Marketing Mix Analysis, Problems, and Recommendations Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the marketing mix elements (product, price, place, and promotion) employed by a charity organization that offers vocational skills training to local communities. The report examines the organization's current marketing strategies, focusing on the challenges related to promotion effectiveness, particularly the high costs associated with television advertising. It then presents recommendations, advocating for a shift towards web-based advertising to reduce costs and expand reach. Furthermore, the report delves into the difficulties in performance measurement within the organization, particularly the challenges in quantifying the impact of training programs. The analysis includes the application of tools like fishbone analysis to identify the root causes of marketing and performance measurement issues, followed by actionable suggestions to improve promotional strategies and streamline performance evaluation processes. The report aims to enhance the organization's marketing effectiveness and ensure better program outcomes.

Marketing assignment

Introduction
In this present paper, we will discuss the use of marketing tool by the company. The paper also
analyses the problem related to the marketing tool then recommendation has been made, and the
problem related to the performance measurement the on the basis of analysis solution has been
made.
The organization
I work for the charity organisation which mainly provide vocational skills training to enable the
local communities and areas to gain the skills which help to provide employment. The
organisation also helps to regenerate the economy. The employment training has been
successfully provided to more than one thousand local people who enable to access the
employment, and it also contributes towards the progress of individual life. The organisation has
a track record of individual development by providing a high quality of vocational training and
coaching which provide the privilege to fulfil the ambitions. The generosity of various local
authority and charity organisation is privileged by the company through grants which are
received by the company for the development of local community. The company has delivered
various projects successfully which help young people and adults to become better citizens and
supported by national funders.
My role is to manage the training programs conducted by organizations. All the business
objectives are updated, developed and monitored with the forward planning for the success of the
company. The duties also includes supervising daily activities which comprises of managing
personnel and maximum utilization of resources, act as line manager in order to schedule,

motivate and coordinate the team and volunteers, managing of project’s budget, review of
efficiency and effectiveness of center in order to improve services, collection and analysis of
management information, risk analysis to reduce the risk, support the board of trustees for the
development, resolve financial queries, accountable for end to end project management
activities, maintain line of communication, maximizing revenue and coordinate with bid writers.
Marketing mix
The marketing mix is defined as the marketing tool which is used by the company to pursue the
marketing objective in the specific market. It comprises of four levels, namely, price, product,
place and promotion. The marketing mix elements are explained below:
1. Product
The product is produced by the company in order to satisfy the demand and needs of
customers. The organisation is providing vocational training in order to support the
development of local community and surroundings. The company is providing a high quality
of services in order to develop the individual and enable to get employment opportunities. In
the development phase the company has done extensive research in order to provide the high
quality of vocational training. In the product life cycle, the company is at growth phase in
which all the factors are growing. The company must invest in the marketing in order to
stimulate the demand for generating high revenue within the particular time period. The
services are used by the local consumers (Marketing Weekly News et al., 2013). The services
help to provide employment opportunities and personal develop through the high quality of
vocational training. The services are of high quality which enables them to distinct among
the competitors.

2. Price
The company is using market penetration pricing strategy in order to attract a large number
of consumers. The organisation is a trust, so it only focuses on the development of an
individual and society rather than focusing on high revenue generation. The customer
perceived value of the services is high which increase the price of vocational training. The
current price strategy of the company is suitable as per the nature of the business. The price
of the services is based on the time of engagement and the nature of the project. But the
pricing of the services is difficult due to intangible nature of services. The project is reviewed
by the team members before fixing the price of the project which includes various factors
such as mobility, venue, accessibility and others (Marketing Weekly News et al., 2013). The
expectations of the community are also analysed in order to provide the high quality of
services. The pricing strategy helps the company in the positioning of the services in the
market. The pricing strategy is one of the main elements which help the company to attract
the consumers and develop the profit margin. It also provides the competitive advantage to
the company.
3. Place
The place is an important component marketing mix model.Place in this context refers to
avenue by which goods and services reach the consumers, and it is a vital consideration for
the success of any product or service (The Open University et al., 2011). An organization can
develop an excellent service, price them appropriately but fail to offer it at the right place
where the consumers can access it easily. The place is not only concerned with where a good
or service will be sold, but also concerned with the place of sale, but also how it is presented
to the customers (Mintz et al., 2013). In our case, there are no intermediaries, making the

direct offering of services to the community at an affordable cost. In a case where there is a
direct relationship between the producer and the consumer, the prices for the good and
services are relatively low (The Open University et al., 2011). As a borne service
organization, we need to be near our consumers, and this will help us understand them and
prioritise appropriately.
4. Promotion
Promotion is the last element of marketing mix model. It is a set of techniques or approaches
used to communicate to the customers about the products a company offers and involves
awareness creation to the customers about the services. This is done in a bid of winning the
customers to buy goods and services being offered by a company. A good promotional
message must have key features of a product or service such as the goals of the project, target
group, price, date and venue of the activity (Mintz et al., 2013). The main reasons for our
active involvement in the promotion include changing public's perception about our services,
encourage and increase customers. Such promotions also act as reminders and updates to our
existing customers on our new services. In our case, there have been no cases of infringement
of the terms and conditions of our adverts neither has there been cases of negative attitude
towards our offers. This is because as an organization, we have invested in advertising
through non-personal and paid-for communication through websites and televisions. In
addition, we also use unpaid public relations promotion strategy aimed at building a good
rapport with the public. We publish stories and organization’s achievement in daily
newspapers or periodicals.

