Marketing Mix: A Way Of Life

By Keshav Sharma

After a long time, I got an opportunity to meet my friend. We discussed a lot of things from our old memories to the significance of mind and human behavior. A very interested thing which came on the table was about traditional marketing concepts and how they are an indivisible part of human life and behavior. Generally, marketing concepts are considered as tools being used by businesses to grow and connect with their customers. Marketing campaigns are being run by corporates, social activists, political parties, government to enhance awareness about certain product, service, person or cause.

This is the one side which we mostly look at. But there is one more aspect to it which is quite subtle and very much embedded in our life. Whether are we aware of it or not, it is constantly working day in day out. It has become such a basic part of our behavior which is very difficult to be ignored. You might think how that is possible. You might even call it an absolutely stupid thing to relate marketing principles to our lives. But if we take a moment and try to look at various things we do throughout our day, we can easily see the connecting thread between them. Let me explain to you.

According to the traditional concepts of marketing mix, there are four key elements i.e. 4 P’s of marketing mix:

Product,
Price,
Promotion and
Place.

Nothing new in that, right? Every self-respected marketing student would know this due to the blessings of Kotler baba.

But the point is how they are related to human behavior?

How is it the basis of what we think and the things we do in our daily routine?

How these principles are unknowingly the way of our life?

I would try to explain it to the best of my understanding.

Product:

The way various organizations sell their products and services, we also try to sell something in every moment. Our thoughts, our expressions, our opinions, our views and everything we are capable of doing are nothing but are our products/services. Products/services which we want to deliver to someone. As a person with sensible understanding, we put great efforts on the quality of what we try to offer or communicate. It is nothing but working on a product and its quality so that the probability of its successful acceptance is increased.

Price:

And it is not always money which we expect in return of our offerings. It is about the acknowledgment and recognition we get in return. This is the consideration which we generally look for as an exchange for the offering. Don’t we do that? Try to remember when you are trying to convince your friends, parents or even a stranger for that matter. You must have heard this line very frequently “I don’t buy your point”. Such expression is commonly used to show one’s disagreement. The Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs explains it better. There are needs which a human tries to fulfill level after level. In every interaction, we try to get something in return, be it physiological, related to safety, social, related to our self-esteem or self-actualization. We know it or not, we seek something in exchange.

Promotion:

You don’t just offer your thoughts, rather you try to make them look more attractive. You create a story and sensationalize it to make it more interesting to the recipient. You work on how you will be going to express, the packaging and the promotion part of it. You make sure that all the positives of your offerings have been communicated to the receiver. Sometimes you promote yourself or you take the help of someone else to get through. But it is inevitable. No matter what, one has to create a good image about the offering being made like it is done by various companies through advertising, public relations and other methods of promotion.

Place (Distribution):

And then you also work on the delivery part, the distribution. You decide whether to convey it by speaking in person, speaking on the phone, writing, paintings, images or any other possible medium. The kind of places you choose are like a park, someone’s house, a mall, a café, etc. One will better understand this with the example of taking one’s girlfriend on a date. The place you decide will greatly impact your date.

This applies in everything we do, be it a job interview, proposing your girlfriend, convincing your friends for a trip, listening to your parents’ advice, negotiating with your client for an extension, asking your boss for a leave, working hard for the promotion or increment, or apologizing your wife for forgetting your wedding anniversary.

During each interaction of our lives, we try to either sell or buy something, be it any tangible product or intangible thoughts. Our emotional life works in the same way as this materialistic world works. In this world, we try to earn as much money as possible and in our emotional or social life we try to earn acknowledgment and acceptance in the exchange of our thoughts and opinions. This acceptance is as important as money and sometimes, even more, important than that. It is essential for nurturing the soul and growth of one’s personality.

Things we do in our life are not just for seeking happiness rather it is for feeling alive and experience our own existence in this world.

What do you think about it? Please share your views.

Stay Healthy, Stay Inspired,

Keep Rising, Keep Shining.

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