Marketing is a process of planning and movement of a product offering from the supplier of that
offering (the marketer) to those who are to use it. Marketing is often equated with selling,
advertising, packaging, display, promotion, public relations, propaganda and so on. It is erroneous to
say that marketing is any one of these, because marketing is all of them. The marketing process is
incomplete unless all of its functions are performed, functions that fall under four general headings:
product, price, promotion and place, the time-honored four Ps model (McCarthy 1975). In turn, each
of these four Ps subsume specific functions, some of which are listed below:
Product
Design
Information
Branding
Packaging
Classification and standardization
Warrantee
Postsale service; repairs
Price
Financing
Credit terms
Concessions and discounts
Nonmonetary sacrifices
Promotion
Advertising
Personal selling
Promotional special events
Public relations, image creation
Place
Channels of distribution
Storage
Quantity breaking
Delivery
Inventory management
Point-of-sale display
Thus to reiterate: in order for marketing to be thoroughly accomplished, all of the above functions
must be performed explicitly or implicitly, either by the marketer or by other parties to the
transaction. If any are omitted or even poorly executed, an incomplete and usually ineffective
process results.
Marketing functions within the four Ps model are generally considered to be within the marketer's
control. The marketer, can and does, manipulate the amount and direction of resource allocation for
determining how to design the product, what price to charge, where to promote and how and when to
make delivery. Other factors are beyond the marketer's control, for example, economic conditions,
government regulation, labor union activity and consumer demand. (Whether or not consumer tastes
are also controlled or at least shaped through advertising is a debate to be postponed for the present.
Indeed, the position is taken here, in what follows, that consumers' wants and needs reign supreme.)
offering (the marketer) to those who are to use it. Marketing is often equated with selling,
advertising, packaging, display, promotion, public relations, propaganda and so on. It is erroneous to
say that marketing is any one of these, because marketing is all of them. The marketing process is
incomplete unless all of its functions are performed, functions that fall under four general headings:
product, price, promotion and place, the time-honored four Ps model (McCarthy 1975). In turn, each
of these four Ps subsume specific functions, some of which are listed below:
Product
Design
Information
Branding
Packaging
Classification and standardization
Warrantee
Postsale service; repairs
Price
Financing
Credit terms
Concessions and discounts
Nonmonetary sacrifices
Promotion
Advertising
Personal selling
Promotional special events
Public relations, image creation
Place
Channels of distribution
Storage
Quantity breaking
Delivery
Inventory management
Point-of-sale display
Thus to reiterate: in order for marketing to be thoroughly accomplished, all of the above functions
must be performed explicitly or implicitly, either by the marketer or by other parties to the
transaction. If any are omitted or even poorly executed, an incomplete and usually ineffective
process results.
Marketing functions within the four Ps model are generally considered to be within the marketer's
control. The marketer, can and does, manipulate the amount and direction of resource allocation for
determining how to design the product, what price to charge, where to promote and how and when to
make delivery. Other factors are beyond the marketer's control, for example, economic conditions,
government regulation, labor union activity and consumer demand. (Whether or not consumer tastes
are also controlled or at least shaped through advertising is a debate to be postponed for the present.
Indeed, the position is taken here, in what follows, that consumers' wants and needs reign supreme.)
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