Modeling Marketing Mix

The marketing mix refers to variables that a marketing manager can control to influence a brand’s sales or market share. Traditionally, these variables are summarized as the four Ps of marketing: product, price, promotion, and place (i.e., distribution; McCarthy, 1996). Product refers to aspects such as the firm’s portfolio of products, the newness of those products, their differentiation from competitors, or their superiority to rivals’ products in terms of quality. Promotion refers to advertising, detailing, or informative sales promotions such as features and displays. Price refers to the product’s list price or any incentive sales promotion such as quantity discounts, temporary price cuts, or deals. Place refers to delivery of the product measured by variables such as distribution, availability, and shelf space. The perennial question that managers face is, what level or combination of these variables maximizes sales, market share, or profit? The answer to this question, in turn, depends on the following question: How do sales or market share respond to past levels of or expenditures on these variables? PHILOSOPHY OF MODELING