Part I

Introduction:

The following pages constitute the findings and research of the marketing mix assignment. This

case study is comprised of 3 (three) parts. Part I has a basic introduction and includes an abstract,

summary, contents list and cover page. Part II deals with an essay relating to the difference of the

marketing mix of two selected products, and Part III comprises of three sections, each dealing

with a posed question. At the end, there is a bibliography with relevant references.

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Contents List:

TitlePage Number

Title Page 1

Part I (includes summary and content lists) 2

Part II (includes essay part) 5

Part III (includes question part) 12

Bibliography 16

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Part II

Comparison of the marketing mix

Definition of Marketing Mix

The marketing mix of a product is an important tool to be used when marketing a product. It is

often important when assessing the product or services marketing point, and it is also divided

into the 'four Ps':,'promotion' ‘product’,'place', and 'price'

The classification proposed by E. Jerome McCarthy is used widely among marketers.

Product

A product is the item or service which satisfies the customer’s needs and wants. It is a tangible

good or a service which is intangible. Services which are intangible such as medical industry,

hospitality industry are called intangible products. The products which can be seen are called

tangible products. An example of tangible products is telephone or mobile phone. Products also

can be classified into different types depending on their use.

All products have a certain life span, which starts off in a growth stage which is called the initial

stage, followed by a stage of maturity and the last stage is called the period of decline where

sales start decreasing.

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Marketers must take close attention on the different life cycles of the product and put their

attention to solving the problems faced during the different stages. Marketing efforts change

during each stage of a product's life cycle.

The next step is considering and evaluating the marketing mix of the product. The products mix

can be extended by adding on extra number of product lines or by increasing the number of

products available under the line. The sellers or market analyst should also think about how to

market the product, how to promote the brand name, how to make optimal use of the brands

resources and how to adjust the mix so that different products complement the others. Product

development strategies are also necessary.

Price

This is the amount that the buyer pays for the specific product or service. It is very important

because the price of the product is important in determining the profit of the company, and by

extension, its survival. The price of the product is influential in determining the strategy of

marketing, as well as changing the demand. A price that is harmonious with the remaining

elements of the marketing mix should be set by the marketer.

The price of a product normally determines whether a customer will buy it, and the quantity that

he will buy.Nowadays, buyers are also influenced by non priced factors. Buyers who are more

affluent may be attracted to buy because of brand image, product popularity, attractive packaging

and so on.

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Whiledeciding the price, the dealer must be conscious of the buyer perceived assessment for the

merchandise. Three essentialpricestrategies are: market skimming pricing, marketing penetration

pricing and unbiased pricing.

Promotion

It describes all of the ways of contact that a salespersonmightemployin the direction ofmaking

available information to diverse parties concerning the item for consumption. The different ways

one can promote a good include advertisement, promotions, personal selling and awareness

programs.

There are 4 main factors in determining the promotion mix and they include the type of product,

push vs. pull strategy, buyer-readiness stage and the product life cycle. Marketers today

recognize the importance of promotion. Depending on the product categories they’re marketing,

different emphasis is put on the different marketing tools.

Place

This refers to distributing the productat a place convenient enough for the consumer to access.

Place means the same as distribution. Strategies which can be as varied as intensive distribution,

exclusive distribution, and selective distribution and franchising can be used by the marketer to

complement the other aspects of the marketing mix.

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Now that we have covered the basics of the 4P’s, let have a look at the difference in strategies

between two products.

In order to contrast the marketing mix of two different products related to technology, I have

chosen a cell phone based product which is Nokia 3310, and a Smartphone, the iPhone . A

comparison will be done on the 4 P’s of each product in terms of product, price place, promotion

and how they relate to the product, consumer and the market.

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Firstly, we take a look at product.

Product

The main variable of product mix is variety.  The Nokia 3310 is a dual band GSM900/1800

mobile phone. Released in the fourth quarter of 2000, it replaced the popular Nokia 3210. Nokia

3310 has a mix of variety, as it comes in several models such as Nokia 3315, 3320, 3330, 3350,

3360, 3390 and 3395. Nokia gained brand personality and market shares of 35% because of its

quality. The next variable is design. The 3310 is a small, heavy and durable phone with few

features. The Nokia 3310 is shaped in a rectangle shape, which fits snugly in the palm, and

operated by buttons one can press.

The features of Nokia 3310 include a calculator, Nokia network monitor, stop watch and a

reminder function. It has four games, Snake II, Pairs II, Space Impact, and Bantumi.

The iPhone is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was

and released on June 29, 2007.

When we compare the product to the iPhone, we can see that the iPhone combine three products-

a mobile phone, wide screen iPod, into one smart phone. The iPhone also is very varied, and the

different versions include iPhone 2, iPhone 3, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4s. The Apple Company also

does brand extension by marketing iPod, iPad, which combine features from the iPhone.

