Marketing Mix

Crystal Watson

MKT/421

February 6, 2013
Brandon Miller
University of Phoenix
Marketing Mix Marketing is a commonly misrepresented term in today’s business environments. Some organizations and most individuals believe marketing is just about sales and advertising. Often times having such a vague understanding of marketing can determine the success or failure of an organization. In fact, marketing is a much more complex subject and area of business. Known as the four P’s, the marketing mix is a set of four decisions that an organization must make before launching a new product or service. The marketing mix consists of four elements: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion (University of Phoenix, 2011).These four elements work together to assist in making the strategic decisions necessary to ensure a smooth introduction of a product or service. An organization must have a thorough understanding of these four elements as each play a key role when developing an organization marketing strategies and tactics. The pet industry is a steadily rising niche business sector. Climbing up to $50.82 billion in 2011 from $23 billion in 2000, makes the pet industry a hot topic for entrepreneurs and pet lovers alike. Although the pet industry continue to see an increase in revenue, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) American households owned 2 million fewer dogs at the end of 2011 than at the end of 2006 (U.S Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook). What this pattern in the industry displays is that dogs maybe in fewer homes but the average dogs in homes are well taken care of. Economics and demographics play a heavy role in the decline as families who once had dogs are reluctant to replace them when the current dog dies. Additionally, the American families make up shifts further from traditional two parent and two