Introduction
Since the introduction of commercial landscape, many local and international thinkers have explored the field of marketing and developed new concepts. The 4 P’s marketing mix by McCarthy is one of the theoretical concepts introduced into the market scenes. Moreover, there are the new P’s established in additions to the old traditional 4 P’s. This is simply meant to face up high competition in the current marketing environment.
McCarthy four P‘s framework
The four P’s marketing framework developed by McCarthy popularly known as the marketing mix falls into four major categories all with one aim of attracting the target; who is the customer. It is the efforts of McCarthy who assembled the ingredients that today are recognized as the 4 P’s of marketing mix (The Marketing Mix and 4Ps 2010).
Based on what McCarthy developed, these four marketing parameters are what any marketing manager across the world can control. One primary goal of the 4p’s is simply to enable the manager make decisions that centers the 4p’s precisely on the customer, just to clear values and generation of positive responses as far as marketing is concerned (Marketing mix 4Ps model 2011).
In order for any marketing manager to achieve better marketing objectives, there is need to employ the 4p’s strategies and balance them appropriately. For example, in a case where the newly priced service is poor, as a manager, the solution may be either to change the service or upgrade the service delivery in a way it impresses the users (The Marketing Mix and 4Ps 2010).
The first P presents the product. This simply refers to tangible products or services offered to customers. McCarthy stipulated that the marketing manager has a role of making decisions based on the product.
Such product decisions include; product brand name, styling of packaging, quality, repair and support (The Marketing Mix and 4Ps 2010). The marketing manager has also the mandate of issuing the warrant on the product or service.
The second P presents the price. This empowers the marketing manager to decide on the pricing strategy. Nevertheless, it is not guaranteed that all decisions by the marketing manager will always be positive. This is just a pricing strategy.
Sample of pricing strategies a manager can be exposed to include; suggesting the retail prices, deciding on the volume of discount to be offered to customers at retail or wholesale levels, price flexibility and discrimination (Webber 2005). Based on the context of marketing mix, promotion being the other P, basically offers or presents various different aspects of marketing communications.
This precisely includes advertising, and conducting sales promotions accompanied by special offers and any activity that creates the best impression throughout the working environment (The Marketing Mix and 4Ps 2010).
The major aim of this strategy is to generate a positive customer response on the products and services offered. The marketing manager also has the mandate to arrange for publicity of products and also developing marketing communication budget. Finally, the place or distribution strategy is all about delivering products and services to the customers.
The marketing manager freely has the powers to decide on various distribution channels, specify channel members and decide on the warehousing and market coverage (Webber 2005). Contrary, not all marketing managers employ the 4P’s strategies on marketing. Nevertheless, since 1960, there has been significant development in global marketing.
In summary, McCarthy’s 4 P’s marketing mix mainly focuses on what impresses the customer to purchase the brand. Each of the P strictly focuses on the customer more than any other thing. To support this, most brands or services were developed in such a way that they impressed the customers. Moreover, the pricing system had to be attractive to the customers in order to win their heart (Huffine 1999).
The other significant development as a result of 4 P’s model is that the scope of market is broadened. This is perceived in such a way that marketing applications are expanded beyond the customer’s product/services idea. There have been developments precisely on exchange transaction emphasis.
In this category, the market was not limited or confined primarily to the exchange of product but favored the inclusion of resources of time and energy (The Marketing Mix and 4Ps 1996).
The 4P’s model has encountered several criticisms from people who believe that each P needs to be redefined again. Critics suggest that the definition of each P is so narrow and can hinder student’s ability to fully understand and interpret the concept. The new concept of the product must include all the necessary benefits the customer is likely to gain.
If the product for example is cosmetics, it should be noted that the manufacturer did not only produce a physical product but also a package of beauty (Huffine 1999). The new concept of price again should include every parameter buyers give to achieve a benefit. For example, time.
Time has a price bearing in mind that some customers offer to wait for longer durations in order to get the best product or services. Sellers with poor services will definitely lose customers.
The new concept of promotion must incorporate all information likely to arise between the buyer and the seller. This will facilitate to the development of a mutual relationship and such advantageous relationship will clearly reveal the benefit obtained from the exchange (Huffine 1999). Finally, the concept on place should be redefined since everything transacted is required to bring about exchange.
In conclusion, McCarthy’s model was efficient in the 1960’s. This is because by then, marketing was perceived to involve sales, advertisement and distribution of products and services. However, currently, marketing has widely evolved to a broader scope and concepts. Nevertheless, up to date, McCarthy’s model still forms a very good foundation for explaining the marketing mix and also for learning (Huffine 1999).
How young customers are changing the world of marketing
Teenagers or young customers traditionally have been nurtured and trained by most companies simply to cement their loyalty and eventually become their future valuable customers. The key aspect perceived by majority of marketers and suppliers is the fact that young people are valuable early adopters (Spero & Stone 2004). Moreover, the teenage group is seen to be the markers of future consumers and lucrative market.
Marketers describe teenagers and believe that they aspire to be young adults, so any default would simply consume anything penetrating down from the working professional.
It is important to mention that majority of teenage consumer spending is entirely dependable to peer group pressure. I support the statement that young customers are changing the world of market; simply because it is evident that teenagers of these days are independent (Kotler & Armstrong 2010).
This empowers them either singly or in groups to create their own rules of engagements and even on social behaviors. Generally, in today’s society, it is clear that most teenagers are motivated by the same aspiration specifically that of previous generations. The only distinction in a teenage life hood is the new developed channels and the contents distribution they employ.
