The Concept of the Mix'

NEIL H. BORDEN Harvard Business School

Marketing is still an art, and the marketing manager, as head chef, must creatively marshal all his marketing activities to advance the short and long term interests of his firm.

HAVE always found it interesting to observe how The phrase was suggested to me hy a paragraph I an apt or colorful term may catch on, gain wide in a research bulletin on the management of mar- usage, and help to further understanding of a keting costs, written by my associate. Professor concept that has already been expressed in less James Culliton (1948). In this study of manufac- appealing and communicative terms. Such has been turers' marketing costs he described the business true of the phrase "marketing mix," which I began executive as a to use in my teaching and writing some 15 years "decider," an "artist"—a "mixer of ingredients," who ago. In a relatively short time it has come to have sometimes follows a recipe prepared by others, some- times prepares his own recipe as he goes along, some- wide usage. This note tells of the evolution of the times adapts a recipe to the ingredients immediately marketing mix concept. available, and sometimes experiments with or invents ingredients no one else has tried.

NEIL H. BORDEN is professor I liked his idea of calling a marketing executive a emeritus of marketing and adver- "mixer of ingredients," one who is constantly en- tising at the Harvard Business School. He began teaching at gaged in fashioning creatively a mix of marketing Harvard as an assistant professor procedures and policies in his efforts to produce in 1922, became an associate pro- fessor in 1928, and since 1938 has a profitable enterprise. been a full professor. He has won For many years previous to Culliton's cost study many awards, and received this year a special Gold the wide variations in the procedures and policies Medal Award for . He employed by managements of manufacturing firms is a past president of the Amer- ican Marketing Association. He in their marketing programs and the correspond- belongs to Phi Beta Kappa and ingly wide variation in the costs of these marketing the American Economic Associa- tion, and he is a public trustee of the Marketing Science functions, which Culliton aptly ascribed to the Institute. He has published widely, and one of his books. The Economic Effects of Advertising, published in 1942, was ^ This article will appear as a chapter in Science in Mar- based on a study conducted under an ARF research grant. keting, George Schwartz (Ed.), New York: John Wiley, 1964. Journal of Advertising Research varied "mixing of ingredients," had become in- costs that will ptermit a profit? Specifically, how can creasingly evident as we had gathered marketing advertising, , , packaging, cases at the Harvard Business School. The marked channels, warehousing, and the other elements of differences in the patterns or formulae o£ the mar- a marketing program be manipulated and fitted to- keting programs not only were evident through gether in a way that will give a profitable operation? facts disclosed in case histories, but also were re- In short, I saw that every advertising management flected clearly in the figures of a cost study of food case called for a consideration of the strategy to be manufacturers made by the Harvard Bureau of adopted for the total marketing program, with ad- Business Research in 1929. The primary objective vertising recognized as only one element whose of this study was to determine common figures of form and extent depended on its careful adjust- expenses for various marketing functions among ment to the other parts of the program. food manufacturing companies, similar to the com- The soundness of this viewpoint was supported mon cost figures which had been determined in by case histories throughout my volume. The Eco- previous years for various kinds of and whole- nomic Effects of Advertising (Borden, 1942). In the sale businesses. In this manufacturer's study we chapters devoted to the utilization of advertising were unable, however, with the data gathered to by business, I had pointed out the innumerable determine common expense figures that had much combinations of marketing methods and policies significance as standards by which to guide man- that might be adopted by a manager in arriving agement, such as had been possihle in the studies at a marketing plan. For instance, in the area ot of retail and wholesale trades, where the methods of operation tended toward uniformity. Instead, branding, he might elect to adopt an individualized among food manufacturers the ratios of sales de- brand or a family brand. Or he might decide to voted to the various functions of marketing such as sell his product itnhranded or under private label. advertising, personal selling, packaging, and so on, Any decision in the area of brand policy iu tviin were found to be widely divergent, no matter how has immediate implications that bear on his selec- we grouped our respondents. Each respondent gave tion of channels of , sale.