Are the four P's of international marketing of equal importance to all firms? What factors might cause some to be more or less important than others?

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Are the four P's of international marketing of equal importance to all firms? What factors might cause some to be more or less important than others?

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Abstract

The term "Marketing Mix" became popular when Neil H. Borden published his article "The concept of the Marketing Mix", in 1964. Today, this expression is one of the most employed in international marketing. The Marketing Mix is also called "The Four P's".
According to Kotler and Dubois, the Four P's are the tools which permit a firm to achieve theirs objectives of the target-market. The Fours P's are Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The concept of "Marketing Mix" is easier to understand if we compare it with a cake. All the cakes are composed with flour, eggs, sugar and milk. We can modify the result obtained changing the quantity of each element. More sugar lead to a cake more sweetened. It's the same for the Marketing Mix: the offer to a customer can be modified by changing the content of the Four P's. For example, to have an image of quality, we have to concentrate efforts on the communication (Promotion). As a result, this will reduce the importance according to the price by the customer.

Introduction
The Four P's.
Factors which cause differences.
1. The market.
2. The segmentation.
3. The targeting.
4. The product.
5. The product life cycle.
Conclusion.
Bibliography.

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[...] It is the promise done by the firm to satisfy one or several needs (psychological or physiologic) of the market at some point. The product can be: - One product (shampoo). - One service (hairdresser). At the most of it characteristics, the product have one symbolic dimension and give imaginary. So it can satisfy several needs (tangible and intangible). The Product Life Cycle: The product presents analogies with a living being. We can observe four stages in the life of one product: the introduction, the growth, the maturity and the decline. [...]

[...] For example, the market of motor industry could be segmented by age of the conductor, importance of the engine, car's models, costs More often than not, the segmentation is done with those elements: - Geography (where the product is sold in the world ) - Psychographic (way of life, beliefs ) - Socio-cultural (social-classes ) - Demography (sex, age ) The firm has to evaluate each segment and its probabilities of success. For one segment, opportunities will depend of: - Growth potential - Competition - Potentials profits - Size of the segment The targeting: The firm will choose one or several segments within the market. [...]

[...] The 4 P's of international marketing are not of equal importance for all firms. If we take the first example (4P's comparison between Breitling and Ariel), we can dress this table: It indicates that the Target (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning) and the Product (Product Life Cycle and Classification) are the factors which change the 4P's of the firm which commercializes the product. Bibliography Marketing Management (Kotler et Dubois) Le Marketing Stratégique (Yves Chirouze) Strategic Marketing Management (Robert J. Dolan) Http://www.emarketing.fr http://marketing.thus.ch http://www.fredcavazza.net/index.php?2005/06/17/734 http://www.lesechos.fr/formations/marketing/articles/article_12_1.htm http://www.freeworldacademy.com/newbizzadviser/fw15.htm http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingplanandstrategy/a/marketingmix.ht m http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/ PRODUCT: FMCG Good after sales service Large range Washing product PROMOTION Not a lot of advertising Not sales promotion Image of luxe PLACE Few distribution center (only 3 in Cardiff) Few reserves logistics PRICE Very high price Middle price = 1500£ PRODUCT: Luxury product Good guarantee High styling Very accurate watch Business man Concorde PROMOTION A lot of advertising Lot of sales promotion Lot of public relation PLACE Lot distribution center (hyper, supermarket . [...]

[...] ) Lot reserves logistics PRICE Affordable price Middle price = - Air France 1 Product—1 Segment Segment 4 Segment 3 Segment 2 Segment 2 Segment 1 FIRM Segment 1 FIRM TARGET MARKET PROMOTION PLACE PRICE PRODUCT Segment 3 Segment 4 One Product - All Segments Cheap Plane Ticket Easy Jet All public FIRM Segment 1 Segment 2 Segment 3 Segment 4 One Product for each segment Brand 1 Brand 2 Brand 3 Brand 4 Renault DAEWOO HYUNDAI MERCURY COUGAR BMW FERRARI Price Economy Distribution is selective until consumers show acceptance of the product. [...]

[...] Not all elements of the marketing mix are necessarily changed with there. For example, the firm “Roquefort Société” is a French firm which produces blue cheese called Roquefort. In France, the Roquefort is a traditional product. In Great Britain, Roquefort is knowable but not in the same conditions. In Great Britain: In France: With this example, we can observe that the 4P's have not the same importance according to the target. In France, the promotion is less important than in Great Britain. [...]

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