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Essay / The Four PS: How Businesses Can Influence Buyer Response
The four Ps of the marketing mix have been called "the sacred quadruple...of the marketing faith" (Kent, 1986). The marketing mix is the set of controllable variables that the company can use to influence buyer response. Kotler, 2003) These variables include: product, place, price and promotion. These four factors can be used to “summarize the key decisions and responsibilities of marketing managers” (McDonald and Roberts, 1992). This useful mnemonic made popular by McCarthy in the 1960s has been the basic template used by many companies to achieve their goals. high sales, growth and profits. For example, the 4 Ps can be used to break down and explain Coca Cola's marketing strategy. Product can be defined as “a set of attributes (features, functions, benefits and uses) capable of being exchanged or used; generally a mixture of tangible and intangible forms” (American Marketing Association, 2016), or “anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need” (Kotler and Keller, 2006, p. 372). Coca-Cola is a soft drink produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It has a large and varied product portfolio in the beverage industry. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essay The product strategy of Coca Cola in its marketing mix can be described by its wide range of products. These include Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Life, Dasani, Minute Maid and 13 other drinks to satisfy all tastes and preferences. It is also because they try to cater to all markets, i.e. mass marketing. The Coca-Cola logo is clearly visible on each of these bottles and cans to ensure product differentiation and Coca-Cola bottles also have unique shapes linked to their brand, building a strong and memorable brand that builds customer loyalty . Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta hold significant market shares in their respective segments but their growth is almost stagnant, making them cash cows in the company's product portfolio. Minute Maid, on the other hand, has a high market share and a good growth rate. , which guarantees the growth of the company. Price, like all elements of the marketing mix, is a tool for influencing demand and a key positioning factor, influencing the way in which the product, or brand, is perceived by the consumer in relation to competitors ( Kotler and Keller, 2006). There are many pricing strategies such as cost-plus, penetration, surge, etc. Coca-Cola follows a 2nd degree price discrimination strategy in its marketing mix. They charge different prices for products in different segments, for example in developing countries where they consider their consumers to be more price sensitive, they charge lower prices. The global beverage market is considered an oligopoly with few large companies. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the dominant players. Coca-Cola products are priced similar to Pepsi products in this particular segment. Coca-Cola also offers discounts on group purchases by sometimes even grouping products together, in order to maximize profitability..