The design of iPhone is very sleek and modern, and includes a touch screen on all models which

is aliquid crystal display with scratch-resistant glass. It can be used by a bare finger, or multiple

fingers for multi-touch sensing. There are many features included with the iPhone, and they

include an in built camera, mp3 player, video player, calendar, calculator, notepad, and widgets,

or mini-applications.

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Price

Nokia 3310 uses a pricing strategy that best suits the product. It had affordable prices at about

$150 onwards during time of launching. As such, it was cheap enough to suit all class of people.

Poor people like farmers were able to buy a cellphone due to the low price and convenience.

Now the Nokia 3310 is available for a fraction of its original price due to the time period it was

released in. It uses skimming price strategy. Due to the affordable price and durability, it had

become one of the highest selling phones in the world, as the target range was a very wide group

of consumers.

The iPhone, on the other hand, is priced at a very high cost. Due to the modern design and

extensive features, the iPhone is one of the costliest phones in the market. It is designed as a

luxury product and targets high class individuals. The iPhone 4 GB version sells for $499 and the

8 GB version sells for $599. Monthly phone service charges starts at 59.99 and you have to sign

up for a 2 year service agreement. Due to its luxury brand status and excellent features, the sales

of the iPhone have been high, notwithstanding the prohibitive pricing. Analysts estimate that

during the first weekend of sales, between 500,000 and 700,000 phones were sold. Apple plans

to sell 10 million phones in 2008.

Recently, Apple seems to have moved away from the idea of selling an extremely prestigious

and exclusive phone, as the price has been lowered with all future iPhone releases. This is

because Apple is known to improve its other products in relatively short intervals adding new

features or improving performance while keeping the prices constant rather than dropping them.

Promotion

Nokia follows the AIDA strategy of promotion. AIDA Model, a well known marketing

communication model is an integrated approach generally adopted by advertisers to stimulate a

purchase decision in the minds of the consumers through a linear progression of steps. The steps

are Action or Awareness, Interest, Desire andAction aimed at fulfilling the promotional

objectives of the advertisers.

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Nokia advertisestheir products through TV, sign boards, bill boards, radio and newspaper,

Broachers, Posters Dummies and display stands. This phone sold extremely well, being one of

the most successful phones with 126 million units sold.

Apple Inc. normally gives an announcement for its new products around the time of release.

However, for the iPhone, they decided to do aggressive promotions which started some six

months before the actual release of the iPhone. Due to the impact of Apple’s previous product,

the implosively popular iPod, iPhone managed to garner intense self promotion and also created

an existing consumer base of loyal customers.

According to a study, up to 2010, a quarter of all iPhone consumers are 25 and below while 46

percent are under age 35, which means that iPhone users are generally young and, according to

additional AdMob statistics, affluent. And iPhone users are 57 percent male. The overwhelming

majority of iPhone ad viewers come from North America. Advertising products and services that

appeal to members of these groups is among the most efficient ways to advertise on an iPhone.

Apples target segments include professionals, students, corporate users, and entrepreneurs.

The smart phone market is still relatively small compared with general phone market.

Place

Nokia 3310 was sold widely, in almost all countries in the world. It is available throughout the

world. It was a popular phone in India due to its low cost. Due to its wide availability,it was one

of the highest selling phones in the world. Nokia is sold at the retail outlet Nokia priority as well

as many authorized dealers at various places. Nokia products are available at Nokia gallery, as

well as established mobile phone dealership such as Carphone warehouse & Link and Retailers

like Dixon & other electrical products suppliers. Nokia is more of an intensive distribution

product as they try to make Nokia phones available in as many places as possible.

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AT&T is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the US. What is novel about the phone service

activation strategy is that consumers sign up for AT&T cellular services via the internet on

iTunes. Phones are sold in AT&T stores, Apple retail stores, and Apple online store. The carriers

are generally given full power with regards to the price of the cellphone, the marketing strategy

and the services they plan to offer. Thistime Apple defined the 16 services that the iPhone has

and of course the sign up method on iTunes instead of through AT&T. iPhone usually carries out

exclusive distribution as they are sold at the iPhone showrooms or exclusive outlets.

As we can see, these are different marketing strategies of two products. Marketing mixes are

useful because through understanding and careful planning, your marketing initiatives can work

effectively together to ensure you keep leads in the pipeline and make the sales you need to

increase your profits and grow your business.If the product is not desirable no market will want

to purchase it. Without a suitable pricepoint that meets the target market's expectations the

purchase will not take place. Only through adequate promotion, will there be effective

knowledge about the product or service. If the placement and distribution is not appropriate for

the market, no one will know where to find it.

Therefore all of the basic four P's, product, price, place and promotion are important in a

business.

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Part III

a)

Product:My product is who I am. I am xx .I have vast potentials of ability. My skills are

variable in nature, and I excel in team leadership, productivity. My skills include:

Being positive & staying cool. I am always positive and determined in the face of any problem.

