Elements of the Marketing Mix Essay

This case will study describe the elements of the marketing mix. These four elements include product, place, price and promotion. This paper will include a description of how an organization’s marketing strategy is affected by the four elements of the marketing mix. Another aspect that this paper will include is a description of how each element is implemented in the company. One more topic that this paper will describe is the organizations name and industry in which it exists. The marketing mix is defined as a mixture of several ideas and plans followed by a marketing representative to promote a particular product or brand. Several concepts and ideas are combined together to formulate final strategies helpful in making a brand popular amongst the masses to form the marketing mix (â€Å"Marketing Mix – Meaning and Its Elements†, n.d.). The elements of the marketing mix are often called the four P’s of marketing (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2011). First, Product is defined as goods that are manufactured by organizations for the consumer. Products can be two types, tangible and intangible. A product in a market place is something which a seller sells to the buyers in exchange for money. Price is defined as the money which a buyer pays for a product. The price of a product is indirectly proportional to its availability in the market. If a product is not readily available then the price goes up (â€Å"Marketing Mix – Meaning and Its Elements†, n.d.). Place refers to the location where the products are available and can be sold or purchased. Here one is exposed to a physical building, or store, or one can purchase items on the internet. Finally, the fourth element is promotion. Promotion refers to the various strategies and ideas implemented by the marketers to make the consumer aware of their product (â€Å"Marketing Mix – Meaning and Its Elements†, n.d.). Today’s market is huge and there is an abundant variety of products available. Frito Lay is a multi-national  corporation that is predominantly in the salty snack business. Frito Lay aims its market strategy at both the mass market and target markets alike. This food driven company does have some strengths such as its renowned reliability, high quality control and markets its product as convenient fun foods. The products that Frito Lay generates have consumers in mind that particularly buy snack foods as a leisure item. Their packing and branding is targeting a consumer that wants to snack on the go or during lunch with a sandwich. With this in mind, the organizations marketing strategy uses all four of the marketing mix very well. Frito Lay sells a wide variety of chips form Ruffles to Lays, Cheetos to Doritos and Tostitos to Funyions. These products satisfy many customers’ needs for fun snacking. In the Product element, packaging is also very important when keeping the consumer satisfied. Bright colors are used to catch the eye when they design the bags that carry all of their brands. In the Place element, the product is highly visible in that one can purchase said items and every convenience store in the marketplace. Not only is the product in just about every UDS store but in vending machines and supermarkets. The channel of distribution is very important to deliver these products to the consumer and Frito Lay has an excellent distribution system in place. The third element, Promotion, targets new customers and retaining current customers. Many people have heard the phrase â€Å"no one can eat just one.† This catch phrase was designed for Lays potato chips and hasn’t been used in years, but just about everybody has heard that. That is advertising at its finest. The use of mass selling techniques has been advantageous to Frito Lay. The fourth â€Å"P† is Price and that obviously plays an important part in Frito’s model. Frito Lays strategy is to stay competitive with other salty snack manufacturers and their price points. Their target price is also directed at young adults and children. Each element in the marketing mix is used very well by Frito Lay. The products that this corporation sells to the consumer vary from salty snacks to cookies and even beef jerky. Frito Lay guarantees freshness for its product and delivers a price point that is competitive to just about any consumer. In the channels of distribution process it is important to get a food item to the retailer in a timely manner as the food item can spoil. The freshness guarantee that Frito Lay offers dictates that the salty snack has a shelf life of about a month for most products and the  products need to be removed from the shelves if they do not sell. Because of this model, the delivery system promotes efficiency when sold and distributed to each retailer. Promotions are huge with Frito Lay as they spend millions for point of sale coupons and retail discounts. Not only is there retail push for sales but Frito Lay spends millions on advertising. Advertising can be seen in standard commercials to big budget commercials during super bowl ads. These methods of communication are geared at mass selling and are very effective. Finally, the Price element is important to Frito Lay as the market price for materials goes up so does the price of their products. To circumvent these price hikes, Frito Lay will lower the content volume in the bag and not raise the price. In other instances, they will raise the price by ten cents and remove the price on the bag for a short period of time. The idea is to trick the consumer into believing the price is the same. In all the instances, Frito Lay has a business model that is very effective and has endured for many years. By understanding the similarities and differences between these elements one can understand how a corporation uses the marketing mix to their advantage. The four elements are critical to understand the very nature of the consumer and the retailer. This case study shows that it is important to understand the marketing mix business model as it pertains everyone and final user. References Marketing Mix – Meaning and its Elements. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://managementstudyguide.com/marketing-mix.htm Perreault, W. D., Cannon, J. P., & McCarthy, J. (2011). Basic Marketing. A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collectioon database.