Principles of Marketing - Essay Example

However, product, place and pricing seem to be the most critical things which determine the success and failures of the product in the market. This paper analyses the importance of Price, Product and Place in the marketing mix. “To create the right marketing mix, businesses have to meet the following conditions: The product has to have the right features; The price must be right; The goods must be in the right place at the right time” (Marketing mix (Price, Place, Promotion, Product)) The product is the most important thing which determines the success of marketing efforts.

No product can survive long in the market if it does not have the right features. For example, current mobile phones have multimedia facilities like camera, audio, video recording and playing, internet & email, touch screen command facilities, etc. It is difficult for a mobile phone product to succeed in the market at present without all these facilities. At the same time if a mobile phone manufacturer succeeded in incorporating any other unique features to their product, they will become the leaders in the market.

For example, touch screen facility was introduced in the market for the first time Apple Inc though their revolutionary product iphone. Since the introduction of ipod, many other companies incorporated touch screen facilities to their products. However, no products tasted success just like the iphones. In short, incorporation of the right feature at the right time is important for the success of the product in the market. Products which meet the needs of the consumers will succeed in the market whereas products which failed to catch the attention of the consumers will fail in the market.

“The price should fit the target audience’s ability to pay, and may also need to factor in incentives such as margins for wholesale and retail traders or providers who ensure that the product is delivered to the customer” (4 Ps - Product, Price, Place and Promotion). It is difficult for a product manufacturer to set same price for a product in different markets. They should give discounted price to the wholesalers so that the wholesaler would be able to raise the price slightly to get some profit.

Moreover, price can be altered based on the supply and demand theory in economics. When the supply is inadequate with respect to the demand, the prices can be increased whereas when the supply is more than the demand, the prices could be lowered to create more demand. Seasonal pricing is another strategy which is played by the product manufacturers in the market. In some special occasions like, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day etc, product manufacturers decrease the price in order to create more demand and to increase the selling.

“Pricing is not as simple as it might seem. In some situations, a lower price will not necessarily mean that more will be sold as the price level could also influence the perceived quality of a product” (Four Ps Of Marketing - Product, Price, Promotion, Placement). Extremely low or higher prices may create misconceptions about the product in the minds of the consumers. For example, Chinese products are extremely cheaper compared to the prices of the competitors which created a sense of inferior quality in the minds of consumers.

Thus when a rich person takes a buying decision, he will go for products from other countries because of the established perception about the cheap quality of Chinese products. In short, adequate