Without communication I cannot prove my worth to others. So having strong communication

ability in any situation is a must. However in this skill, I can find myself lacking as I am shy by

nature. Perhaps intensive training and classes would be of help.

Now and then there may be situations when work pressures increases. In such conditions a

candidate should not stick to office hours! Working in coordination to deliver any project is

always counted as one of the greatest qualities of an ideal employee!

Price:My price is the salary that I expect and the profits I bring to my company. It's also the

price my employer must pay to receive the job product. I can prove this part by proving that I can

make profit for the company. This is not merely showing up for work on time. It's all of the

requirements. If you require me to complete all paperwork neatly, state it. Let me know your

after-hours on-call requirements.

As for my salary, I am flexible and willing to put up with lower salary than my expectation.

However I will expect to be fairly compensated for my work. Rip me off and you lose an

employee. If I am paid fairly, you can expect to get quality work out of me. I would appreciate

perks and benefits as well; they would motivate me to work harder. It’s okay if I get my

paycheck late every now and then, I can understand the problems a business might face. Do it

once too often and you’ve lost me, though.

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Place: As for place, this shows how flexible I am to adjust with the demands of location. How

far am I willing to commute to my job? Can I do this every day?

This also includes how willing I am to relocate to a far location for my job. Can I give up the

comforts and convenience of my current location in order to pursue my dreams?

No siree, a homebody am I, and no amount of prodding and nudging will make me leave my

bastion in search of greener pastures. I will look for a job that is located near my house and one

that is easy for me to commute to and fro. I will be stubborn on this issue. However I am willing

to embark on far foreign business trips, as traveling is ingrained in my nature. All in all, I am

slightly rigid when it comes to the issue of plan, so it may prove to be a bit of a short coming.

Promotion:In order to promote myself so that my skills can be known by prospective

employers, I have written up my resume and posted it up to various job sites.I have a page on my

website with information for potential employers? I also use Facebook, Myspace, and other

social media websites so that I canlet my prospective employers have means to communicate

with me.

I also promote myself by astounding my friends, family and acquaintances with my superb skills.

This word of mouth advertisement is very important, and as such, must not be glossed over.

Thus I analyzed myself in terms of 4ps, and one can come to the conclusion that I am a strategic

go getter, and motivated team leader. This would be of immense help advantage to my future

employer and I am sure that everyone will be waiting in a line to employ me.

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b)

Dependability/Discipline:

Reliability is a very essential trait that must be inculcated from childhood and hurdles such as

inexperience or immaturity just by coming to work on time and doing the work assigned to them.

A sign of discipline is being able to work without someone constantly supervising you. So is

having to be told not to make personal phone calls, surf the Internet or constantly text and

tweet.Traits that are related include honestly, reliability and work ethic. If an employer can count

on you to turn up, work in a focused manner, and not steal; whether it be through physically

stealing or by stealing company time, you will be sought after. A 1999 survey by Northern

Virginia Community College revealed that work ethic ranked as the No. 1 employee

characteristic sought by employers.

Taking Initiative/Responsibility:

Taking initiative of a situation gone wrong is an important character employees look for in a

worker. Do you immediately rectify the situation or hide, waiting for someone else to take

control? Being responsible and mature and admitting to your mistakes and shortcoming will aid

you in your workplace in the long run.

Attitude:

Even dependable and responsible employees may not have the most cheerful dispositions. A

mere smile is not enough to do the job, but being positive and having a disposition that is

pleasant and cheerful will make you into a well rounded employee A smile alone won't get the

job done, but a positive outlook and a pleasant disposition will make you into a well rounded

employee. You must also be flexible and enthusiastic in order to have a good attitude.

Communication Skills:

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Whether it is writing, speaking or using computers, communication skills are essential in

virtually any job. You must also need to be a good communicator in order to fulfill ‘promotion’

part of the marketing mix. Is your idea known to the world or do you have brilliant plans and

never share them? How many contacts do you have in order to develop and hone your

communication skills? One must be willing and able to open up to various people in order to

become successful in their job.

Flexibility:

Flexibility is what employers look for in prospective employees, be it flexibility to accept salary

offered, flexibility to change in locations or place, whether one is able to adjust to their work or

being flexible even in the face of difficulties. Are you flexible enough or do you stand hard like a

rock and not change yourself? A little bit of flexibility goes a long way for your job and your

family.

c)Produce a short outline of the gap and how you will fill the gap.

There is a gap existing in the market. It is a gap between sellers and buyers. The shouting tactics

used by marketers in the past do not work anymore.

The gap analysis also can be used to analyze gaps in processes and the gap between the existing

outcome and the desired outcome. This step process can be summarized as below:

Identify the existing process

Identify the existing outcome

Identify the desired outcome

Identify the process to achieve the desired outcome

Document the gap

Develop the means to fill the gap

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