Section 2.1 Importance of Marketing
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might go to a competing shoe store. If your
experience at the competitor’s store is satis-
fying, you may never return to the first store.
Promotion
Promotion is the process of communi-
cating with potential customers in an effort
to influence their buying behavior. It includes
telling people about the price and the place
where it is offered. If customers do not know
that a product exists, they cannot buy it.
If customers do not know where to find a
product, they will not be able to buy it.
Promotion is the most visible part of
marketing. These activities include personal
selling, advertising, sales promotions, and
public relations. For example, a salesperson
delivers promotional messages when he or
she helps a customer. Advertising delivers
paid promotional messages on TV, radio,
mobile apps, the Internet, video games, and
through many other formats. Sales promo-
tion may include store displays, free samples,
and contests.
Another type of promotion is public
relations, or the activities that promote good-
will between the company and the public.
Public relations is also called PR or publicity.
It cannot be bought and usually happens
when a media outlet covers an interesting
story about something good a company is
doing. For example, the marketer may send
out a press release about the local breast-
cancer walk or collecting items for earth-
quake victims the company sponsored.
FYI
Goods are tangible. They physically exist and
can be touched. Examples include food, clothes,
and furniture. A service or idea is intangible. It
is not physical and cannot be touched. Examples
include car repair, dental services, hair styling, etc.
Marketing Is the
Marketing Mix
Marketers have hundreds of choices for
the four Ps. For each product that a company
markets, the marketers develop a plan called
the marketing mix. The marketing mix is the
strategy for using the elements of product, price,
place, and promotion. It consists of the decisions
made about each of the four Ps for that product.
A marketing mix can also be developed for a
group of products or an entire business. Figure
2-3 illustrates the marketing mix.
Decisions about each piece of the
marketing mix affect each other. For example,
the decision to sell a car for a low price to
meet the needs of first-time car buyers also
affects the product and place decisions. The
car will have to be made and shipped as
inexpensively as possible so that the price
can remain low.
Promoting the fact that a product is natural or organic is
a useful marketing message and a big selling point for
many consumers.
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