Marketing is managing profitable customer relationships.
• Product means the goods-and-services combination the company offers to the target market. Thus, a Ford Focus consists of nuts and bolts, spark plugs, pistons, headlights and thousands of other parts. Ford offers several Focus models and dozens of optional features such as self-assist parking. The car comes fully serviced and with a comprehensive warranty that is as much a part of the product as the tailpipe.
• Price is the amount of money customers must pay to obtain the product. Ford calculates suggested retail prices that its dealers might charge for each Focus. But Ford dealers rarely charge the full sticker price. Instead, they negotiate the price with each customer, offering discounts, trade-in allowances and credit terms. These actions adjust prices for the current competitive and economic situations and bring them into line with the buyer’s perception of the car’s value.
Placement logistics includes company activities that make the product available to target customers and end-consumers. Ford partners with a large body of independently owned dealerships that sell the company’s many different models. Ford selects its dealers carefully and supports them strongly. The dealers keep an inventory of Ford motor vehicles, demonstrate them to potential buyers, negotiate prices, close sales, and service the cars after the sale.
• Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it. Ford Motor Company spends millions each year on advertising in Australia and New Zealand to tell consumers about the company and its many products. Dealership salespeople assist potential buyers and persuade them that the Ford brand is the best car for them. Ford and its dealers offer special promotions – sales, cash rebates, low financing rates – as added purchase