Marketing - The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising

Marketing Mix

     Product - The goods and/or services offered by a company to its customers

     Price - The amount of money paid by customers to purchase the product

     Place - The activities that make the product available to consumers

     Promotion - The activities that communicate the product’s features and benefits and persuade customers           to purchase the product

Target Market - A specific group of people that a business makes the focus of it’s marketing or promotional plan

Niche Market - A smaller market that has a very unique set of needs.  A business concentrates on satisfying the needs of a narrowly specified group of consumers

Mass Market -  An attempt to appeal to as many customers as possible, without any sort of market segmentation

Market Segmentation

     Demographics - Segmenting markets by age, gender, income, ethnic background, and family life cycle

     Geographics - Segmenting markets by age, gender, income, ethnic background, and family life cycle

     Psychographics -Market segmentation on the basis of personality, motives, lifestyles, and                                     geodemographics

     Behavioristics - Groups consumers based on specific behavioral patterns they display when making                     purchasing decisions 

Product Life Cycle

     Introduction - Product is introduced to market, sales grow slowly as people are not aware of the product.           There is usually no profit

     Growth - Sales start to grow rapidly, increase of sales and profits and competition is aware and is offering           new products to compete

     Maturity - Sales level off or slow down, most of target market owns product. Company starts to decide               whether to continue to improve the product to gain additional sales

     Decline - Sales will fall and product begins to lose appeal. Advertising is reduced or stopped and                       eventually production will be stopped in the future

Positioning - Involves a process of defining the marketing mix variables so that target customers have a clear, distinctive, desirable understanding of what the product does or represents in comparison with competing products

Product Mix - Refers to the total number of product lines a company offers to its customers

Product Line -  Is a group of related products under a single brand sold by the same company

Product Item - A specific version of a product that can be designated as a distinct offering 
among an organization's products

Product Depth - The amount of sub-products offered by a business within a particular line of products

Product Width - The number of product lines the company sells

Product Modification - An attempt by companies to extend the length of the Product Life Cycle by making small, or big changed to a product to keep customers interested in the product, or cause them to buy accessory items to keep the product popular

Product Line Extension - When a company introduces additional items in the same product category under the same brand name such as new flavors, forms, colors, added ingredients, package sizes

Pricing Strategies 

     Prestige Pricing - Setting a higher than average price for an item to suggest status or prestige to a customer
     Price Skimming - A marketer sets a relatively high initial price for a product or service at first, then lowers           the price over time

     Penetration Pricing - Offering a low price for a new product or service during its initial offering in order to           lure customers away from competitors

     Price Lining - Products or services within a specific group are set at different price points. The higher the           price, the higher the perceived quality to the consumer

     Bundle Pricing - Companies sell a package or set of goods or services for a lower price than they would             charge if the customer bought all of them separately

     Odd-Even Pricing - Involves setting prices that end in either an odd or even number. Odd numbers convey       a bargain while even numbers convey quality

     Everyday Low Pricing - Pricing strategy promising consumers a low price without the need to wait for sale         price events or comparison shopping

Cost of Goods Sold - The total it takes to make the product or service such as the cost as materials and labor costs 

Profit Margin - The amount by which revenue from sales exceeds costs in a business

Mark Up - Added onto the total cost incurred by the producer of a good or service in order to cover the costs of doing business and create a profit

Overhead Expenses - Are all costs on the income statement except for direct labor, direct materials, and direct expenses 

Seven Functions of Marketing 

     Distribution - Determining the best ways for customers to locate, obtain, and use the products and services       of an organization. Involves moving the product each step from the design idea to the consumer

     Market Information Management - Obtaining, managing, and using information about what customers               want to improve business decision making, performance of marketing activities, and determining what will         sell

     Pricing - Setting and communicating the value of products and services. Setting the price at the right level

     Promotion - Communicating with customers about the product to achieve the desired 
     result--customer demand for and purchase of the product. Includes advertising, personal selling, publicity,         and public relations

     Product/Service Management - Designing, developing, maintaining, improving, and acquiring products             and services that meet consumer needs

     Financing - Budgeting for marketing activities, obtaining the necessary funds needed for operations,and           providing financial assistance to customers so they can purchase the business products and service

     Selling - Communicating directly with potential customers to determine and satisfy their needs