*; force meth- data that tended to uniqueness. ods, packaging, promotional procedure, and adver- tising. Throughout the volume the case materials Culliton's study of marketing costs in 1947-48 cited show that the way in which any - was a second effort to find out, among other ob- ing function is designed and the burden placed jectives, whether a bigger sample and a more care- upon the function are determined largely by the ful classification of companies would produce evi- overall adopted by manage- dence of operating uniformities that would give ments to meet the market conditions under which helpful common expense figures. But the result they operate. The forces met by different firms vary was the same as in our early study: there was wide diversity in cost ratios among any classifications of widely. Accordingly, the programs fashioned differ firms which were set up, and no common figures widely. were found that had much . This was true Regarding advertising, which was the function whether companies were grouped according to under focus in the economic effects volume, 1 said similarity in product lines, amount of sales, terri- at one point: torial extent of operations, or other bases of clas- In ali the above illustrative situations it should be ret- ognized that advertising is not an operating method to sification. be considered as something apart, as something who.se profit value is to be judged alone. An able management Relatively early in my study of advertising, it does not ask, "Shall we use or not use advertising," had become evident that understanding of advertis- without consideiation of the product and of other man- agement procedures to be employed. Rather the ques- ing usage by manufacturers in any case had to tion is always one of finding a management formula come from an analysis of advertising's place as one giving advertising its due place in the combination of manufacturing methods, product form, pricing, pro- element in the total marketing program o£ the firm. motion and selling methods, and distribution methods. I came to realize that it is essential always to ask: As previously pointed out different formulae, i.e., differ- ent combinations of methods, may be profitably employed what overall marketing strategy has been or might by competing manufacturers. be employed to bring about a profitable operation in light of the circumstances faced by the manage- From the above it can be seen why Culliton's de- ment? What combination of marketing procedures scription of a marketing manager as a "mixer of and policies has been or might be adopted to bring ingredients" immediately appealed to me as an apt about desired behavior of trade and at and easily understandable phrase, far better than Classics, Volume II, September 1984 my previous references to the marketing man as an 5. Personal Selling—policies and procedures relating to: a) Burden to be (placed on personal selling and the empiricist seeking in any situation to devise a prof- methods to be employed in: itable "pattern" or "formula" of marketing opera- 1. Manufacturer's . 2. Wholesale segment of the trade. tions from among the many procedures and policies 3. Retail segment of the trade. that were open to him. If he was a "mixer of in- 6. Advertising—policies and procedures relating to: a) Amount to spend—i.e., the burden to be placed on gredients," what he designed was a "marketing advertising. mix." b) Copy platform to adopt: 1. Product image desired. It was logical to proceed from a realization of 2. Corporate image desired. c) Mix of advertising: to the trade; through the the existence of a variety of "marketing mixes" to trade; to consumers. the development of a concept that would compre- 7. Promotions—policies and procedures relating to: a) Burden to place on special selling plans or devices hend not only this variety, hut also the market directed at or through the trade. forces that cause managements to produce a variety b) Form of these devices for promotions, for trade promotions. of mixes. It is the problems raised by these forees 8. Packaging—policies and procedures relating to: that lead marketing managers to exercise their wits a) Formulation of package and label. 9. Display—policies and procedures relating to: in devising mixes or programs whieh they hope will a) Burden to be put on display to help effect sale. give a profitable business operation. b) Methods to adopt to secure display. 10. Servicing—policies and procedures relating to: To portray this broadened concept in a visual a) Providing needed. 11. Physical Handling—policies and procedures relating to: presentation requires merely: a) Warehousing. b) Transportation. 1) a list of the important elements or ingredients that c) Inventories. make up marketing programs; 12. Fact Finding and Analysis—policies and procedures re- 2) a list of the forces that bear on the marketing opera- lating to: tion of a firm and to which the marketing manager a) Securing, analysis, and use of facts in marketing must adjust in his search for a mix or program that operations. can be successful. The list of elements of the marketing mix in Also if one were to make a list of all the forces such a visual presentation can be long or short, which managements weigh at one time or another depending on how far one wishes to go in his clas- when formulating their marketing mixes, it would sification and subelassification of the marketing pro- be very long indeed, for the behavior of individuals cedures and policies with which marketing man- and groups in all spheres of life have a bearing, agements deal when devising marketing programs. first, on what and services are produced and The list of elements which I have employed in my consumed, and, second, on the procedures that may be employed in bringing about exchange of these teaching and consulting