Marketing: notes

Meaning

• Marketing: finding out what customers want and supplying it at a profit. It is wider than selling, which is only the act of making the sale.

The Marketing Mix (the four Ps)

• Product: what is sold, including quality, brand and packaging. A bottle of maheu is a product.
• Price: what the customer pays. It must cover costs and suit the target market.
• Place: where and how goods reach customers. Channels of distribution link producer to buyer, for example producer, wholesaler, retailer, customer.
• Promotion: telling customers about the product through advertising, discounts, posters and radio.

Customers

• Market segmentation: dividing customers into groups, for example by age, income or area.
• Target market: the group a business aims at, such as school pupils for a tuckshop.
• Branding: a name or logo that makes a product easy to recognise.
• Packaging: protects goods and attracts buyers.

Service

• Customer service: being polite, quick and helpful when customers buy.
• After-sales service: help given after the sale, such as repairs or a guarantee. It brings customers back.