Assignment on Product Development

Introduction

Marketing is used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, marketing management is one of the major components of business management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused by mature markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries. The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable.

The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy these more effectively than competitors.

Background

History of T-shirt

T-shirt

A T-shirt (T shirt or tee) is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, usually with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line.

T-shirts are typically made of cotton fibers (sometimes others), knitted together in a jersey stitch that gives a T-shirt its distinctive soft texture. T-shirts can be decorated with text and/or pictures, and they are often used to advertise (see human billboard), promoting products, companies, films and websites.

T-shirt fashions include many styles for both men and women, and for all age groups, including baby, youth, teen, adult and elderly sizes.The T-shirt evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century, through cutting the one-piece “union suit” underwear into separate top and bottom garments, with the top long enough to tuck under the waistband of the bottoms. T-shirts, with and without buttons, were adopted by miners and stevedores during the late 19th century as a convenient covering for hot environments.

T-shirts, as a slip-on garment without buttons, originally became popular in the United States when they were issued by the U.S. Navy during or following the Spanish American War. These were a crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt to be worn under a uniform. It became common for sailors and Marines in work parties, the early submarines, and tropical climates to remove their uniform “jacket”, wearing (and soiling) only the undershirt.

World War II

Following World War II, it became common to see veterans wearing their uniform trousers with their T-shirts as casual clothing, and they became even more popular in the 1950s after Marlon Brando wore one in A Streetcar Named Desire, finally achieving status as fashionable, stand-alone, outer-wear garments.

In the mid-1980s, the white T-shirt became fashionable after the actor Don Johnson wore it with an Armani suit in Miami Vice.

They can also be used to carry commercial advertising, souvenir messages and protest art messages. Beginning in the late 1960s, the T-shirt became a medium for wearable art. Psychedelic art poster designer Warren Dayton pioneered several political, protest, and pop-culture art T-shirts featuring images of Cesar Chavez, political cartoons, and other cultural icons in an article in the Los Angeles Times magazine in late 1969.

Today, many notable and memorable T-shirts produced in the 1970s have now become ensconced in pop culture. Examples include the bright yellow happy face T-shirts, The Rolling Stones tops with their “tongue and lips” logo, and Milton Glaser’s iconic design.

Trends

A T-shirt typically extends to the waist. Variants of the T-shirt, like the tank top, crew neck, A-shirt (with the nickname “wife beater”), muscle shirt, scoop neck, and V-neck have been developed. Hip hop fashion calls for “tall-T” T-shirts which may extend down to the knees. A 1990s trend in women’s clothing involved tight-fitting “cropped” T-shirts short enough to reveal the midriff. Another popular trend is wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt of a contrasting color over a long-sleeved T-shirt. This is known as “layering”. T-shirts that are tight to the body are called fitted, tailored or “baby doll” t-shirts.

Decoration

A Taiwanese`s T-shirt

In the early 1950s several companies based in Miami, Florida, started to decorate T-shirts with different resort names and various characters. The first company was Tropix Togs, under founder Sam Kantor, in Miami. They were the original license for Walt Disney characters that included Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett. Later, other companies expanded into the T-shirt printing business, including Sherry Manufacturing Company, also based in Miami. Sherry started in 1948 by its owner and founder Quinton Sandler as a screen print scarf business and evolved into one of the largest screen printed resort and licensed apparel companies in the United States.

In 1959, plastisol, a more durable and stretchable ink, was invented, allowing much more variety in T-shirt designs.

In the 1960s, the ringer T-shirt appeared and became a staple fashion for youth and rock-n-rollers. The decade also saw the emergence of tie-dyeing and screen-printing on the basic T-shirt. In the late 1960s Richard Ellman, Robert Tree, Bill Kelly, and Stanley Mouse set up the Monster Company in Mill Valley, California, to produce fine art designs expressly for T-shirts. Monster T-shirts often feature emblems and motifs associated with the Grateful Dead and marijuana culture. Additionally, one of the most popular symbols to emerge out of the political turmoil of 1960s were T-shirts bearing the face of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.

Idea Generation

People prefer to wear t-shirt. It is used by all class people. Talking  this as background of my thought, I have decided to Marketing of “PERFECT FASHION’S”

 T-SHIRT will be beneficially or profitable.