work covers the principal goods and services. However, the important forces areas of marketing activities whieh eall for man- which bear on marketers, all arising from the be- agement decisions as revealed by ease histories. I havior of individuals or groups, may readily be realize others might build a different list. Mine is listed under four heads, namely the behavior of as follows: consumers, the trade, competitors, and government. Elements of the Marketing Mix of Manufacturers The outline below contains these four behavioral 1. Product Planning—policies and procedures relating to: forces with notations of some of the important be- a) Product lines to be offered—qualities, design, etc. havioral determinants within each force. These b) Markets to sell: whom, where, when, and in what quantity. must be studied and understood by the marketer, c) New product policy—research and development pro- if his marketing mix is to be successful. The great gram. 2. Pricing—policies and procedures relating to: quest of is to understand a) level to adopt. the behavior of humans in response to the stimuli b) Specific to adopt (odd-even, etc.) . c) Price policy, e.g., one-price or varying price, price to which they are subjected. The skillful marketer maintenance, use of list prices, etc. is one who is a perceptive and practical psycholo- d) Margins to adopt—for company; for the trade. 3. Branding—policies and procedures relating to: gist and sociologist, who has keen insight into in- a) Selection of trade marks. dividual and group behavior, who can foresee b) Brand policy—individualized or family brand. c) Sale under private label or unbranded. ehanges in behavior that develop in a dynamic 4. Channels of Distribution—policies and procedures relat- ing to: world, who has creative ability for building well- a) Channels to use between plant and consumer. knit programs because he has the capacity to visual- b) Degree of selectivity among wholesalers and re- tailers. ize the probable response of consumers, trade, and c) Efforts to gain cooperation of the trade. competitors to his moves. His skill in forecasting Journal of Advertising Research response to his marketing moves should well be market. He must look for special opportunities in supplemented by a further skill in devising and product or method of operation. The small firm using tests and measurements to check consumer cannot employ the procedures of the big firm. or trade response to his program or parts thereof, Though he may sell the same kind of product as for no marketer has so much prescience that he can the big firm, his marketing strategy is likely to be proceed without empirical check. widely different in many respects. Innumerable in- Below, then, is the suggested outline of forces stanees of this fact might be cited. For example, in the industrial goods field, small firms often seek which govern the mixing of marketing elements. to build sales on a limited and highly specialized This list and that of the elements taken together line, whereas industry leaders seek patronage for provide a visual presentation of the coneept of the full lines. Small firms often elect to go in for marketing mix. regional sales rather than attempt the national dis Market Forces Bearing on the Marketing Mix tribution practiced by larger companies. Again, the company of limited resources often eleets to limit 1. Consumers' Buying Behavior, as determined by their: a) Motivation in purchasing. its production and sales to products whose poten- b) Buying habits. tial is too small to attract the big fellows. Still c) Living habits. d) Environment (present and future, as revealed by again, companies with small resources in the co,s- trends, for environment infiuences consumers' attitudes metic field not infrequently have set tip introduc- toward products and their use of them). e) Buying power. tory marketing programs employing aggre,ssive f) Number (i.e., how many). personal selling and a "push" strategy with dis- 2. The Trade's Behavior—wholesalers' and retailers' be- havior, as influenced by: tribution limited to leading department stores. a) Their motivations. Their initially small advertising funds have been b) Their structure, practices, and attitudes. c) Trends in structure and procedures that portend directed through these selected retail otitlets. with change. the offering of the products and their story told 3. Competitors' Position and Behavior, as influenced by: a) Industry structure and the firm's relation thereto. over the signattires of the stores. The strategy has 1. Size and strength of competitors. been to borrow kudos for their products from the 2. Number of competitors and degree of industry leading stores' reputations and to gain a gradual concentration. 3. Indirect —i.e., from other products. radiation of distribution to smaller stores in all b) Relation of supply to demand—oversupply or un types of channels, such as often comes from the dersupply. c) Product choices offered consumers by the industrv trade's follow-the-leader behavior. Only after re —i.e., quality, price, service. sources have grown from mounting sales has a d) Degree to which competitors compete on price vs. nonprice bases. dense retail distribution been aggressively sotight e) Competitors' motivations and attitudes—their likely and a shift made to place the selling burden more response to the actions of other firms. f) Trends technological and social, portending change :ind more on company-signed advertising. in supply and demand. 