1. PowerPoint presentation
Unit 320 (B&A 59): Principles of business
Handout 15: Marketing

2. Definition of marketing
According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing:
‘Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.’

3. Function of marketing
To ensure the organisation produces the right product at the right price and to get that product to the customers who will buy it.
Without marketing, it is unlikely that the organisation will be able to attract customers to buy its product/services.

4. Roles of marketing
The marketing department is likely to be involved in the following:
carrying out market research
identifying/sourcing potential new products
product/service development
setting the market price of products
promoting products/services
advertising
identifying potential customers for sales
public relations
customer service
identifying distribution channels for products.

5. The marketing mix The 4Ps Product Price Place Promotion
The 4Ps marketing mix provides a concept for marketing, as proposed by E Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s.
It establishes four factors that must be right for the customer to buy:

6. Product
The right product for customers:
What they want – the product meets their needs
Provides quality and value
Provides the benefits they are looking for
Products can also be intangible – eg a package holiday

7. Price
The right price to represent value for the customer
Must also achieve profit for the organisation
Must be competitive
The higher the price, the higher the perceived quality

8. Must be cost-effective Must be suitable for the product/service
Promotion
The way the organisation communicates the benefits of its products to a customer
Must be cost-effective
Must be suitable for the product/service
Starts with the employees
Must be suitable for the product/service – the method must be cost-effective and appropriate to the organisation and its products/services. There would be little point in a local organisation advertising in national press or running a tv advertisement. Methods of promotion include:
Advertising – tv, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, on buses/taxis
Sales promotions – coupons, discounts and BOGOF, free samples, Point Of Sale displays, competitions and sponsorships, loyalty rewards.
Direct marketing – junk mail and spam.
Flyers and leaflet drops.
Starts with the employees – the staff of the organisation need to be informed about the benefits of the organisation’s products/services so that they can communicate this to customers.

9. The right place to attract customers – shop window, Internet
Also covers how the organisation gets the product to the customer – distribution
Right place, right time, right quantity
Right place, right time, right quantity – is the item going to sell in the location or be quick to distribute? Is it seasonal? For example, there is likely to be little demand in Birmingham in January for a shipment of flipflops and suntan lotion.
The product must be convenient for customers to access.
Place needs to take into account costs of warehousing and distribution, depreciation and seasonality of stock.

10. The 7Ps
A tool appropriate to marketing services rather than physical products
Adds three further criteria to the 4Ps:
people
process
physical evidence.

11. People
People that provide the service – the staff
Must have adequate knowledge and training
Must have the right attitude to provide customer satisfaction
Are the representatives of the organisation and all it stands for

12. Systems the customer has to go through in order to access the service:
Process
Systems the customer has to go through in order to access the service:
How they make initial contact
Waiting times
Ease of use
Access to information
Helpfulness of the staff
How they make initial contact – If this is not easy, then customers will be lost before the sales process has even started.
Waiting times – for example on the telephone. Many customers give up if the wait is too long, or spread negative feedback.
Ease of use – systems are often designed for the smooth-running of the organisation rather that from the customer’s point of view. The telephone automated menu selection is a prime example of a system that causes customers’ frustration, particularly when an existing customer is trying to access after-sales service or make a complaint.
Access to information – customers need to be kept informed eg of their order status, delivery times, how to get in contact.
The helpfulness of the staff – all the organisation’s staff are representatives, not just the sales staff, and give the customer an impression of whether it is an organisation they wish to do business with.

13. Evidence that the service has been performed
Physical evidence
Evidence that the service has been performed
Customer can see that they have received the service
Also applies to evidence suggestive of the quality of service before it is received
Also applies to evidence suggestive of the quality of service before it is received – for example the cleanliness of a dentist’s waiting room, the furnishings and fittings in a hotel reception area.