The Four P's of Of Marketing

The Four P’s are product, place, promotion and price and are the key elements of the marketing mix organizations use to be effective in the marketing mica of the era we live in. The marketing mix is key to the effectiveness in the overwhelming number of organizations that are all out there competing for the consumers business. The consumer is a key element in the marketing mix as it is what they perceive that will aide the organization in successful consumer consumption. “The basic reason to focus on some specific target customers is so that you can develop a marketing mix that satisfies those customers’ specific needs better than they are satisfied by some other firm (William D. Perreault, 2009).”

The Element of Product

The target consumer base is influenced by the product element of the market mix. One might refer to a good or service and sometimes both as a product. An organization must me cautious not to define a product in a way it does not include service. There are organizations that are a service industry and there product can satisfy the needs of the consumer.

JPMorgan Chase Bank offers an extended product line to accommodate specific client base and their needs. This fits well into the organization’s marketing strategy, as JPMorgan Chase Bank looks to develop effective products and services for a growing number of client types. JPMorgan Chase Bank, is one of the world’s leading global investment banks, places special emphasis on their product and services that effect their marketing mix. JPMorgan Chase Bank has a full spectrum of asset classes including equity, fixed income, cash liquidity, currency, real estate, hedge funds and private equity; each with their own specialized needs and expectations. JPMorgan Chase Bank understands the expectations of its customers, and prides themselves in being ranked #1 in U.S. Equity Research by Institutional Investors this plays an key element for their product line.(“Jpmorgan chase,” 2010)

The Element of Place

Getting the product in front of the right targeted audience is called correct use of the place element in the marketing mix. A Place can be defined as where the consumer goes to shop from or get the service from. For example retailers like Walmart, Target and Winn Dixie are places customers go to shop though the retailer did not make the product they place the product in front of the customer.

“A product reaches customers through a channel of distribution. A channel of distribution is any series of firms (or individuals) that participate in the flow of products from producer to final user or consumer. Sometimes a channel of distribution is short and runs directly from a producer to a final user or consumer. This is common in business markets and in the marketing of services (William D. Perreault, 2009).”

JPMorgan Chase Bank sells its product directly to the customer. This means the client comes to the retail branch or in some cases our employees go to them; to establish and tend to their financial needs by which the client has entered into an agreement with the bank. Many commercial or private client customers take delivery of the product by means of private financial representatives through the bank. (“Jpmorgan chase,” 2010)

The Element of Promotion

Promoting is making sure the product is right for the correct consumer base involved in the marketing mix. Making sure the consumer base is informed about the element of marketing mix is key to effective communication to the consumer about the product or service. There are sub elements of promotion that are vital to the success of promotion to include personal selling, mass selling and sales promotions. I am a big fan of sales promotions in my organization as they tend to drive in the consumer and leave the personal and mass selling up to the bank employee.

“Personal selling involves direct spoken communication between sellers and potential customers. Mass selling is communicating with large numbers of customers at the same time. The main form of mass selling is advertising -any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Sales promotion refers to those promotion activities-other than advertising, publicity, and personal selling-that stimulate interest, trial, or purchase by final customers or others in the channel. This can involve use of coupons, point-of-purchase materials, samples, signs, contests, events, catalogs, novelties, and circulars (William D. Perreault, 2009).”

Product promotion is well integrated into JPMorgan Chase Bank’s marketing mix. JPMorgan Chase Bank stimulates interest in its products by maintaining a high level of customer service. The product is the financial accounts, the place is the institution and the promotion is what we offer that the others in my industry do not. The internet has taken the banking and finance industry to a new level of mass selling abilities, and promotional selling to our organization. JPMorgan Chase Bank offers online services for their customers and also markets to new customers via the internet. This allows the client to have a service to their product after they took advantage of the promotional marketing. (“Jpmorgan chase,” 2010)

The Element of Price

Last but not least the price element is the final marketing mix. When marketing price of a product the organization should take into account what the other organizations are offering or charging for the same item or service. JPMorgan Chase Bank, for example, prices its products in a manner that allows the organization to remain competitive but also continue to maintain its high level of customer service along with its leading edge products.

Conclusion

In conclusion to the marketing mix and the four P’s all the elements have to be used in order to have a successful marketing mix. Do not make the mistake of trying to prioritize the importance if one over the other they must all be equally used to balance a successful organization marketing plan. Think of it as baking a cake and you try to bake the mix before you add the milk & eggs; it’s just not going to have the same results as if you followed the directions.