Idea Formation

—  100% COTTON

—  NOT  HARM FULL  FOR SKIN

—  STANDARD PRODUCT

—  DEMAND FOR GREEN “PERFECT FASHION” T-SHIRT IS VERY HIGH IN EVERY CITY AREAS.

Market segmentation

Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function. A true market segment meets all of the following criteria: it is distinct from other segments (different segments have different needs), it is homogeneous within the segment (exhibits common needs); it responds similarly to a market stimulus, and it can be reached by a market intervention. The term is also used when consumers with identical product and/or service needs are divided up into groups so they can be charged different amounts for the services. The people in a given segment are supposed to be similar in terms of criteria by which they are segmented and different from other segments in terms of these criteria. These can be broadly viewed as ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ applications of the same idea, splitting up the market into smaller groups.

Examples:

• Gender
• Price
• Interests
• Location
• Religion
• Income
• Size of Household

While there may be theoretically ‘ideal’ market segments, in reality every organization engaged in a market will develop different ways of imagining market segments, and create Product differentiation strategies to exploit these segments. The market segmentation and corresponding product differentiation strategy can give a firm a temporary commercial advantage.

Bases for segmenting consumer markets

• Geographic segmentation
• Demographic segmentation
• Psychographic segmentation
• Behavioral segmentation

Positive” market segmentation

Market segmenting is dividing the market into groups of individual markets with similar wants or needs that a company divides into distinct groups which have distinct needs, wants, behavior or which might want different products & services. Broadly, markets can be divided according to a number of general criteria, such as by industry or public versus private. Although industrial market segmentation is quite different from consumer market segmentation, both have similar objectives. All of these methods of segmentation are merely proxies for true segments, which don’t always fit into convenient demographic boundaries.

Consumer-based market segmentation can be performed on a product specific basis, to provide a close match between specific products and individuals. However, a number of generic market segment systems also exist, e.g. the system provides a broad segmentation of the population of the United States based on the statistical analysis of household and geodemographic data.

The process of segmentation is distinct from positioning (designing an appropriate marketing mix for each segment). The overall intent is to identify groups of similar customers and potential customers; to prioritize the groups to address; to understand their behavior; and to respond with appropriate marketing strategies that satisfy the different preferences of each chosen segment. Revenues are thus improved.

Improved segmentation can lead to significantly improved marketing effectiveness. Distinct segments can have different industry structures and thus have higher or lower attractiveness

Once a market segment has been identified (via segmentation), and targeted (in which the viability of servicing the market intended), the segment is then subject to positioning. Positioning involves ascertaining how a product or a company is perceived in the minds of consumers.

This part of the segmentation process consists of drawing up a perceptual map, which highlights rival goods within one’s industry according to perceived quality and price. After the perceptual map has been devised, a firm would consider the marketing communications mix best suited to the product in question.

Geographic Segmentation

Geographic segmentation is a marketing strategy, whereby the prospective buyers are divided on the basis of geographic units, like cities, states, countries, etc. Read on for more information about what is geographic segmentation…

The ultimate aim of any business is making profits. In order to achieve this goal, a perfect marketing strategy is very necessary. Marketing is a very wide concept, which involves various activities, like studying the buyers’ minds, their needs and preferences, designing products according to customers’ needs, and promoting and selling the products using various techniques. However, different customers have different needs and preferences and it will be a folly on the part of the seller to treat them alike. You cannot develop and sell a product on assumptions only. While bad products fail to lure the customers, good products may also fail in a low demand market. Hence, a study of the market is indispensable, especially for global brands. One such marketing strategy is target marketing, which recognizes the diversity of customers and identifies the needs of separate segments of a market. In other words, the market is divided into segments and the marketing efforts are concentrated on a few vital segments.

Market Segmentation Strategy

Now we know that in target marketing, the market is divided into distinct segments. Dividing the market into groups of individuals, who share similar needs and preferences, in relation to goods and products is called market segmentation. Market segmentation is done on the basis of various factors, like, culture, economic status, geographic differences, behavior, etc. A market segmentation strategy is aimed at dividing a heterogeneous market into different segments of buyers. Each segment have individuals who have similar interests. The interests of each segment may vary with regard to products. So it would not be wise to offer them with the same marketing mix. It should be tailored to fit the needs of each segment. Hence, detailed studies are conducted and the results are evaluated in a proper manner, before evolving a market segmentation strategy. Read more on psychographic segmentation.

