For many years, the Marketing Mix and the 4 P’s model have been essential theoretical concepts when determining the strategy of a business. The Product, Price, Place and Promotion are useful tools to enhance the progression of a business brand image and encourage competitive advantage. (Jobber, 2007) However, in the fast paced business environment that society is facing today alongside with the digital revolution, marketing methods need to be revised and adapt towards the new Direct and Digital Marketing.
As a result, marketers started seeking for ways to engage the customer toward their product based on strong relationships with a perspective on the long-term preference for the business. The main purpose of these relationships, also known as Relationship Marketing, is to build a marketing network, that consists of the company and its’ shareholders: custоmers, emplоyees, suppliеrs, distributоrs, retаilers, аd аgencies etc. or anyone of mutual profitable interest. (Kotler, 2009)
In other words, Relationship Marketing (RM) aims to unite client relationships, customer loyalty and brand value intro a successful strategy through two key tools: web technology and focus on customer. Based on this the businesses have the opportunity to build gradually trust and loyalty and achieve repeat purchases on their products. It has been proven that the customers who have already used the services of a company, tend to spend 33% more than the new ones and it’s six times less expensive to sell them a product. Furthermore, the chance for a repeat customer to recommend the purchased product or service to another consumer is a 107% greater. (Lake, 2014)
As it can be seen, this strategy is easy to implement, with greater chances of achieving higher rev...
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There is a belief that firms have a different marketing approach depending on if the firm is trading services or goods. Service firms are assumed to have a more relational approach where they manage the whole buyer-consumer communication process while the goods firms are transactional. The main purpose of this study is to find out how firms relate to their markets and what the relative emphasis of these firms on transactional and relational aspects of marketing are.The study distinguishes the firm type by the most dominant type of product offered and the most dominant of customer
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Relationship marketing, which emphases on approaches to Building, evolving and keeping a successful relational Exchange (Gro¨ nroos, et al., 1994), is changing marketing orientation from attracting short-term, discrete transactions to retaining long-lasting, close customer relationships. (Czepiel 1990) has pointed that customer relationship exchanges are particularly important because customers expect to receive extra benefits as a result of attractive in interpersonal attention. These benefits that are interpersonal in nature have been termed ‘‘relational benefits’’ in the literature, and increase to those customers who are involved in ongoing relationships with the service provider and its personnel (Gwinner et al., (1998)( Hennig- Thurau et al., 2002). Gwinner et al. (1998) conducted in-depth interviews and quantitative studies to examine the benefits customers receive from relational exchanges. Their findings from the qualitative study first shown four relational benefits in terms of the psychological (Bitner, 1995; Morgan and Hunt, 1994), social (Berry, 1995; Price and Arnould, 1999), economic (Peterson, 1995) and customization benefits (Barlow, 1992; Crosby, 1991). Consequently they empirically identified a typology of three relational benefits: confidence benefits (psychological), social benefits, and special treatment benefits (economic and customization). Confidence benefits in link with psychological benefits refer to perceptions of reduced nervousness and ease in knowing what to expect in the service encounter. Social benefits, which relate to the emotional part of the relationships and...
The marketing mix helps a company define the marketing elements for successfully positioning a market offer. The four P’s model, one of the best-known models, helps a company define its product marketing options in terms, place, price and promotion (MindTools.com, 2010). To enhance their impact with their target market, companies often use this model when you are planning a new venture, or evaluating an existing offer. As companies start out in an industry, many marketers learn about putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right t...
Marketing is a process of determining a consumer’s needs, devising a product or service to satisfy those needs, and trying to focus customers on the goods and services you are offering. Marketing is extremely important, and a fundamental building block for business growth. A marketing team is given the task of creating customer awareness through a variety of different marketing techniques. If a business does not pay close attention to their consumer demographic and needs, they will eventually fail over time. Two important aspects of marketing include acquiring new customers, and the preservation and growth of relationships with current customers. Marketing has always been viewed as a creative outlet, which encompassed advertising, distribution, and the selling of goods and services. Marketing staff will also try to anticipate what customers will want in the future, often being accomplished with market research. In summation, a good marketing plan should be able to create a favorable proposition or series of benefits that a customer can value through goods or services. The marketing mix is normally described as the strategic positioning of a product or service in the marketplace, using the specification of the four Ps. During the early 1960’s, Professor E. Jerome McCarthy of Harvard Business School stated that a marketing mix contains four elements. The four key points are product, pricing, promotion, and placement. It is recognized that all these aspects must be present to ensure a successful business model within a given industry. We will now take a thorough look at the four marketing mix points.
