Marketing Basics – What Every Real Marketer Needs To Know! Sports and Entertainment Marketing

What is Marketing? The planning, & executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. American Marketing Association The creation and maintenance of satisfying exchange relationships. Highly visible activity!

What is the Marketing Mix? To perform the tasks associated with marketing, marketers rely on a Marketing Mix. Describes how a business blends the four marketing elements – The Four P’s. The Four P’s – Promotion, Price, Product, and Place (distribution)

Product What a business offers customers to satisfy needs. Examples: Mountain Dew, Nike Shocks, Anderson Windows, Ford Pick-up Truck, Decorated Cake, Plumbing Repairs

Place (Distribution) Involves the location and methods used to make products available to customers. Examples: Sell 50 Cent CDs at Boscov’s, Sell Pepsi products at Pizza Hut franchises, overseas shipping from Amazon.com.

Price The amount that customers pay for products. Examples: $8.99 for a Dominic’s Large Pizza, $19.99 for a shirt at The Gap.

Promotion Describes ways to encourage customers to purchase products and services, and to increase customer satisfaction. Examples: Customers buy Nike shirts because they like Nike sneakers, Buy 1 Get 1 Free Sale, Coupons, Free Samples, Free Shipping.

Seven Key Marketing Functions

Product/Service Management Designing, developing, maintaining, improving, and acquiring products & services so they meet customer needs. Example: Fisher Price tests new toys with children and parents

Distribution Determining the best way to get a company’s products & services to customers. Example: Sony sells their products through electronic retailers like Circuit City

Selling Includes direct and personal communication with customers to assess and satisfy their needs. Must also anticipate their future needs. Example: Singers spend months touring and traveling to promote their CDs.

Marketing-Information Management Gathering and using information about customers to improve business decision-making. Example: Domino’s Pizza expanding to Japan. Used market research to adapt the traditional Domino’s Pizza to Japanese tastes. Made pizza smaller for a snack not a meal. Also offered non-traditional toppings such as corn & tuna.

Financing Requires a company not only to budget for its own marketing activities, but Also provide customers with assistance in paying for the company’s products & services Example: General Motors offers loans to customers through its GMAC division.

Pricing The process of establishing and communicating the value or cost of goods and services to customers. Example: Ticket prices for professional sports events are high because demand is high.

Promotion Using advertising and other forms of communicating information about products, services, images, and ideas to achieve a desired outcome. Example: Coupons on backs of ticket stubs. Used to promote products & services, and to entice fans into purchasing them at a discounted price.

7 Key Marketing Functions Basis of all marketing activities! Refer to them often! Everything you learn will involve one of these functions! Responsibility of all marketers!