What is Geographic Segmentation?

As mentioned earlier, marketing segmentation can be based on any factor, like culture, economic status, geographic differences, etc. If the market segmentation is based on geographic units, it is called geographic segmentation. As per the dictionary of marketing terms, geographic segmentation definition is as follows: Market segmentation strategy whereby the intended audience for a given product is divided according to geographic units, such as nations, states, regions, counties, cities, or neighborhoods. Marketers will tailor marketing programs to fit the needs of individual geographic areas, localizing the products, advertising, and sales effort to geographic differences in needs and wants. Geographic segmentation can be a very important process, especially for multinational businesses with global brands. They have to formulate different marketing programs, which are intended to lure the customers of different geographic units, which are formed after careful study and evaluation. It may also happen that the products, advertising techniques or means of promotion vary with the different geographic units, as per the taste of the customers that are categorized to form that unit. For example, a global business organization which specializes in clothing may divide the market on the basis of the climate. This geographic segmentation of the market results in the sale of winter clothes in a country with cold weather, but at the same time may promote other types of clothing in some other country. Hence, geographic segmentation variables include regional climate, population density, economic status, etc.

Geographic segmentation and profiling are very vital processes of marketing strategy, as they are formulated after conducting detailed studies of the customers who belong to different regional units. This type of market segmentation can be beneficial to identify the preferences and needs of customers in a particular region, as per the weather conditions, lifestyle, culture, etc. However, though it misses out other factors like age, gender, income, etc, geographic segmentation can make a huge difference in the success of a global company.

Demographic Segmentation

A major tool in marketing, demographic segmentation is one of the easiest segmentation strategies to tap the potential market without wasting your resources. To know more about demographic segmentation and its variables, read on….

n marketing, it is very difficult for a single organization to satisfy the needs of all consumers, and hence the organization has to resort to market segmentation. Through market segmentation, the organization fulfills the needs of all consumers belonging to a particular niche instead of trying to fulfill the needs of the entire market which is virtually impossible. Before we move on to demographic segmentation, let’s take a brief overview of market segmentation as a whole.

Why Segment Your Market?
Market segmentation is basically the division of market into smaller segments in order to make marketing easier and avoid wastage of resources. The market is divided using one of the five segmentation strategies, namely behavior segmentation, benefit segmentation, psychographic segmentation, geographic segmentation and demographic segmentation. In case of geographic segmentation, the market is divided into various geographical regions. As a dealer of air cooling systems, geographic segmentation will help you target the tropical market wherein the consumer is expected to buy air coolers instead of targeting the colder regions away from the equator wherein air coolers are of no use. Market segmentation will help you identify your consumers and access them easily. It will basically help you tap the given resources, to satisfy the needs of a particular section of the market you cater to.

Demographic Segmentation: Definition
Demographic segmentation is basically market segmentation executed by taking various demographic factors, such as age, gender, social class etc., into consideration. This helps the organization to divide the market into several groups, each having a common variable, and target each of these groups to enhance the performance of the organization. The word demographic is derived from the word demography, meaning study of population. This market segmentation strategy aims at understanding the prospective market, and taking necessary steps to ensure that the consumer needs of a targeted group is fulfilled.

Demographic Segmentation Variables
Segmentation variables are basically factors which help the organization to determine the target group. In demographic segmentation, variables mainly consist of demographic factors such as age, ethnicity, occupation etc. Below we have given a list of demographic segmentation variables which are commonly used to divide the market into smaller segments.

• Age
• Gender
• Family size
• Family life cycle
• Income
• Occupation
• Education
• Ethnicity
• Nationality
• Religion
• Social standards

Based on these variables, an organization can decide which group would they cater to. For instance, an organization dealing in sports cars, will have to target the age group between 20 and 40 years, while an organization dealing in women magazines will focus on targeting the female gender.

