1. Marketing itself is concerned with what goods and services to produce, how to distribute them, the promotional efforts (including advertising) that go into supporting those products and services, and the pricing strategy that is used. The marketing concept, which has largely evolved since the Industrial Revolution, has three components: it requires that an organisation be consumer-oriented, have a coordinated marketing programme, and be goal-oriented (Evans & Berman, 1995, p. 17). Where a sales approach to business concentrates on selling product and assessing the revenue from that product (a narrow view), the marketing concept takes a broad view and considers consumer demands and tastes as well as long-term strategy.
The marketing mix is composed of four components: product, distribution (place), promotion and price (Evans & Berman, 1995, p. 18). Product refers to the specific product or service that is being offered for sale, and is the foundation for the remainder of the marketing decisions. Even within a particular product category, decisions must be made about the exact characteristics that a product will have, and whether the company will market variations on its primary product. For example, companies that sell salsa must decide not only on the basic recipe for the salsa, but whether the salsa will be available in both mild and "hot" varieties (or whether additional gradients will be added to the product line).
In addition to the physical characteristics of the product itself, the product question is also concerned with the type of packaging and image associated with a particular product. Some of these decisions can be strictly aesthetic, such as using brightly colored packaging for products such as corn chips. Salsa, for example, can be made available in jars, or in bottles, and can be designed for pouring (squirting) or for use with a spoon. Soft drink manufacturers, for example, not only are responsible for ...