4. Governmental Behavior—Controls over Marketing: a) Regulations over products. The above strategy was employed for Toni prod- b) Regulations over pricing. ucts and Stoppette deodorant in their early mar- c) Regulations over competitive practices. keting stages when the resources of their producers d) Regulations over advertising and . were limited (cf. case of Jules Montenier, Inc. in When building a marketing program to fit the Borden and Marshall, 1959, pp. 498-518). In con of his firm, the marketing manager has to trast, cosmetic manufacturers with large re.sources weigh the behavioral forces and then juggle mar- liave generally followed a "pull" strategy for the keting elements in his mix with a keen eye on the introduction of new prodticts, relying on heavy resources with which he has to work. His firm is (ampaigiLS of advertising in a rapid succes,sion of but one small organism in a large universe of com- area introductions to induce a hoped-for, complete plex forces. His firm is only a part of an industry retail coverage from the start (cf. case of Bristol that is competing with many other industries. Myers Company in Borden and Marshall, 1959, What does the firm have in terms of money, prod- pp. 519-533). These introductory campaigns have uct line, organization, and reputation with which been undertaken only after careful programs of to work? The manager must devise a mix of pro- prodtict development and test marketing have cedures that fit these resources. If his firm is small, given assurance that product and selling plans had he must judge the response of consumers, trade, high promise of success. and competition in light of his position and re- Many additional instances of the varying strategy sources and the influence that he can exert in the employed by small versus large enterprises might be

10 Classics, Volume II, September 1984 cited. But those given serve to illustrate the point ing the marketing mix to meet social and economic that managements must fashion their mixes to fit change, I look ujxin Sears Roebuck and Company their resources. Their objectives must be realistic. as an outstanding example. After building an un- usually successful mail order business to meet the Long vs. Short Term Aspects of Marketing Mix needs of a rural America, Sears management fore- The marketing mix of a firm in large part is the saw the to depart from its marketing pattern product of the evolution that comes from day-to- as a mail order company catering primarily to day marketing. At any time the mix represents the farmers. The trend from a rural to an urban program that a management has evolved to meet United States was going on apace. The automobile the problems with which it is constantly faced in and good roads promised to make town and city an ever changing, ever challenging market. There stores increasingly available to those who continued are continuous tactical maneuvers: a new product, to be farmers. Relatively early, Sears launched a aggressive promotion, or price change initiated by a chain of stores across the land, each easily accessible competitor must be considered and met; the failure by highway to both farmer and city resident, and of the trade to provide adequate market coverage with adequate parking space for . In or display must be remedied; a faltering sales force time there followed the remarkable telephone and must be reorganized and stimulated; a decline in mail order plan directed at urban residents to sales share must be diagnosed and remedied; an make buying easy for Americans when congested advertising approach that has lost effectiveness city streets and highways made shopping increas- must be replaced; a general business decline must ingly distasteful. Similarly, in the areas of planning be countered. All such problems call for a manage- products which would meet the desires of con- ment's maintaining effective channels of informa- sumers in a fast changing world, of shaping its tion relative to its own operations and to the day- servicing to meet the needs of a wide variety of to-day behavior of consumers, competitors, and the mechanical products, of pricing procedures to meet trade. Thus, we may observe that short range forces the challenging competition that came with the play a large part in the fashioning of the mix to be advent of discount retailers, the Sears organization used at any time and in determining the allocation has shown a foresight, adaptability, and creative of expenditures among the various functional ac- ability worthy of emulation. The amazing growth counts of the operating statement. and profitability of the company attest to the fore- But the overall strategy employed in a marketing sight and skill of its management. Its history shows mix is the product of longer range plans and pro- the wisdom of careful attention to market forces cedures dictated in part by past empiricism and in and their impending change in devising marketing part, if the management is a good one, by manage- mixes that may assure growth. ment foresight as to what needs to be done to keep the firm successful in a changing world. As the Use of the Marketing Mix Concept world has become more and more dynamic, blessed Like many concepts, the marketing mix concept is that corporation which has managers who have seems relatively simple, once it has been expressed. foresight, who can study trends of