The Four Basic Principles of Marketing and Their Role in

an Effective Marketing Strategy

Marketing is the fundamental social process which evolves within a society to facilitate the effective and
efficient resolution of societys needs for exchange of consumption values. Simply put it is the science or
art of understanding what a group of consumers want and how to get it to them.

Behind every great company there is an exceptional marketing strategy in place. Every marketer has
his/her own unique strategy but most marketing professionals agree on a few fundamental principles of
marketing.

The 4 Ps of marketing
a) Product
The product that you sell can be a physical item or an intangible service. A product is evaluated by the
degree to which it satisfies a need and provides value for a specific group of consumers. The product
should satisfy a perceived need and offer the features and accessories that a consumer group demands,
within the terms that a group demands.

When creating your product, you need to consider factors such as: Name, Packaging, Usage and
warranty terms.

b) Price
The price principle refers to how much consumers pay for the product, and it is evaluated in terms of
how the price maximises profit for the company. As prices drop, demand tends to rise but profit per unit
decreases.

Some of the common pricing models; Cost-plus pricing (A fixed percentage is added to your cost of
production) and Value based pricing (The price is set according to the customers perceived value of the
product, this model is mostly used with the more expensive luxury items) Effective pricing maximises
total profit for the company by balancing profit per unit with demand.

c) Place
The place principle considers the distribution channels i.e. where you will sell your product and how it
goes to the market. Consumers cant purchase products that wouldnt reach them, so distribution
channels are an essential part of the structure of production, warehouses, shipping and sale points that
make the retail product available. Distribution channels are evaluated on ease of use and reliability, an
important factor in making a product desirable and accessible.

Larger businesses, like manufacturer of consumer goods, may sell their products to a wholesaler who
then distributes them to retail stores.
d) Promotion
The promotion principle is about communicating with consumers. It involves spreading the word out to
potential customers. Advertising is the most well known form of promotion. It essentially makes use of
the media.

Promotion can include anything from print and media advertising to direct selling and viral advertising
(involves the spread of information from a customer). Each of these requires a deep understanding of
the priorities and behaviour of that targeted group, to communicate efficiently with prospective buyers.

By combining the above four principles we form the marketing mix strategy. You must understand
these fundamentals to formulate an effective marketing strategy.

Marketing strategy
A marketing strategy is the logic by which the business unit happens to achieve its marketing objectives.
Designing a market strategy involves a few steps.

Market segmentation
This is the first step of planning a marketing strategy. The company needs to divide potentials customers
into groups based on a characteristic that tells us the kind of product the customer is interested in.

The major ways to segment are geographic, based on location; demographic, based on family niche.
Basically market segmentation allows us to determine niches in a market. Usually a company tends to
segment the market more than once, e.g. First by country, then by state, then by income and then by
family size.

Target Marketing
This occurs when the company examines the results from market segmentation and studies the various
market segments to determine the segments to which the product will be most useful to.

When examining a segment you need to consider how fast it is growing, this can be done by looking at
sales and growth rates.

There are other factors that you may need to consider as well. The number of competitors in a segment
will greatly affect the profit margin that you can hope to make.

Last, you need to consider your companys resources. You may find that some segments will take too
much time or money to pursue, which will cut into your profit as well.

Product positioning
This is the manner in which the consumer sees your product in respect to other similar products
available in the market. You need to examine your product and its competitors in the market and
determine how it is different or better than the others. These differences could be better quality, lower
price or a product that is more accessible to the consumer.

Out of the differences determined pick those that would appeal most to the targeted market segment
and promote them. The product positioning you end up with should tell consumers why your product is
the one that they should spend their money on.

The above mentioned aspects will definitely help your business grow. You should not assume that things
such as marketing strategy are only for large companies, the size of your business does not affect your
eligibility to form a marketing strategy, and it matters not whether you are selling your products on a
website or a mall. Try using what you have learned in your planning, the results will not disappoint you.

Little Fiber Background

5 reasons Telcos Choose Fiber Optic Cables

1. Fiber optic is faster.

Fiber optic versus copper wire transmission can be boiled down to the speed of photons versus the
speed of electrons. While fiber optic cables dont travel at the speed of light, they come very closeonly
about 31 percent slower.

2. Fiber optic transmission results in less signal loss

When traveling over a long distance, fiber optic cables experience less signal loss than copper cabling.
This is called low attenuation. Copper cables can only transmit information up to 9,328 ft due to power
loss, whereas fiber cables can travel between 984.2 ft to 24.8 miles.

3. Fiber optic cables are impervious to electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Copper wires, if not properly installed, will produce electromagnetic currents that can interfere with
other wires and wreak havoc on a network. Fiber optic cables, unlike copper cables, do not conduct
electricity.

4. Light cannot catch on fire.

An added benefit of fiber optic cables is that they are not a fire hazard. This can also be attributed to the
same reason that the cables do not produce EMIthere is no electric current traveling through the core.

5. Fiber optic cables do not break as easily.

This means that you will not have to worry about replacing them as frequently as copper wires. Even
though the fiber is made of glass, copper wires are more prone to damage than fiber optic cables are.

Only disadvantage of Fiber

1. More expensive and complex to install.