Demographic Segmentation Advantages
One of the most popular method of market segmentation, demographic segmentation has some benefits which make it the first choice in the marketing strategies of various organizations. These advantages of demographic segmentation are

• The organization can easily categorize the wants of the consumers on the basis of demographic factors such as age, gender etc.
• Demographic segmentation variables are much easier to obtain and measure compared to the variables of other segmentation strategies.

For more information on marketing, you should also go through Successful Marketing Strategies.

Demographic segmentation helps the organization in understanding the customers and satisfying their needs. In a market driven by intense competition, market segmentation analysis can be of great help indeed. This segmentation is basically based on the simple fact that you can’t please all consumers with a single product, you will have to identify the potential market, divide it into various segments and cater to the needs of each segment in order to become a successful business entity.

The following four variables are examples of demographic factors used in market segmentation:

1. Age : Consumer needs and wants change with age. The marketing mix may therefore need to be adapted depending on which age segment or segments are being targeted.

1. Gender : Dividing a market into different groups based on sex, has long been common for many products including cosmetics, clothing and magazines. In the 1960’s car companies such as Toyota began to realise the purchasing power of women, creating marketing campaigns, and then cars, specifically targeted at the female market. Many suggest that the range of interior and exterior colours schemes, and emphasis placed on safety factors by car manufacturers today, is due to in no little part to their desire to market cars to women, as well as men.
2. Life-cycle stage : Dividing a market into different groups based on which stage in the life-cycle, presented in the table below, reflects the fact that people change the goods and services they want and need over their lifetime.

Psychographic Segmentation

There are many bases for dividing markets into particular segments. Psychographic segmentation is one of the most important factors that must be kept in mind by the marketer, in order to successfully gain and maintain market share.

Psychographic segmentation, or behavioral segmentation, is a method of dividing markets on the bases of the psychology and lifestyle habits of customers. It is the marketers and the sellers of products and commodities who use this technique in order to decide their marketing strategy. Marketing a product requires a deep understanding of the customers psychology, along with their needs, in order for the product to be accepted. Marketers carry out a number of activities in order to better understand the psyche and the habits of the customers, so that they can accurately predict the response to the product they are selling, and thus make accurate sales projections.

Psychographic Segmentation Definition

Understanding this concept of market segmentation is not that hard once you see the complete benefits of the concept. When a producer decides to market a product, he has to realize that there are a lot of differences between customers of different localities, ages and nationalities. Thus, he has to divide the market into various segments, and target each segment individually so as to maximize sales. These segments are divided on a variety of factors like age, sex, lifestyle, income level and psychology and hence it plays on the psychology of the potential customers and helps the seller determine how he must approach customers belonging to a particular segment.

Psychographic variables are also known as IAO variables – Interests, Activities and Opinions. The seller needs to analyze these 3 factors primarily in order to understand the psyche of the customers. Then he can adopt a suitable marketing strategy, or he can alter an existing marketing strategy. The habits that consumers generally display with regard to a certain class of products will determine their reaction to the product that a seller is offering them.

Psychographic Segmentation Variables

The variables that come into play in this scenario are primarily psychological in nature. Here are some of the most common variables that fall under this category and are well utilized by marketers and business organizations in order to enhance their sales figures.

• Interests
• Activities
• Opinions
• Behavioral patterns
• Habits
• Lifestyle
• Perception of selling company
• Hobbies
• Using these factors as a base, a marketer can determine how a particular group of customers will respond to the launch of a new product. This form of segmentation should not be confused with demographic segmentation, as demographic segmentation primarily takes into consideration the age and the gender of the targeted customer group.Psychographic Segmentation ExampleConsider a company that manufactures high-end luxury cars. This is a product that cannot be afforded by people from every income group. Only individuals falling in high income groups are realistic customers of this specific product. That is the primary basis of segmentation for the car manufacturer, that forms the basis of their marketing plan.

  Within the high income bracket, the car manufacturer must now decide how he should go about the segmentation process. He will analyze the habits and lifestyles of his existing customers, and even those of the customers of his direct rivals. Soon he will see that some customers use these luxury cars as status symbols, some use them as utility vehicles, and some use them for long distance drives. Understanding the usage of a particular vehicle will provide the basis for the marketing of a product. Users who prefer long drives will be shown the highlighted fuel efficiency of the vehicle, people who use the car sparingly just for prestige purposes will be told about the excellent looks and prestige of the car model and the brand, and people who use them for other purposes will be informed about the interior space, the handling, the braking system etc.