all kinds— I know that before they were ever tagged with the natural, economic, social, and technological—and, nomenclature of "concept," the ideas involved guided by these, devise long-range plans that give were widely understood among marketers as a re- promise of keeping their corporations afloat and sult of the growing knowledge about marketing successful in the turbulent sea of market change. and marketing procedures that came during the Accordingly, when we think of the marketing mix, preceding half century. But I have found for myself we need to give particular heed today to devising that once the ideas were reduced to a formal state- a mix based on long-range planning that promises ment with an accompanying visual presentation, to fit the world of five or ten or more years hence. the concept of the mix has proved a helpful devise Provision for effective long-range planning in cor- in teaching, in business problem solving, and, gen- porate organization and procedure has become erally, as an aid to thinking about marketing. First more and more recognized as the earmark of good of all, it is helpful in giving an answer to the management in a world that has become increas- question often raised as to "what is marketing?" ingly subject to rapid change. A chart which shows the elements of the mix and To cite an instance among American marketing the forces that bear on the mix helps to bring which has shown foresight in adjust- understanding of what marketing is. It helps to

11 Journal of Advertising Research explain why in our dynamic world the thinking tablishment of verifiable laws that can be used by of management in all its functional areas must he the marketer as a guide to action with assurance oriented to the market. that predicted results will ensue, then we cannot In recent years I have kept an. abhreviated chart be said to have gotten far toward establishing a showing the elements and the forces of the mar- science. The concept of the mix lays out the areas keting mix in front of my classes at all times. In in which facts should be assembled, these to serve case discussion it has proved a handy device by as a guide to management judgment in building which to raise queries as to whether the student marketing mixes. In the last few decades American has recognized the implications of any recommen- marketers have made substantial progress in adopt- dation he might have made in the areas of the ing the scientific method in assembling facts. They several elements of the mix. Or, referring to the have sharpened the tools of fact finding—both forces, we can question whether all the pertinent those arising within the business and those external market forces have been given due consideration. to it. Aided by these facts and by the skills de- Continual reference to the mix chart leads me to veloped through careful observation and experi- feel that the students' understanding of "what mar- ence, marketers are better fitted to practice the art keting is" is strengthened. The constant presence of designing marketing mixes than would be the and use of the chart leaves a deeper understanding case had not the techniques of gathering facts been that marketing is the devising of programs that advanced as they have been in recent decades. successfully meet the forces of the market. Moreover, marketers have made progress in the In problem solving the marketing mix chart use of the scientific method in designing tests is a constant reminder of: whereby the results from mixes or parts of mixes can be measured. Thereby marketers have been 1) The fact that a problem seemingly lying in one segment of the mix must be deliberated with constant thought learning how to subject the hypotheses of their regarding the effect of any change in that sector on the mix artists to empirical check. other areas of marketing operations. The necessity of in- tegration in marketing thinking is ever present. 2) The need of careful study of the market forces as they With continued improvement in the search for might bear on problems in hand. and the recording of facts pertinent to marketing, In short, the mix chart provides an ever ready with further application of the controlled experi- checklist as to areas into which to guide thinking ment, and with an extension and careful recording when considering marketing questions or dealing of case histories, we may hope for a gradual formu- with marketing problems. lation of clearly defined and helpful marketing laws. Until then, and even then, marketing and Marketing: Science or Art? the building of marketing mixes will largely lie in the realm of art. The quest for a "science of marketing" is hard upon us. If science is in part a systematic formula- REFERENCES tion and arrangement of facts in a way to help BORDEN, NEIL H. The Economic Effects of Advertising. understanding, then the concept of the marketing Homewood, 111.: Richard D. Irwin, 1942. mix may possibly be considered a small contribu- BORDEN, NEIL H., AND M. V. MARSHALL. Advertising Manage- ment: Text and Cases. Homewood, III,: Richard D. Ir- tion in the search for a science of marketing. If win, 1959. we think of a marketing science as involving the CuLLiTON, JAMES W. The Management oj Marketing Costs. Boston: Division of Research, Graduate School of Busi- observation and classification of facts and the es- ness Administration, Harvard University, 1948.

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