The second tool that will be discussed is "Price".

According to Dibb et al., (2016), Price is defined as "The aspect of the marketing mix that relates to activities associated with establishing pricing policies and determining product prices."

A certain price is chosen in terms of location and the people around it. The price will slightly increase in an area where people can afford to pay much more, and therefore living costs will be more expensive and vise versa in poorer areas.

Customers are willing to pay that little extra if they know the good or service is of better quality and that it really works for them.

McDonald's original worldwide logo

McDonald's, the crazily famous American fast food restaurant chain has nearly dominated the whole world. By working nationally and internationally the fast food chain business is placed in more than 110 countries (McDonald's, 2016). This, of course, means that they have multiple currencies as well as different pricing depending on the countries that they deal with.

McDonald's adjusts the price accordingly due to the different geographical location. However, with the different range of products the business has, McDonald's set prices with a "demand based methodology" (What makes McDonald's, 2011). This means that there may be price variations from restaurant to restaurant "but in a way that offers the best value to the restaurants' individual customer base (What makes McDonald's, 2015). 

It also comes down to the fact that price varies because in some areas, such as in high priced cities, people are willing and able to pay more, whereas in smaller places, they are going to charge less because it fits with the local consumers more reasonably.  

Labour, and local taxes also play a role in the price they end up putting up for the public. 

"For example, the average price of a Big Mac in America in July 2016 was $5.04; in China, it was only $2.79 at market exchange rates. So the "raw" Big Mac index says that the yuan was undervalued by 45% at that time." (The Economist, 2016)

Take a look at the price of a Big Mac all around the world! :

In the image below, it is clear that McDonald's is taking over the world, however, it wouldn't have such success if there weren't any customers! Regardless of all the hate, they must be doing something right!

The third tool that will be discussed is "Place".

Dibb et al., (2016) describe place/distribution to be "The aspect of the marketing mix that deals with making products available, perhaps through multiple channels, in the quantities desired, to as many customers as possible, while keeping the total inventory, transport and storage cost as low as possible." 

What is Google...? The video below has a quick in depth answer for you:

Where is Google?

Google is everywhere! From the highest satellite orbiting the world, beaming down till the tiniest device that's running any one of their products.

Google is available anywhere in the world and accessible from any device as long as you have some sort of internet and/or satellite connection.

Google in always at the right place and at the right time.

The official Google office, known as Googleplex (a combination of Google and Complex) is located at Mountain View in California. The site looks very much like a university campus, containing gyms and cafes. (Marketing Teacher, 2016)

Google also maintains 23 European locations, 14 Asia & Pacific locations, 5 Middle East locations, and 3 Latin America locations.

Google is an online business where it distributes information using the internet as its channel to people all around the world. (Google, 2016)

The fourth tool that will be discussed is "Promotion".

Dibb et al., (2016) define promotion to be "The aspect of the marketing mix that relates to marketing communications used to inform one or more groups of people about an organisation and its products and to maintain an ongoing relationship."                    

Promotion is a very important element of the marketing mix as it can boost brand recognition and sales. Promotion is comprised of various elements such as:

• Sales Organisation
• Public Relations (PR)
• Advertising
• Sales Promotion

A strong leader in the promotion industry is Coca Cola (A.K.A Coke). This is an American company invented in May 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia by Dr. John S. Pemberton (The Coca-Cola Company, 2016) in which the company currently offers more than 500 brands in more than 190 countries and serves over 1.6 BILLION servings... each day. 

They strongly believe in making people happy and bringing them together regardless of race, age, gender, nationality, religion or believes.

Above the line promotion (ALT):

is where mass media is used to promote brands and reach out to the target consumers. These include conventional media as we know it, television and radio advertising, print as well as internet.  This is communication that is targeted to a wider spread of audience, and is not specific to individual consumers. (Theadvertisingclub.net, 2016)

Below the line promotion (BLT):

is more one to one, and involves the distribution of stickers, promotions, brochures placed at point of sale, on the roads through banners and placards. It could also involve product demos and samplings at busy places like shopping malls and market places or residential complexes. However for some rural areas, they might not get all the mass media shown around so it is harder for them to engage and learn about new and upcoming products/goods/services.(Theadvertisingclub.net, 2016). 

One of the biggest competitors Coke has is Pepsi. Lately Pepsi have increased their advertising budget and straight away Coca-Cola management plans to do the same so that they can compete in the advertising compartment as well.

