Consumer focused Marketing Mix

Video Transcription

Hello and welcome to this tutorial on the consumer focused marketing mix. Now, as always with these tutorials, please feel free to fast-forward, to pause, or to rewind as many times as you need in order to get the most out of the time that you're going to spend here.

So let me ask you a question. How does a business handle external marketing forces? And specifically, how do they handle those forces that relate directly to the consumer? I mean, let's face it. The consumer is the one who's going to buy my product, so I need to find a way to make sure that the consumer is going to want to pick my product, as opposed to somebody else's.

Well, what we're going to be learning about in this lesson is the 4 C's. It's a type of marketing mix that's consumer focused. And we're also going to be comparing those 4 C's to the 4 P's that we talked about earlier, that other marketing mix.

So let's start right off with the 4 C's. Now, as I mentioned before, the 4 C's is a type of marketing mix that's consumer focused. Here, I'm worried about what the consumer expects. How is my product fulfilling the wants and needs of the consumer better than my competition?

It demands that the business think like their customers. And let's face it. I could have the best product in the world, but if I think that what I am doing is the best there is out there, without thinking about who it is that's actually buying my product, then I put myself at a distinct disadvantage.

So what we're going to be doing is we're going to be looking at marketing our product not necessarily with the logistics of moving it from place to place, but I'm going to look at it from a customer's point of view. What are those things that the customer expects? What are those things that fulfill those wants and needs and convince my consumers or my customers to buy my product, from their point of view?

Now, if I compare the 4 C's and the 4 P's, what we're doing is we're extending that view beyond things that are under my direct control as a business. If you remember the 4 P's, we were looking at things that were internal to us, the product, the price, where we're going to place it, and also how we promote it. So basically what we're doing here is taking a look at it from the other side. How does a customer see those things? And how am I fulfilling it or fulfilling those things from the customer's point of view?

So let's talk about the product from a consumer point of view. You see, the product has to meet those consumer wants and needs. The consumer has to want it or the consumer has to need it, in order for me to even have a chance in the marketplace. I could have the best, prettiest, awesome-est product out there, but if it doesn't meet those basic wants and needs from the consumer, I might as well not even make it, because the people will not want to buy it.

Next, we have to look at place from a consumer point of view. Is it easy for the customer to go and get it or order it online? If my website is too complicated, if my business is too far out of the way, if it's in a place where people don't want to go, then consumers will have to work to get it. And unless it's an incredible want or an amazing need, people just won't bother to go out of their way just to find something.

Consumers like things that are easy. Think about it from your own perspective. Would you go to the next county just to pick up a hammer? No. I have places closer to me where I can get that item. So if I'm going to sell an item, it has to be in a place that's convenient to the customer.

It also has to be at the right price. If I price my product too high, then they will simply substitute my product for something else that fulfills that same want and need. Or I could price it at the place where the consumer simply doesn't want it anymore or doesn't have the ability to pay for it. At that point, my product just sits on the shelf. And if it sits on the shelf, I'm not generating sales. And if I'm not generating sales, well, so much for the business, right?

And of course the last thing is the promotion. How do I communicate to the consumer what my product is, what the cost is, and where they can go and get it? So let me ask you another question. How many of you just love getting phone calls from telemarketers? Well, telemarketing can be effective. But in order for it to be effective, the consumer has to actually listen to the sales pitch on the phone.

If the consumer doesn't listen to the sales pitch, I'm not communicating to the customer. So all of my effort for product, place and price just go out the window. If I have a commercial that's incredibly annoying, people will silence it, or simply fast-forward, or change the channel. Again, I'm not promoting my product because I'm not communicating.

I also have to make sure that I hit the right demographics. If I make a commercial that's aimed for a younger crowd, but my product is meant for a different age group, not really working. Let's say I want to have a denture cream, but I want to advertise it on MTV. That would be the wrong place to put it. There's not a lot of people who need denture cream who are watching MTV, so I'm not communicating to my consumer. So my promotion has to be in the right place. And it has to be something the consumer is willing to listen to and it informs them about the product, the place, and the price.

So what did we cover today? Well, we looked at the 4 C's, that consumer focused marketing mix, the customer needs and wants, the convenience to the customer, the cost to that end user, and finally, the communication that I use to inform them about the other three.

Then we compared the 4 C's to the 4 P's. Where the 4 P's were focusing on things that are internal to the business, things that I can control, the 4 C's we're going to use to focus on the consumer. And let's face it. We have no control over the consumer.

I want to thank you, as always, for spending some time with me. I had a great time, and I hope you did too. I'll see you next time.