Marketing 101

THE MARKETING MIX
The Marketing Concept is predicated on the idea that there are four main components in a proper Marketing Mix:
1. The Product Strategy
2. The Price Strategy
3. The Distribution Strategy
4. The Promotion Strategy.

Usually referred to as the "Four Ps" (using "place" for "distribution" to make it fit).

In an ideal world, all products and services would be market-driven; that is, each of the four strategies would be developed from analysis of the marketplace rather than being driven by one strategy over the other three. But we do not live in an ideal world and, more often than not, product becomes the dominant (and driving) force. If that is the case, you need to be very clear about what your product is and you need to take pains to make it tangible. Be prepared to show and tell what the customer will be getting.

MARKET SEGMENTATION
Before clearly defining our various strategies, we need to know some things about the marketplace. That is where Market Segmentation comes in.

Proctor & Gamble spend millions of dollars every year defining, segmenting, and studying their various markets. Obviously, having the resources to do that would be desirable but it isn't strictly necessary and there are many good sources of secondary data available.

Market Segmentation involves defining one or more characteristics of the marketplace and dividing it up according to those factors. It is important to chose factors that are meaningful rather than just easy: many companies segment their markets according to arbitrary and company-driven characteristics, such as "location". Rarely will most of the potential clients in a given geographic region have sufficient similarities for such a segmentation to be meaningful, but it is often convenient for the producer to think of the market that way and so this fundamental mistake gets repeated.