In many areas however, teenagers complain that they have been granted less public space. Since the core value of most young people is to communicate, they are now overcrowding around the online world, where they are able to establish interpersonal relationships (Spero & Stone 2004).
Such online services have enabled teenagers to easily learn new things and be closer to those they admire. The specific change in market as afar as teenagers are concerned is directly applicable to companies producing brands targeting young adults.
Marketers need to understand the latest and stylish emerging behavior of their audience in order to win their marketing favor. This simply implies that, companies have to work with teens; produce brands that will harbor their behaviors, attitudes and practices. In addition, it is the teenagers who are supposed to do the talking as the marketers become the messengers (Spero & Stone 2004).
These strategies will always succeed whenever marketing a product to young adults. Marketers have the mandate of adjusting the long practiced tradition on marketing field and look beyond the demographic numbers and media peak. This will help them attract many teens and other modern customers to their products. One of the main agents of change in marketing is the digital world (Spero & Stone 2004).
It is in such environment where majority of teenagers are lodged on, where they play, learn, work and communicate. However, most marketers ignore or under-explore the digital world (Tapscott 2011). This is one area where marketers would capture the attention of many teenagers by just producing digitalized brands.
Nevertheless, in such a valuable market, many companies blindly ignore producing digitalized brands thus losing huge marketing channels. Statistics reveal that in United Kingdom, the annual teenage (12 to 16 years) consumption was approximately £3 Billion in the year 1997.
This has gradually increased to £17.8 Billion in the year 2002 (Spero & Stone 2004). This strongly supports the fact that teenagers are changing the global marketing via modernity.
It is sad to state that many companies still ignore this powerful consumer group and the influence they have over their parents regarding the purchases they need. The lifestyle of teenagers has also contributed to changes in global marketing. This is because young people are always considered to be emotionally engaged and no brand can ever succeed on them unless it connects with them emotionally (Spero & Stone 2004).
This forces most marketers to fully adapt in producing brands that openly allow teenagers to feel their independence and be free of moral judgments (Building your brand 2009).
In order to perfectly achieve this, most marketers are forced to produce a brand that will allow teenagers to interact with it thus developing an emotion connection. The only strategy marketers can successfully use to attract teens is via the digital channels (Spero & Stone 2004).
It is known globally that digital channels are the leading method of interaction that is very popular among the young adults. Moreover, it is estimated that one out of four teenagers aged 7 to 16 years, have replaced their television with the internet (Spero & Stone 2004). It is a fact that the digital world is the environment where huge numbers of teenagers dream and opt to be.
It is clear that teenagers are the most vital agents of change in world marketing. When focusing on this evolutionary world of today, it is indeed the young people who are triggering the revolution and the perception of marketers. In support, most engineers and designers still believe that young adults are the main cause of the trickling down of products from professionals to teenagers.
Furthermore, they are the reason for the availability of lower tariffs and cool markets adaptations worldwide. In the USA, the mobile phone markets are very low as compared to Europe (Salzman 2010).
The reason is because in USA, mobile is associated with parents. In order to recapture teenagers market in USA, the engineers were forced develop middleware programming tools for the teenagers. It is evident that most retailers and marketers must incorporate, understand and negotiate with the lifestyles of teenagers correctly in order to succeed.
The other developed change in world markets targeting the teenagers is the case where companies produce high quality services. In such occasions, many teens and other customers get encouraged to spend unlimitedly on the service benefiting the marketers. The specific example is directed to the use of internet and downloading of music. Statistics have revealed that 38% of teen download music from internet (Spero & Stone 2004).
The availability of free music download on the internet though pirated, will just encourage many teens to visit the site and download music freely. This precisely encourages many people including the teenager to pay inorder to access the internet and download music. This industry is gradually growing to be one of most outstanding entertainment enterprises.
The power of the teenagers in the marketing revolution has seen most companies produce software language primarily compatible with teenagers in order for them to build new products.
The developments of chatting sites like Habbo Hotel and Spero communication strongly encourages the creative expression among the teenagers who eventually saturate the site without limit (Spero & Stone 2004). The profit is therefore directed back to the marketers who developed the young people friendly site. Such marketers include the online retailers.
How can the two be reconciled in the contemporary of marketing
In my opinion, there is a strong correlation between the 4 P’s marketing mix developed by McCarthy and the role of teenagers in changing the world marketing. Basing on McCarthy’s marketing mix concept, the marketing manager has the power to make decisions placing the customer in the central interest (Goi 2009). Teenagers are powerful customers who are attracted to brands compatible with their modern lifestyle (Salkowitz 2010).
The 4 P’s model empowers the marketing manager to strictly focus on the interest of customers first in order to broaden the markets of the brands and services (How One Brand Changed the World 2011). Moreover, one of the 4 P’s models objectives is parallel to what the teenagers demand in today’s market.
The marketing manager has the powers to make decision on production of brands desired by consumers, with prices attractive to consumers and expand on marketing application and promotions beyond the consumer ideas.
The concept of the product developed by McCarthy demonstrates all the necessary benefits the customer is likely to get. The revolution teenagers are bringing up in the world market emphasizes on products that will harbor teenager’s latest behaviors, attitudes and practices (Lacy 2011). In addition, it is the teenagers who are supposed to do the talking as the markets become the messengers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the market mix paradigm has evidently dominated marketing since 1940s. The main aim of the 4 P’s is to point out customer’s needs and implement them in order to market products. This is the major reason as to why the teenagers rhyme hand in hand with the 4 P’s strategies, which gives the customer’s interest the first priority and then implements the idea.
References
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