ABC's of Marketing

Public relations is a key component of a successful marketing campaign, so it's essential that PR professionals speak the language of marketers.

Just a dozen or so terms and concepts get to the very heart of marketing. If you can wrap your mind and mouth around the basics, you'll be able to better hold your own in meetings where colleagues may try to score points with their own mastery of the lingo.

Here's a brief over of marketing fundamentals, illustrated with a video clip below demonstrating the concepts at work.

THE FOUR P's OF MARKETING

Product: goods and services, whether bottled water or car insurance. This ‘P’ includes a product’s design and development, as well as its branding and packaging.

Place (or distribution): where a product or service is offered for sale, and how it gets there. This is how the product gets moved from the producer to the consumer.

Price: at what charge the product/service is offered for sale.

Promotion: this how you let the consumers know about your product for sale. This is done through advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, direct marketing, and publicity.

FOUR C’s OF CONSUMER-SIDE MARKETING

Customer Value: 'product' benefits from the buyers point of view.

Cost to the Customer: 'price' plus the customer's costs such as travel, shipping

Convenience for the buyer: how easy is it to complete a transaction?

Communication: a two-way dialogue -- not just one-way 'promotion'

TARGETING AND POSITIONING

Positioning includes:

Differentiation from Competitors: how different are you from everybody else?

Value Proposition: what value do you have to offer?

Product Dimensions: just what all does your product do?

Targeting includes:

Who are you positioning your product for?

Segmentation: the key demographics you hope to reach

KEY TARGET MARKET DEMOGRAPHICS

Gender
Age
Income
Education
Location
Marital Status
Culture

BRANDING

A brand is any name, term, sign, symbol, or design intended to differentiate the goods or services of one seller from those of another. An important aim of branding is to create a relationship with your customers, so their life feels more complete because you’re in it.