Module 1: Service Marketing Mix
• What is the purpose of Marketing?
The main purpose of marketing-oriented companies is to anticipate and satisfy the
needs and wants of the customer. Rather than focusing on the product, managers of
these companies constantly seek to identify with their customers and think from their
point of view. The purpose of marketing is to get to know and understand the
customer so well that the product is precisely what the customer wants. In fact,
the need to be familiar with the desires of customers and to establish an ongoing
relationship with them is part of the definition of marketing.
• What is the role of the Service Marketing Mix (SMM) towards the purpose?
Marketing requires not only an appropriate product, but also the right type of
distribution, the right price, and the right kind of promotion. Together these factors are
called, the marketing mix. If any of these four elements is missing, a product will not
achieve the sales and profit objectives as listed in its annual plan or marketing plan.
Not only will the company fail to maximise sales and profits, but the target market also
(the potential buyers for whom the product was intended) will probably be left with
unsatisfied needs and wants. The role of the Marketing Mix towards the purpose
is providing the four P’s, because this is precisely what the customer wants.
• What are the roles of the individual elements of the SMM towards the purpose?
The role of product: making goods, services or ideas that meet the wants and needs
of the customer.
The role of price: determining a price which the customer is prepared to pay.
The role of place: bringing the product into the buyers’ hands through a way the
customers prefer or the customers finds the most attractive.
The role of promotion: communicating with the customer via ways of marketing
communication that the customers prefer.
• How can a marketer use the individual elements of the SMM towards the purpose?
Product: make a product which meets the wants and needs of the customer, a
marketer must think of the warranty, packaging, brand image, product range and the
customer service of the product. The marketer must also have the ability to take
products off the market when they do not longer satisfy a need.
Price: developing the amount of money (the price) which relates to the expected
amount of money the customer is willing to pay. To develop a price, a
marketer/company must not only consider the product’s manufacturing cost, but also
the prices being charged by its competitors and how an increase or reduction in the
selling price is likely to affect demand. ‘Should pricing generate a profit in the short
term/in the long term?’ ‘Is a discount necessary?’ ‘Are some buyers prepared to pay a
higher price for a refined product, and who are they?’
Place: providing an efficient distribution, so that the product gets in the buyers’ hands
on an attractive and fast way. When thinking of the place where the product will be
provided, a marketer must decide about which distribution channel and intermediaries
should be used, the number of sales outlets, the necessary stock levels, and best
forms of transportation. An efficient distribution system ensures that the right products
are on sale in the right place at the right time.
Promotion: making the potential buyers aware of the product and its benefits. The job
of a marketer is to make promotion to attracts the consumers to buy it. Advertising,
sponsorship, sales promotion, direct marketing, and personal selling and
public relations activities, including free publicity are very important.
,Introduction to Marketing
= the process of developing, pricing, promoting and distributing products, services or ideas
that are tailored to the market it includes all the other activities that create value and that
systematically lead to increased sales or other desired outcomes
• To identify the needs and wants of the target market (know your customer)
• To cater to demand with a customer-driven marketing policy (needs and wants)
How to fulfill those needs and wants?
Market = ‘place’ where two parties can exchange products or services and where
transactions happen (physical or non-physical)
Products ownership (example: groceries or a car)
Services provided to you (example: education or a haircut)
Products & services
Tangible (touch/feel/try) Intangible (look website/reviews)
Separable (later use) Inseparable (one time experience)
Imperishable (sell it at a later moment) Perishable (capacity that you have daily)
Invariable/homogenous (same quality) Variable (depends on service deliverer)
Service Marketing Mix
(product, promotion, price, place, people, process and physical evidence)
(classic) Marketing mix (4 P’s)
• Product: how does the product fulfill the needs and wants of the consumer? (function,
design, characteristics, brand)
• Promotion: marketing communication to build and maintain the relationship with the
potential customer (advertising, public relations, sponsor deals and direct marketing)
• Price: how much do we expect the customer to spend on the product? (amount of
money, costs of production, exchange value, discount)
• Place: how do you get your product to the consumer effectively? (distribution/delivery)
(extended) Marketing mix (services)
• People (separability): humans providing or consuming the service (interaction and
participation)
• Process: how is the service delivered or provided? (experience, differentiating)
• Physical evidence (tangible): quality measurement (location, furniture design,
equipment, receipt)
,Chapter 1: Marketing Concept
• Explain what marketing means
• Compare macromarketing, mesomarketing and micromarketing
• Discuss which management philosophies dominated in business over time and how
they influenced the production and marketing of goods and services
• Describe the marketing concept and how it can be used in practice
• Explain the strategic importance of company’s sound reputation and its going
relationships with customers
• Understand different forms of marketing and how the marketing fundamentals are
applied in those situations
The difference between marketing and selling is the difference between a society in which
consumers can choose from products and services designed to their specific needs and
wants and a society in which people have very little if any choice.
The purpose of marketing is to anticipate and satisfy the needs and wants of the customer
and to get to know and understand the customer so well that the product is precisely what
the customer wants.
Marketing requires the appropriate product, the right type of distribution, the right price and
the right kind of promotion. If any of these four elements is lacking, the product will not
achieve the sales and profit objectives as listed in its marketing plan, the company will fail to
maximise sales and profits and the target market will be left with unsatisfied needs and
wants.
Marketing = the process of developing, pricing, promoting and distributing products, services
or ideas that are tailored to the market; it includes all other activities that create value and
systematically lead to increased sales or another desired response, establish a good
reputation and ongoing relationships with the customers, so that all stakeholders achieve
their objectives.
Marketers:
• Advertising and selling
• Which products will be developed?
• For whom are the products intended?
• How will the products be introduced?
Marketing mix = an effective marketing strategy consisting of a clever combination of four
marketing (product, price, place and promotion) instruments that are used to tackle the
market
• Product = goods, services or ideas that meet the wants and needs of the customer
(packaging, brand image, customer service, development of new products/services)
• Price = the amount of money exchanged for a product or service (manufacturing cost,
competitors)
• Place = how the company gets its product in the buyers’ hands (distribution, number
of sales outlets, forms for transportation)
• Promotion = the supplier’s activities to communicate with the market and to promote
sales (advertising, sponsorship, sales promotion, personal marketing)
, Target market = the part of the market that an organisation concentrates on and wants to
turn into customers
Macromarketing (general terms) = a process that must function effectively for a society as a
whole to realise its economic objectives primarily interested in the system that a society
has developed to arrange the exchange of goods and services to ensure that its scarce
resources will meet its needs as effectively as possible (improved communication systems,
transaction via the Internet and distribution)
Mesomarketing (specific sector) = all activities developed by several collaboration
organisations within the supply chain or sector to match supply and demand and meet a
certain need.
• Supply chain = the series of persons and organisations (from the original
manufacturer to the consumer) involved in the production, distribution and
consumption of products and services
Sector = companies that perform the same function in the production or trade of a certain
product (retail sector)
Brand of industry = a group of organisations that is similar in its production techniques and
end products (book industry or food industry)
Micromarketing (individual firm)
Marketing management = the analysis, planning, implementation and constant evaluation of
all activities designed to ensure that the products and services produced and provided by an
organisation are tailored to meet the needs and wants of potential customers as effectively
as possible
Production and product-oriented companies
make its production process highly efficient
Selling-oriented companies sales department
become more important
Marketing-oriented companies tailor the products
and services to meet the needs and wants of the
buyers more effectively