  The art of marketing is such that the marketer needs to highlight that part of the commodity that appeals most to a particular customer, and tell him the features of the product and how it will benefit him, as a part of the advertising process.

  Psychographic Segmentation Advantages

  Apart from the obvious advantage of increased sales, there are a few other intricate benefits of this form of segmentation for marketers as well.

• Increased brand value of the company in the eyes of the customer.
• Greater usefulness of the product for the customer.
• Better inputs for the design of new products that the customer will like.
• Lesser amount of money spent on marketing, as it is now more specific.
• Easier to target a specific type of customer base.
• Simpler to derive effective and efficient marketing strategy.
• Greater degree of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, resulting in higher amount of customer retention.

All of these advantages are well-known to any marketer who wishes to sell his product. The scale of production and the size of the company are irrelevant when this concept comes into play. Even the smallest scale marketer knows the benefits of this segmentation, and he will apply it to this marketing strategy, either knowingly or unknowingly in order to enhance his business.

Psychographic segmentation divides the market into groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality characteristics. It is based on the assumption that the types of products and brands an individual purchases will reflect that persons characteristics and patterns of living.

Behavioral Segmentation

Behavioral segmentation is based on actual customer behavior toward products. Some behavioralistic variables include:

• Benefits sought
• Usage rate
• Brand loyalty
• User status: potential, first-time, regular, etc.
• Readiness to buy
• Occasions: holidays and events that stimulate purchases

Behavioral segmentation has the advantage of using variables that are closely related to the product itself. It is a fairly direct starting point for market segmentation.

Product Positioning

Positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identify in the minds of their target market for its product, brand or organization.

There are to types of products positioning:

Re-positioning involves changing identify of a product, relative to the identity of competing products in the collective minds of the target market.

De-positioning involves attempting to change the identity of competing products, relative to the identity of your own product, in the collective minds of the targets market.

There are many brands in Bangladesh but their products not for all class people because some of their product is high quality and some low quality. On the other hands our product is standard and reasonable for all class customers. It is made by 100% cotton, good looking attractive to look at not harmful for human skin.

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing products. “Marketing mix” is a general phrase used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make in the whole process of bringing a product or service to market. The 4 Ps is one way – probably the best-known way – of defining the marketing mix, and was first expressed in 1960 by E J McCarthy. These four elements are adjusted until the right combination is found that serves the needs of the product’s customers, while generating optimum income. Sometimes the first P (Product) is substituted by presentation.

Marketing professionals and specialist use many tactics to attract and retain their customers. These activities comprise of different concepts, the most important one being the marketing mix. There are two concepts for marketing mix: 4P. It is essential to balance the 4Ps of the marketing mix. The concept of 4Ps has been long used for the product industry while the latter has emerged as a successful proposition for the services industry.

The 4P of the marketing mix can be discussed as:

Product
Types of product

a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need product can be divided into-

A good- something tangible, something you can touch and use (e.g. a television)

A service – usually intangible, something other people do for you (e. g. entertainment from a film you watch)

Product can be divided into two types-

1. Consumer product
2. Business product

Our product is T-shirt. It is a tangible and consumer product.

Price
Pricing must be competitive and must entail profit. The pricing strategy can comprise discounts, offers and the like. Our product price is reasonable for all class people price of our product is 450 tk.

Place
It refers to the place where the customers can buy the product and how the product reaches out to that place. This is done through different channels, like Internet, wholesalers and retailers. Because of our product for all class customer so it will be available in every city.

Promotion
It includes the various ways of communicating to the customers of what the company has to offer. It is about communicating about the benefits of using a particular product or service rather than just talking about its features. We will advertised our product by TV, Bill board, Leaflet, Magazine and online etc.

Physical (evidence)
It refers to the experience of using a product or service. When a service goes out to the customer, it is essential that you help him see what he is buying or not. For example- brochures, pamphlets etc serve this purpose.

