Generated by AskSia.ai — graphs, formulas, traps
Modern marketing prioritizes customer needs over selling existing products. Production-orientation (1900s) → product-orientation → selling → marketing → societal marketing (today).
| P | What it covers | Key decisions |
|---|---|---|
| Product | features, quality, design, brand | core / actual / augmented benefit |
| Price | list, discounts, terms | cost-plus, value-based, dynamic |
| Place | distribution channels | direct vs intermediated; coverage intensity |
| Promotion | advertising, PR, sales, digital | push vs pull strategy |
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) = Σ (margin per period · retention rate^t / (1+r)^t)Marketing process: understand market → design strategy (STP) → build mix (4 P's) → deliver value → capture value (CLV, sales). The first 'understanding' step is research-driven.
Advertising is one tool inside the Promotion P. Marketing is the entire customer-facing system: research, segmentation, product design, pricing, channel choice, communication, after-sale support. Reducing marketing to ads is a junior-level error.
| Tool | Strength | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising | scale, reach | brand-building, awareness |
| Sales promotion | urgency, action | short-term lift (coupons, sales) |
| PR / publicity | credibility, low cost | news, crisis, thought leadership |
| Personal selling | relationship, customization | B2B, high-value, complex |
| Digital / direct | targeting, measurement | everyone now |
IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications): coordinate all channels (TV, social, email, in-store) to deliver consistent message. Customers experience the brand across many touchpoints.
Advertising effectiveness: awareness → recall → recognition → preference → purchase intent → purchase. Each step measurable but the path is non-linear in reality.
Reach = unique people. Impressions = total exposures (one person seeing 3 times = 3 impressions, 1 reach). Some media buys quote impressions to inflate the number. For brand awareness, reach matters more; for action, frequency.
| Step | What you do | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | divide market into groups | find homogeneous needs |
| Target | pick segments worth pursuing | match capabilities + opportunity |
| Position | create distinct image vs competitors | own a place in customer's mind |
| Targeting strategy | Approach |
|---|---|
| Undifferentiated | one offer for all (commodities) |
| Differentiated | multiple offers for multiple segments |
| Concentrated (niche) | focus on one segment |
| Micromarketing | individuals (CRM, personalization) |
Segment evaluation criteria: measurable, accessible, substantial (large enough), differentiable (responds differently), actionable. Skip a criterion → wasted effort.
'25-34 year-old urban females' is demographic. 'Customers who shop late at night' is behavioral. Two 25-34 women may behave very differently. Behavioral segmentation usually predicts purchases better than demographics alone — but it's harder to use for ad targeting.
| Approach | Logic | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-plus | cost × markup | commodity, easy to defend |
| Value-based | customer's perceived value | differentiated, premium |
| Competition-based | match / undercut competitors | fragmented markets |
| Dynamic | changes with demand | airlines, hotels |
| Penetration | low to capture share | new entrant, network effects |
| Skimming | high then drop | tech with early adopters |
PED = % change Q / % change PPsychological pricing: $9.99 vs $10 (left-digit effect). Anchor pricing: show high option first. Decoy pricing: third option makes target look better. Bundle pricing: combo cheaper than individual.
Cost-plus pricing sets price by adding markup to cost. Doesn't consider what customer will pay. Premium products often have huge value-cost gap; commodities have tiny markup. Value-based pricing ties to willingness to pay, not internal cost.
| Channel | Strength | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| SEO / organic search | high intent | discovery |
| SEM / paid search | scalable, intent | direct response |
| Social organic | community, brand | top-funnel |
| Social paid | targeting, scale | any funnel stage |
| highest ROI, owned | retention, nurture | |
| Influencer | credibility | discovery + trust |
LTV / CAC ratio: ≥3 healthy. Payback period: months to recover CAC.Funnel: awareness → consideration → conversion → retention → advocacy. Each step has typical drop-off. Funnel optimization: improve conversion at any step that's leakier than benchmarks.
Followers, likes, page views — easy to grow, weak link to revenue. Track conversion + retention metrics: CAC, LTV, churn. 1M followers with 0.1% conversion is worth less than 10K followers at 5% conversion.