Mediums of advertising and promoting for Coca-Cola:

Print Media: 

Coca-Cola advertisements all over the world are creative so they appeal to the mass media

Point of Sales Materials:

Merchandise is essential to communicate to the consumers

TV Commercials:

The company focuses on urban and rural crowds, and change up their Coke ambassadors from time to time, this way they can really connect with each and every person watching.

Out-door Advertising:

Direct Marketing:

Social Media Promotion:

Word of mouth:

Yes, word of mouth is also a great way of promoting a good, service or product. It might not always necessarily be positive, however if it is marketed right it can do wonders.

                        

This is how Coca-Cola promote most of their activities; they leek the idea to some of the biggest bloggers and YouTuber's and let the magic happen from there.

Celebrity Endorsement:

By using celebrities and their social status or fame, fans will highly likely be influenced by them, this way the awareness of the product is increased which means they want to be drinking it and talking about it as well!

Coca-Cola's Happiness machine around the world promotes people to be kind to one another in the simplest of ways:

The video below shows how Coca-Cola thought of this problem and targeted people living in rural areas with poorer living conditions than in the city. They also came up with a way how the people living there can contact family members living abroad with no cost:

Coca Cola is known for its promotional influence on their customers and consumers. 

By promoting Coca-Cola in other countries, the company has tried to alter the flavor of the original Coke by adding some ingredients that the country desires; such as India. The company has collaborated with established stars and programmers and have gained an understanding of how important festivals and spices are in the Indian culture, as well as the most favourable sport, cricket.

Coca Cola brings people and countries together from different backgrounds and cultures, making them feel united:

Coca-Cola brings people together with different opinions and different thoughts:

The company also has different themes of advertising regarding to what season of the year it is. This means that they are promoting all year round and taking the seasons into consideration. 

For everyone wondering... What exactly is the Marketing Mix? ...

Well, Kotler and Armstrong (2010) define the marketing mix as “The set of controllable tactical marketing tools – product, price, place, and promotion – that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market."


The first tool that will be discussed is "Product".

What is a product?

A product can be classified as a good, service or an idea. This tool deals with "researching consumers products wants and designing a product with the desired characteristics" (Dibb et al., 2016)

There are 3 levels of Product:

• Core
• Actual
• Augmented 

There are so many products nowadays that one cannot even keep track of them all. For example, the famous and renown business, Apple, have a variety of different products on the market to choose from. They have the iPhone, the iPad, the iWatch, the iPod and multiple computers and laptops. However, when purchasing a product, there are many elements to take into consideration that come along with it!

Core – Dibb et al., (2016) describe a Core product to be "The level of a product that provides the perceived or real core benefit or service"

The Core element is not tangible, meaning its not the product itself but its the benefits the product brings with it. For example Apples iPhone's will include Core elements such as: having the newest software, a HD camera, free calls (Facetime), enhanced retina display, having a voice activated assistant (SIRI) and having the choice of downloading more than 800,000 apps on your phone (Apple, 2016).

Actual – 

Dibb et al., (2016) describe an Actual product to be "A composite of the features and capabilities offered in a product, quality and durability, design and product style, packaging and brand name."

The Actual element is the actual product itself, such as the iPhone, the iPad, the iPod, the iWatch, the laptop, the computer, the accessories etc. The brand name comes along with great importance to many consumers/customers. To many, just knowing that they have a product of Apple makes them feel part of a common community and feel as though they have a special product.

Augmented – 

Dibb et al., (2016) describe a Augmented product to be "Support aspects of a product, including customer service, warranty, delivery and credit, personnel, installation and after-sales support."

The Augmented element is the non-physical part of the product, the added value. What can influence an individual of a potential purchase is the overall level of customer service provided. Whereby when customers feel as though they are being treated right/wrong makes a huge difference to their purchase. Also, the warranty, the after-sales support and advice will be of concern to many consumers. 

                                           

The product life cycle (PLC) is defined by Dibb et al as "The four major stages through which products move" 

• Introduction
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline

A new product is introduced into the market; it grows; it matures; and when it loses appeal and sales decline, it is terminated. (Dibb et al., 2016)

Apple's product life cycle tends to differ from the original cycle as shown above. 

Their products are typically introduced with great fanfare and sales immediately skyrocket, level off and rapidly decline as the next model is introduced in about a year. This is a marvellous approach for companies that can attain the status of a fashion icon. (Strategosinc.com, 2016)

Each year thousands of products are released yet so many fail. However despite of so many of them failing, a way to always gain success is to provide a product with a significant benefit for the customers, that way they have no other choice but to buy it... why? Because now they can say they "I Need it!"