Analysis
The promotion mix is not effectively contributing towards the marketing objective of the
company which is directed toward the target audience. The expenditure of advertisement is very
high which impacts on the expenditure of other areas such as training, and others. The reduction
in the advertisement on television impacts on the sales volume of the company. The promotion is
the main element which builds the brands image in the eyes of the customers. According to the
fishbone analysis the cause of ineffective promotion effects on the sales volume of the company.
It has become costly for the organisation to promote our services over the paid for
communication platforms like television and website of late. Most of our advertising costs have
increased their advertising rates, forcing us to reduce the expenditure on promotion in order to
raise funds for other areas such as planning for training, mobilisation and outreach. Outreach
may not be effective in the promotion of our services due to poor timings we’ve seen. Reducing
arising of our adverts in televisions has reduced our sales since evening viewers of televisions
are not reached with our programme.
Recommendation
In order to address the problem of high cost of a television advertisement, the organisation
should consider investing in online and web-based advertising. Currently, the web-based
platform has the highest base of consumers of all types of goods and services. Social websites
like Facebook, Tweeter, Amazon, eBay and YouTube are among most visited sites across the
world.Though web advertising, the company targets reaching all the users with timely feeds.
Web-based advertising is dynamic and can be presented in the simple text to video or pictorial.
This may help reach different groups depending on their preferences. Web-based adverts will be

smart in that it has been proven feasible and adopted by many corporates and attainable in terms
of low financial implications. The process of web based advertisement is explained below in
figure:
Source: (Tautenhahn et al., 2012)
Advantages of web-based advertising
 Web advertising is one of the cheapest options for reaching out to the largest number of
customers across all parts of the country. It is cheap to run and maintain adverts over
websites than on television.
 With internet advertisement, there is no need for field agents hence reducing on expenditure.
 Internet marketing enables personalization of offers and profiles for customers.
 Such sites are accessible over the internet on phones and computers at any time of the day
(Mintzet al., 2013).
Performance measurement
Performance measurement is the process of identifying, reviewing and quantifying what a
program has accomplished and whether the expected results have been achieved (Sheau et al.,

2013). In the long run, proper performance measurement will ensure effectiveness and keep the
program focused on the expected goals. The process is a four-staged cycle as seen in figure 3
below.
Analysis
According to the fishbone analysis, the performance measurement ofprogrammers is difficult to
manage due to which the contribution towards the organisation is difficult to calculate in
monetary terms. It impacts on the motivation level of an employee. The difficulty in measuring
the performance of programmers after the training leads to change in the perception which
provides benefits to an organisation but it is difficult to calculate. The cause is the inability to
measure the performance and effect is one the motivational level of employee. A problem that
challenged the success of a performance measurement in our organization is the outcomes of the
programme. Some of the programme’s outcomes were difficult to measure.
It makes it the process of tracing the expected outcome in the process. Some of the programme
outcomes have been difficult to measure due to the involvement of many contributors, and this
ends up causing overlap of interests and activities. For example, during a recently school grant
programme, many stakeholders took up ownership of the project to an extent it becomes difficult
to trace individual contribution to the success of the project. Some of the programs co-mingle
funds in support of a common goal. In such a case, it became difficult to assess and trace the
marginal impact of the program since all the funds were used to support similar activities. This
was common in funded training and coaching where the partners give direct support instead of
financial reimbursements.

Suggestions
The challenge of tracing outcomeisaddressablethrough focusing on the objectives and the
significance of a program. Focusing on objectives and importance of the study will ease the
performance measurement process by reviewing the fundamental questions the programme
aimed at answering the key goals (Mintz et al., 2013). Such questions often range from the
importance of funding, program operations, methodology and what the study aims at addressing
in the long run (Elg et al., 2009). These will help clarify the purpose of the programme and what
the targeted, or the desired outcome will also be determined. For instance, such questions may
help the management effectively measure the level of support to an international training. While
trying to design the performance measure, it might be helpful to ask the value of the international
training in achieving the organisation's goals and objectives. Secondly, identification of the core
issues that make measurement difficult will help in tracking the outcome of the project. This can
be addressed by assessing the clarity of the programmer’s purpose, whether the customer or
beneficiary is defined, and the stakeholders’ views on the programme and data availability
(Sheau et al., 2013). The process of performance measurement is explained in below figure:

Source: (Elg et al., 2009)
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the promotional tool is one if the main tool of
marketing which impacts on the sales volume of the company. The company must improve the
promotional strategy of the company in a cost-effective manner which helps to improve the sales
volume of the company. The problem related to performance measurement is the inability to
measure the performance of programmers after the training which contributes towards the
achievement of organisational goals. The marketing mix is a model that can be used to analyses
the perceptions, action and thoughts of a consumer and their connection to a product or service.
Based on customers' experiences, marketing mix defines the sales of a company. Marketing
strategies need to be smart and must analyses the four elements (product, price, place and
promotion). In as much as our organisation has tried in analysing the pricing process, the
products we offer, place and promotion, there are still gaps that need to be addressed especially
on aspects such as high cost of advertising and publicity. Performance measurement is vital in
providing the managers with essential information, and every organisation should consider using
it in tracking the success of a programme. However, proper planning will help in addressing
challenges such as tracking the cost of the outcome. This can be addressed by coming up with
smaller objectives that can be used to reach the main goal. Such objectives must be achievable
and measurable.

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