Marketing mix

The marketing mix (4 Ps) is the set of controllable elements or variables that a company uses to influence and meet the needs of its target customers in the most effective and efficient way possible. These elements are sometimes sorted into the categories of product, price, place, and promotion (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".

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. In services marketing, an extended marketing mix is used, typically comprising 7 Ps (product, price, promotion, place, people, process, physical evidence), made up of the original 4 Ps extended by process, people and physical evidence. Occasionally service marketers will refer to 8 Ps (product, price, place, promotion, people, positioning, packaging, and performance), comprising these 7 Ps plus performance.

In the 1970's Professor Koichi Shimizu proposed the 4 Cs (commodity, cost, channel, and communication). A newer 4 Cs model emerged in the 1990's as a more customer-driven replacement of the 4 Ps created by Professor Robert Lauterborn, consisting of the 4 Cs (consumer, cost, convenience, and communication).

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

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