Product

In general, the product is defined as a “thing produced by labor or effort” or the “result of an act or a process”, and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce(re) ‘(to) lead or bring forth’. Since 1575, the word “product” has referred to anything produced. Since 1695, the word has referred to “thing or things produced”.

In economics and commerce, products belong to a broader category of goods. The economic meaning of product was first used by political economist Adam Smith.

In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need.^[5] In retailing, products are called merchandise. In manufacturing, products are purchased as raw materials and sold as finished goods. Commodities are usually raw materials such as metals and agricultural products, but a commodity can also be anything widely available in the open market. In project management, products are the formal definition of the project deliverables that make up or contribute to delivering the objectives of the project. In insurance, the policies are considered products offered for sale by the insurance company that created the contract.

• What does the customer want from the product/service? What needs does it satisfy?
• What features does it have to meet these needs?
  • Are there any features you’ve missed out?
  • Are you including costly features that the customer won’t actually use?
• How and where will the customer use it?
• What does it look like? How will customers experience it?
• What size(s), color(s), and so on, should it be?
• What is it to be called?
• How is it branded?
• How is it differentiated versus your competitors?
• What is the most it can cost to provide, and still be sold sufficiently profitably?

Price

The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. The price is very important as it determines the company’s profit and hence, survival. Adjusting the price has a profound impact on the marketing strategy, and depending on the price elasticity of the product, often; it will affect the demand and sales as well. The marketer should set a price that complements the other elements of the marketing mix.

When setting a price, the marketer must be aware of the customer perceived value for the product. Three basic pricing strategies are: market skimming pricing, marketing penetration pricing and neutral pricing. The ‘reference value’ (where the consumer refers to the prices of competing products) and the ‘differential value’ (the consumer’s view of this product’s attributes versus the attributes of other products) must be taken into account.

• What is the value of the product or service to the buyer?
• Are there established price points for products or services in this area?
• Is the customer price sensitive? Will a small decrease in price gain you extra market share? Or will a small increase be indiscernible, and so gain you extra profit margin?
• What discounts should be offered to trade customers, or to other specific segments of your market?
• How will your price compare with your competitors?

Place

Place  refers to providing the product at a place which is convenient for consumers to access. Place is synonymous with distribution. Various strategies such as intensive distribution, selective distribution, exclusive distribution, franchising can be used by the marketer to complement the other aspects of the marketing mix.

• Where do buyers look for your product or service?
• If they look in a store, what kind? A specialist boutique or in a supermarket, or both? Or online? Or direct, via a catalogue?
• How can you access the right distribution channels?
• Do you need to use a sales force? Or attend trade fairs? Or make online submissions? Or send samples to catalogue companies?
• What do you competitors do, and how can you learn from that and/or differentiate?

Promotion

Promotion  represents all of the methods of communication that a marketer may use to provide information to different parties about the product. Promotion comprises elements such as: advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion.

Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet advertisements through print media and billboards. Public relations is where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word-of-mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and public relations.

• Where and when can you get across your marketing messages to your target market?
• Will you reach your audience by advertising in the press, or on TV, or radio, or on billboards? By using direct marketing mails hot? Through PR? On the Internet?
• When is the best time to promote? Is there seasonality in the market? Are there any wider environmental issues that suggest or dictate the timing of your market launch, or the timing of subsequent promotions?
• How do your competitors do their promotions? And how does that influence your choice of promotional activity?

The 4Ps model is just one of many marketing mix lists that have been developed over the years. And, whilst the questions we have listed above are key, they are just a subset of the detailed probing that may be required to optimize your marketing mix.

Amongst the other marketing mix models have been developed over the years is Boom and Bitner’s 7Ps, sometimes called the extended marketing mix, which include the first 4 Ps, plus people, processes and physical layout decisions.

Another marketing mix approach is Lauterborn’s 4Cs, which presents the elements of the marketing mix from the buyer’s, rather than the seller’s, perspective. It is made up of Customer needs and wants (the equivalent of product), Cost (price), Convenience (place) and Communication (promotion). In this article, we focus on the 4Ps model as it is the most well-recognized, and contains the core elements of a good marketing mix.