the marketing mix and its importance within the marketing process, focusing on the 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. It begins by explaining marketing and the marketing mix, followed by a theoretical explanation of the 4Ps model. The report then applies the 4Ps to Enterprise Rent-A-Car, analyzing their product/service offerings, pricing strategies, placement/distribution methods, and promotional activities. The analysis highlights the importance of each element in achieving marketing objectives and gaining a competitive advantage. The report concludes that a well-managed marketing mix is crucial for business expansion and customer retention, emphasizing the need for cost-effective pricing and effective online promotion strategies.

BSc (Hons) Business Management
BMP4004
Contemporary Issues in Marketing
The nature and importance of the
marketing mix within the marketing
process
Submitted by:
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Contents
Introduction 3
An explanation of marketing 3
An explanation of marketing mix 4
A brief theoretical explanation of 4Ps marketing mix
4
Introduction of product/service
6
Application of 4Ps marketing mix to the selected
product/service 6-7
Product 6
Price 6
Place 6
Promotion 7
Conclusion 8
References 9
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Introduction
Marketing mix plays a very important role in the business. It helps in taking
decision related especially to the four areas of product, price, place and promotion.
All of these areas are closely interrelated which means that the decision in one area
affects the results of other areas (Tong, Luo, and Xu, 2020). Rent-A-Car is an
enterprise which deals in renting and leasing of cars. It is the business of the
company to provide cars, new or used, to its customers. The company believes in
serving the consumers and its employees first and the profit will automatically be
earned. In this report, there is an explanation of marketing, marketing mix and
products/services along with the application of 4Ps of marketing mix.
An explanation of marketing
Marketing refers to the process of promoting and selling of goods or services
in the market. Market research and advertisements are also a part of marketing. For
the purpose of marketing, business target a certain market and the audience of that
market is targeted as customers (Solimun and Fernandes, 2018). Marketing helps to
explore consumer demands in the market, provide goods or services and deliver the
same in order to satisfy the needs of the customers. Digital marketing, content
marketing, advertising, social media marketing, inbound marketing, etc., are some
types of marketing adopted by the organizations. Today's world is quite technological
which promotes marketing through digital media. Digital media refers to the sources
of media other than traditional media, i.e., newspapers. Social media is the biggest
and best platform to have access to millions of people within minutes. As a result, it
is being used by the companies for the purpose of marketing their goods and
services. Content writing refers to a marketing strategy where various type of content
is created, such as articles, videos, etc., to promote the products a company deals
in. It helps in spreading awareness about the products which helps in attracting and
retaining customers. On the other hand, advertising can be defined as a paid form of
communication which helps in promoting goods and services. Hence, marketing is a
set of activities, undertaken by a company, for the promotion of its products so that
the organization can sell the same.
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An explanation of marketing mix
Marketing mix is a model used by organizations for the marketing of its goods
and services. Marketing mix covers in its fold four elements namely – product, price,
place and promotion (Deepak and Jeyakumar, 2019). For instance, the chosen
organization, enterprise Rent-A-Car, provides services of renting and leasing of cars.
This is the product of Rent-A-Car enterprise as it is the main element of its business.
Thus, marketing mix is a tools used by an entity in order to achieve the marketing
objectives that the company aspire, in a particular market.
A brief theoretical explanation of 4Ps marketing mix
As explained above, marketing mix is a model which has four P's of marketing
as its elements to achieve the goals and objectives set by the organization. Product,
price, place and promotion are the four P's which are, primarily, being considered to
pursue marketing (Kumar and Et. Al., 2019). These P's needs to be implemented
wisely, by an organization, to achieve the desired results. The concept of four P's
was introduced in around 1950s. Since then, these P's are used by the marketing
industry for improving the performance of an organization. People, process and
physical evidence are the other three P's used by organizations to enhance the
results. These are the extensions to the original four P's. All these P's help
companies to overcome the hurdles that lie in their way of achieving objectives. The
four P's of marketing are explained below:
Product – Product refers to the main element that the organization deals in. The
process of marketing starts with the identification and creation of products that align
with the needs of the targeted audience. Understanding the needs of consumers is
very important for innovating products which suit to their demand (Meire and Et. Al.,
2019). The product, its design and package, etc., are included under this head.
Understanding of products includes questions such as what product should be
manufactured, who needs them and why, is competitor's product better than ours, if
yes then how, etc. The marketer introduces the product, stating its qualities, to the
customers.
Price – Price is the sum that is willingly paid by public in exchange for the goods and
services rendered by the organization. Generally, the lower the price, the more are
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people willing to purchase the product. The price of the product is set by the
manufacturers by keeping various factors in mind such as – what age of consumers
are willing to buy these products, competitor's price, which class, whether low-
income group or high-income group, of people are willing to buy such products,
supply cost, etc. All these factors are quite important in determining the prices of the
products and thus, indirectly, influence the demand of the consumers. It is the duty of
marketers to set a reasonable price for the product (Ferrell, Hartline and Hochstein,
2021). Demand may vary from person to person. It is the mentality of some person
that high prices products have good quality, this make marketers set a high price for
the products, to give it a luxurious appearance. For instance – Restaurants may
increase the prices of their dishes in order to make customers think that they use
high quality of material to prepare them. It is an exception to the law of demand.
Thus, price of a product highly affect the demand for the same.
