The Marketing Principles

In many instances, marketing has been confused with the term advertising, as they appear to bear similar definitions. To students and scholars of marketing, however, these two terms are different in concept but both are totally complementary. Marketing in its broadest sense is made up of a communications mix that aims to satisfy the needs and wants of the market. It has four basic components (commonly called as 4Ps) that serve as the guidelines in every firm’s strategy. The first P stands for product and its main principle is to match the needs of the consumers and to be able to create strong product brands to become perpetual through generations. The second P signifies place which tackles on the using the appropriate distribution channels for wider market penetration. The other P means price and this focuses on implementing different pricing strategies for different types of products at diverse stages of the product life cycle.

The last P is called promotion and this is composed of the various ways to present the product or brand to consumers to entice them to buy the said products. This is where advertising, along with other elements of the marketing communications mix (public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing, and personal selling), comes into the picture. To put it simply, advertising is only a tool used to deliver a message to a targeted market using any of the following media: print, radio, TV, and new media (Web and the Internet). It is a public and non-personal communication paid for by a company or a sponsor. It is integrated with the other components of the promotional mix in order to influence purchasing decisions of the market in general. Now that you have grasped the concept behind marketing and advertising, you should also be knowledgeable what precise blend of these you are going to use especially that the trend of the present market is in big turbulence.