Marketing mix

The term "marketing mix" is a foundation model for businesses, historically centered around product, price, place, and promotion[1] (also known as the "4 Ps"). The marketing mix has been defined as the "set of marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market".[2]

Marketing theory emerged in the early twenty-first century. The contemporary marketing mix which has become the dominant framework for marketing management decisions was first published in 1984.[3] In services marketing, an extended marketing mix is used, typically comprising 7 Ps ( product, price, promotion, place, packaging, positioning and people), made up of the original 4 Ps extended by process, people and physical evidence.[4] Occasionally service marketers will refer to 8 Ps (product, price, place, promotion, people, positioning, packaging, and performance), comprising these 7 Ps plus performance.[5]

In the 1990s, the model of 4 Cs was introduced as a more customer-driven replacement of the 4 Ps.[6] There are two theories based on 4 Cs: Lauterborn's 4 Cs (consumer, cost, convenience, and communication), and Shimizu's 4 Cs (commodity, cost, channel, and communication).

Given the valuation of customers towards potential product attributes (in any category, e.g. product, promotion, etc.), and the attributes of the products sold by other companies, the problem of selecting the attributes of a product to maximize the number of customers preferring it is a computationally intractable problem.[7]

The correct arrangement of marketing mix by enterprise marketing managers plays an important role in the success of a company's marketing:[8]

1. develop strengths and avoid weaknesses
2. strengthen the competitiveness and adaptability of enterprises
3. ensure the internal departments of the enterprise work closely together