To successfully bring a product to its target market a strategy for implementing the product. Therefore four basic components, referred to as the marketing mix, are necessary. These components are product, pricing, place and distribution. (Griffin & Ebert, 2013, p 275) A product can either be a good (tangible) or a service (intangible), an idea or some a combination (Ferrell, Hirt, Ferrell, 2014, p. 353-354). A product needs to satisfy a need/want of people, in order to make them exchange their money for it and become customers. Of course there are mostly more than one product available to satisfy customer’s needs. So it’s vital to distinguish the product from its competitors, e.g. by product differentiation. Pricing focuses on finding the profitable middle between covering all product costs (production, marketing, advertising, etc.) and competitive pricing. Place means how the product is going to be distributed from the producer to the consumers. Thus, decisions about where to sell (e.g. retail store, online) and distribution channels (direct or indirect) have to be made. (Griffin & Ebert, 2013, p 276) Promotion finally is a form of communication between a company and (potential) customers. The goal of promotion is to increase sales by influencing individuals or groups, etc. to accept a product (Ferrell, Hirt, Ferrell, 2014, p. 354-355). Promotion can also be used “to influence opinions and attitudes toward an organization, person, or cause”. Promotion is not just a single thing, it’s a mix consisting of advertising, publicity, sales promotion and personal selling. (Ferrell, Hirt, Ferrell, 2014, p. 390)
In my opinion the product is slightly more valuable than the other elements of the marketing mix, because without having a product all other elements become obsolete. Furthermore it is vital to choose the right target market. Choosing a target market enables a