Positioning = the place your brand occupies in the customer's mind relative to competitors. Not what you say it is — what they perceive it to be.
For [target customer]
Who [need/problem]
Our [product] is a [category]
That [unique benefit]
Unlike [primary competitor],
We [differentiation]
| Strategy | Approach | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Cost leadership | lowest price for category | Walmart, Costco |
| Differentiation | unique benefit / quality | Apple, Tesla |
| Focus / niche | narrow segment, deep | Whole Foods, Patagonia |
Common positioning errors: under-positioned (no clear identity), over-positioned (too narrow), confused (mixed signals), doubtful (claim not credible).
'Just Do It' is a slogan. Nike's positioning is 'authentic athletic performance for everyday athletes.' Slogan is one expression of position; position is the underlying meaning in the customer's mind. Slogans change; positions endure.
| Level | What it is | Example (iPhone) |
|---|---|---|
| Core benefit | fundamental need solved | communication, computing |
| Actual product | features, design, brand | phone with camera, OS, name |
| Augmented product | service, warranty, support | AppleCare, Genius Bar, ecosystem |
| Component | What it captures |
|---|---|
| Awareness | do customers know you? |
| Perceived quality | do they think you're good? |
| Brand associations | what comes to mind? |
| Loyalty | do they come back? |
Brand extensions: use existing brand for new product. Risk: dilution if extension fails (Bic underwear). Benefit: leverage trust + awareness (Disney → theme parks).
The logo is a visual mark. The brand is the entire customer experience + meaning + associations. Companies spend on logos because logos signal brand — but a logo with no underlying brand is empty. Brand is built through consistent action, not graphic design.
| Question says… | Use § from | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| 'design marketing mix' | § ① | 4 P's — product, price, place, promotion alignment |
| 'customer perspective' | § ① | 4 C's: solution, cost, convenience, communication |
| 'CLV calculation' | § ① | Σ margin · retention^t / (1+r)^t |
| 'segment the market' | § ② | STP: by demo / geo / psycho / behavioral |
| 'target which group' | § ② | evaluate measurable, accessible, substantial, actionable |
| 'undifferentiated vs concentrated' | § ② | broad mass vs niche depth |
| 'create position statement' | § ③ | For [target] who [need], we are [category] that [benefit] unlike [competitor] |
| 'perceptual map gap' | § ③ | 2-axis competitor map; find unclaimed defensible position |
| 'cost leadership vs differentiation' | § ③ | Porter's generic strategies |
| 'product life cycle' | § ④ | identify intro/growth/maturity/decline; pick strategy |
| 'brand extension' | § ④ | leverage equity; avoid dilution if mismatched |
| 'core / actual / augmented' | § ④ | 3 levels of product offering |
| 'pricing strategy' | § ⑤ | cost-plus vs value-based vs competition vs dynamic |
| 'price elasticity / |PED|' | § ⑤ | elastic |PED|>1 cut price; inelastic raise price |
| 'penetration vs skimming' | § ⑤ | low to grab share vs high to skim early adopters |
| 'AIDA model' | § ⑥ | Attention → Interest → Desire → Action funnel |
| 'reach vs frequency' | § ⑥ | unique people vs exposures per person |
| 'IMC strategy' | § ⑥ | integrate channels, consistent message |
| 'pull vs push' | § ⑥ | build consumer demand vs incentivize channel |
| 'CAC, LTV, churn' | § ⑦ | compute LTV/CAC, target ≥3 |
| 'NPS / DAU / MAU' | § ⑦ | retention + engagement metrics |
| 'attribution model' | § ⑦ | last-touch overstates digital; multi-touch better |
Strategy: WHO and WHY (segment + position). Tactics: HOW (channels, ads, promos). Tactics without strategy = activity without progress. Always start strategic: define target + position before deciding which Instagram filter to use.
Followers, likes, impressions are easy to inflate but weakly correlated with revenue. Track conversion + retention: CAC, LTV/CAC, churn rate, NPS. These tell whether marketing is creating real value, not just noise.