Reference no: EM132283023

Kotler defines marketing mix as:

A set of tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market.

These tools are classified into four broad groups, called the ‘four P’s’ of marketing, or the marketing mix. Each P has a number of variables to it. The marketing mix includes: product, place or distribution and supply chain, price and promotion. How will each one be effective and how will they work together in your marketing plan? By selecting and defining how and which marketing P components are used, marketers create a marketing mix that positions and differentiates their product in the marketplace.

Prepare a 4-6 pages marketing strategy and competitive analysis by examining the variables of the 4 P’s used in your product or service. Identify which variable of each P was used and explain how it was used. For example, one of the variables under product may be quality. If the retail price of the product/service is less than most comparable products, you can safely assume that the marketer decided to go with a lower quality product.

Another example under the product variable is brand name. Look at the name of your product. Does it use a brand name similar to other products make by the company or a totally new name? For example, when Gatorade launched their new bottled water, they called it Propel, and not Gatorade Water.

These are the types of questions to address in this analysis:

How is the product ‘positioned’ (or perceived by the consumer as compared to the competition) in the marketplace? What perception of the product is the manufacturer trying to put into the consumer’s mind? How is it differentiated from similar products produced by the competition?