Place – It is very important to select a particular place or market to target. Selection
of correct marketplace plays a crucial role in selling the products. Now-a-days both
online and offline stores act as a platform for the organizations in order to sell their
products (Buscher and Fletcher, 2020). Organizations set up their stores at places
they think is appropriate for their product. For instance - shops of stationery are set
up usually around schools, universities, offices, etc., as these are the places where
the maximum stationary is used. Hence, the owner think that these places can
maximize their sale and they could increase their profitability. The goal of
organizations is to place the product in front of consumers where they, most
probably, buy it. Correct display of products is very necessary for the purpose of
sale.
Promotion – Promotion is important for every organization. It makes people aware
of the product and its qualities. It is a way of communicating to the consumers and
convince them that they need the product and must buy it. Advertising, sales
promotion, public relations and direct marketing are the four, commonly used,
techniques of promotion (Shilbury and Et. Al., 2020). A good salesman is the one
who is able to convince consumers that the price of product is fair enough to buy the
product at that price. Promotion is very helpful in introducing a new product to the
market. It helps to introduce the qualities that a product possess and communicate to
customers how the product is better than the one supplied by their competitors
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(Salgues, 2018). Just like place, promotions can be done online as well offline. Both
the platforms are well used by the organizations to take the maximum advantage.
Introduction of product/service
Product or service refers to the main element the company deals in.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car renders services to its customers of renting and leasing of
cars. Local and airport rentals, exotic car hire, car sharing, etc., are some other
services offered by the enterprise in addition to the above. The entity provides its
consumers with a wide variety and range of transportation. It is the largest
transportation solution provider in the world and serves customers equally to their
family members. Now the enterprise is recognized as a brand which is a leader in
the industry of car rentals all over the globe.
Application of 4Ps marketing mix to the selected
product/service
Product
The services offered by Rent-A-Car is considered as its product. The
organization is a renowned enterprise and is established quite well. Being the leader
of car rental industry, the enterprise has a fleet and range of transports available for
offering to the general public. Customer satisfaction is the prime goal of Rent-A-Car
and the organization fulfills the same by providing them the transportation of their
choice. Wide variety of transports enables consumers to choose the most suitable
one for them. This helps the organization to gain competitive advantage over its
competitors.
Price
The sum charged in exchange of the above services, which are rendered by
Rent-A-Car, is known as the price of the product or service. It is the monetary value
for which services are rendered to the targeted audience. Rent-a-car, mostly, have
used cars that require good maintenance which increases their cost. As a result, it is
added in the rent and the burden ultimately falls on consumers. High charges of the
rental services may reduce the number of targeted audience as everyone is not able
to afford such high prices. Other than maintenance, aged cars often are require
repair as opposed to new cars which do not require repair. This further enhances the
cost and the rent increases.
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Place
Place is the market where the goods or services are being rendered to the
consumers in exchange of certain price. Rent-a-car renders its services at various
places and as per the strategy adopted, the enterprise is focusing more on
increasing services on airports. Airport passengers often need cars to drop off at
their destination and they are ready to pay price that the companies demand.
Increase in usage of rental cars near airports will enhance profitability of the
enterprise. Further, it will be able to use the cars and time, invested in the business,
to their maximum potential.
Promotion
Promotion takes place for introducing a product and spread awareness about
it in the market and to the residents. It helps the organization to expand their
business through various routes such as personal selling, public relations, social
media platforms, etc. The chosen enterprise not only promotes its products through
offline routes but also the online platforms. Rent-a-car is making the best possible
use of technology by promoting its products online on social media and by creating
web pages and websites of the company. Online platforms help the organization to
make the youth aware of services rendered as the social media is highly used by the
young generation. Youths like to rent or drive a car rather than travel in a public
transport.
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Conclusion
From the above report, it has been concluded that marketing plays a crucial
role in the expansion of business. Marketing refers to promoting and selling the
products in the marketplace to the targeted audience. The four P's of marketing mix,
namely – product, price, place and promotion are the four elements, helps to
understand the market in a better way which is important for marketing of products.
The enterprise renders rental services to its customers in order to fulfill their needs.
The enterprise should try to cut down its costs to provide customers with a low rate
than the one the organization is currently providing and will help to retain them.
Online platforms helped the enterprise in generating traffic on their platform.
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References
Buscher, B. and Fletcher, R., 2020. The conservation revolution: radical ideas for
saving nature beyond the Anthropocene. Verso Books.
Deepak, R. K. A. and Jeyakumar, S., 2019. Marketing management. Education
Publishing.
Ferrell, O. C., Hartline, M. and Hochstein, B. W., 2021. Marketing strategy. Cengage
Learning.
Kumar, V. and Et. Al., 2019. Understanding the role of artificial intelligence in
personalized engagement marketing. California Management Review. 61(4).
pp.135-155.
Meire, M. and Et. Al., 2019. The role of marketer-generated content in customer
engagement marketing. Journal of Marketing. 83(6). pp.21-42.
Salgues, B., 2018. Society 5.0: industry of the future, technologies, methods and
tools. John Wiley & Sons.
Shilbury, D. and Et. Al., 2020. Strategic sport marketing. Routledge.
Solimun, S. and Fernandes, A. A. R., 2018. The mediation effect of customer
satisfaction in the relationship between service quality, service orientation,
and marketing mix strategy to customer loyalty. Journal of Management
Development.
Tong, S., Luo, X. and Xu, B., 2020. Personalized mobile marketing
strategies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 48(1). pp.64-78.
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