CHAPTER 11

• The marketing mix o Marketing mix is the blend of the four strategy elements—product, distribution, promotion, and price—to satisfy the target market o Other variables of the marketing mix—distribution channels, promotional plans, and pricing decisions—must accommodate the strategy selected o Marketers develop strategies to promote both tangible goods and intangible services ▪ Any strategy begins with investigation, analysis, and selection of a particular target market ▪ It continues with the creation of a marketing mix designed to satisfy that segment o Strategies to promote goods are often quite different from those designed to promote services • What is a product? o We tend to think of products as items, but services, as well as physical goods, are products o The concepts that goods are used for—such as providing entertainment, allowing communication, or performing certain tasks—are also considered products o Marketers now realize that people buy want satisfaction rather than objects—i.e., a television set and its cable programming are two separate products o Marketers think of a product as a compilation of package design and labeling, brand name, price, availability, warranty, reputation, image, and customer-service activities o So a product is a bundle of physical, service, and symbolic attributes designed to satisfy a customer’s wants and needs • What are goods and services? o Services are intangible tasks—actually intangible products—that satisfy the needs of customers and business users o Most service providers cannot transport or store their products, but instead customers simultaneously buy and consume them o Goods are tangible products or items that customers can see, hear,