How do product, pricing, and place strategies shape the marketing mix?

"Product Strategy Marketing strategy typically starts with the product. Marketers can’t plan a distribution system or set a price if they don’t know exactly what product will be offered to the market. Marketers use the term product to refer to goods, services, or even ideas. Examples of goods would include tires, MP3 players, and clothing. Goods can be divided into business goods (commercial or industrial) or consumer goods. Examples of services would be hotels, hair salons, airlines, and engineering and accounting firms. Services can be divided into consumer services, such as lawn care and hair styling, or professional services, such as engineering, accounting, or consultancy. In addition, marketing is often used to “market” ideas that benefit companies or industries, such as the idea to “go green” or to “give blood.” Businesses often use marketing to improve the long-term viability of their industries, such as the avocado industry or the milk industry, which run advertising spots and post social media messages to encourage consumers to view their industries favorably. Thus, the heart of the marketing mix is the good, service, or idea. Creating a product strategy involves choosing a brand name, packaging, colors, a warranty, accessories, and a service program. Marketers view products in a much larger context than is often thought. They include not only the item itself but also the brand name and the company image. The names Ralph Lauren and Gucci, for instance, create extra value for everything from cosmetics to bath towels. That is, products with those names sell at higher prices than identical products without the names. Consumers buy things not only for what they do, but also for what they mean. Pricing Strategy Pricing strategy is based on demand for the product and the cost of producing that product. However, price can have a major impact on the success of a product if the price is not in balance with the other components of the 5Ps. For some products (especially service products), having a price that is too low may actually hurt sales. In services, a higher price is often equated with higher value. For some types of specialty products, a high price is expected, such as prices for designer clothes or luxury cars. Even costume jewelry is often marked up more than 1000 percent over the cost to produce it because of the image factor of a higher price. Special considerations can also influence the price. Sometimes an introductory price is used to get people to try a new product. Some firms enter the market with low prices and keep them low, such as Carnival Cruise Lines and Suzuki cars. Others enter a market with very high prices and then lower them over time, such as producers of high-definition televisions and personal computers. Place (Distribution) Strategy Place (distribution) strategy is creating the means (the channel) by which a product flows from the producer to the consumer. Place includes many parts of the marketing endeavor. It includes the physical location and physical attributes of the business, as well as inventory and control systems, transportation, supply chain management, and even presence on the web. One aspect of distribution strategy is deciding how many stores and which specific wholesalers and retailers will handle the product in a geographic area. Cosmetics, for instance, are distributed in many different ways. Avon has a sales force of several hundred thousand representatives who call directly on consumers. Clinique and Estée Lauder are distributed through selected department stores. Cover Girl and Coty use mostly chain drugstores and other mass merchandisers. Redken products sell through hair salons. Revlon uses several of these distribution channels. For services, place often becomes synonymous with both physical location (and attributes of that location such as atmospherics) and online presence. Place strategy for services also includes such items as supply chain management. An example would be that an engineering firm would develop offices with lush interiors (to denote success) and would also have to manage the supplies for ongoing operations such as the purchase of computers for computer- aided drafting."