Many scholars believe that customer satisfaction has a crucial role in the success of a business, and is pivotal in increasing the overall profitability of the business (Kotier, 1991). Customer value is gained through the experience they receive from the goods or purchases they have obtained from a certain business. Customer value has various definitions and concepts, Holbrook (1999) stated that it is a kind of “interactive, mutual, and preferred experience”; but simply said, “the term customer value has many meanings.”
Both from the customer and the company point of view, each customer interaction is part of an iterative learning process (Ballantyne, 2004). Further, Yau et al. (2000) advocated that the relationships between business firms and its customers have been constantly encouraged as successful business practices worldwide. The strategy of relationship marketing is of high relevance particularly in the service industries because of the intangible nature of service and their high level of customer interaction (Al-Hersh, Aburoub, & Saaty, 2014). Relationship marketing is defined as the process of engaging in proactively creating, developing and maintaining committed, interactive and profitable exchanges with targeted customers (Haker, 1999). Furthermore, Gronroos (1990) asserted that relationship marketing is to establish, maintain, enhance and commercialise customer relationship so that the objectives of the parties involved are met which can be done by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Moreover, the implementation of the relationship marketing concept at the operational level refers to relationship marketing orientation (Hau & Ngo, 2012). Relationship marketing orientation indicates the firms’ philosophy of doing business concerning relationship building by propagating developing trust, empathy, bonding, and reciprocity between a firm and its customers (Sin et al., 2005a, b; Tse et al., 2004). Trust is an important element for a successful relationship between the firm and its customers (Berry, 1995). First, trust is an essential component for a successful relationship between the firm and its customers (Berry, 1995). Trust It refers to a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). Empathy, as a dimension of business relationship, enables the two parties to see the situation from
Naumann, E. (1995). Creating Customer value: The Path to Sustainable Competitive Advantage. Cincinatti: Thomson Executive Press.
In all reality, all businesses will, in some way shape or form, complete all of the marketing activities, even if completing these activities is not their main goal. (Dlabay 2006.) These marketing activities are product, place, price, and promotion. A business tool called that marketing mix takes all of these activities and puts them together in a way that can be used to help improve a business’s marketing strategy. Product is what the company is selling; Place is where the consumer will obtain this product; Price is what the consumer will pay for the product; Promotion is any type of communication that is intended to remind, inform, or persuade. (Dlabay 2006.) The marketing mix and the four P’s describe very well what business marketing is all about.
Professor Jerome McCarthy introduced in the early 1960s a marketing mix which consists of the 4 Ps: product, price, place and promotion (Kotler, 1999, p. 94). Traditionally, efficient product, price, place and promotion strategies would lead to a successful business but in today’s society, due to such technological advancements, the internet is changing the way we sell our products and services, and therefore organisations now need online strategies to attract and retain customers. The e-marketing mix considers how the 4 Ps can be presented online in order to give that firm a competitive advantage through digital marketing (Learn Marketing, 2014).
“… It is not advisable […] to include the phrase managing customer relationships in a generic marketing definition” (Grönroos, 2006, p. 402) since there is no widely recognised definition of what a relationship is (Harker 1999 cited in Grönroos, 2006, p. 401). Although the terminology of the word is not clear, it is fair to say that in the definition every non-relational marketing process is being disregarded. Trying to force customers into a relationship (no matter what a relationship is being interpreted as to be) could lead to a marketing form that is not efficient because of not targeting all potential customers (Grönroos 2006, p. 403). The word “relationship” should be removed entirely from a generic marketing definition.
Ryals, L. (2005). Making Customer Relationship Management Work: The Measurement and Profitable Management of Customer Relationships. Journal of Marketing, 69(4), 252-261. doi:10.1509/jmkg.2005.69.4.252
Customer Relationships is about building a relationship of trust and convenience. A customer wants the company they are working with to be intuitive. To know their needs before they do. They want to feel respected, they need to believe you are honest and have integrity. This relationship breeds comfort and familiarity and causes the consumer to continue to do business with your company. This relationship that is built develops a personal relationship, like a friendship and it is one that the consumer cannot get from the store down the road and it is that personal touch of sincerity, of knowing their needs, of servitude that will turn them into lifelong branded customers.