Marketing is about understanding the customer's needs and wants to build a relationship with a customer and then maintain the relationship through implementation and control of a marketing plan. The exchange between the consumer and the business is value. The marketing strategy and marketing mix involve the activities to create customer value and foster the relationship between buyer and seller. The marketing mix is made up of four main elements; product, price, place, and promotion. This paper will discuss the importance of the four elements of marketing mix and how Target Corporation has used these tactics in the development of their organization.
Marketing Mix Elements.
Product.
A good marketing strategy must have the decision on what product they are going to offer to the consumer. The product in the marketing mix strategy is the combination of goods and services a company will offer to the customer (Armstrong & Jotler, 2011). Elements of the product include design, features, brand name, packaging, and quality. Target store opened its doors in 1962 and realized its product needed to be differentiated between the large competitors such as Walmart. Target Corporation targeted a mass audience through general products that would be high quality, affordable, easy to access, with great customer service so that customers would return for another shopping experience. Products offered at Target vary from Health, Beauty, & Household Essentials, Hardlines, Apparel & Accessories, Food & Pet Supplies, and Home furnishings and Deco. Target's aim is to provide an affordable product to customers while keeping quality a main concern. A large part of the products offered at Target are considered "trendy"." This would require the business to make careful and consistently updated decisions to manage inventory as the consumer needs and desires change. This requires management to accurately predict the changing preferences of the consumer to prevent inventory markdowns which reduce company profit.