In response to Michelle's post...

Michelle, in her recent blog, posed the question: "do you believe that a good reputation or word of mouth is better?" and "are these good marketing strategies?"

I believe that word of mouth can be a very potent way of getting a company's name out there. Panera (as Michelle brought up) is a perfect example of marketing through word of mouth. But in order for consumers to speak highly of a company, they must have a good reputation first. Through a high quality product, excellent customer service, etc., a business can build a good reputation and as a result, customers will be pleased and spread the good word. I believe that this can be a very effective way of marketing, with no direct marketing costs involved. This strategy is not matched by any fancy jingles or clever slogans, which seem to be stuck in our heads for days, but has proved successful for many companies like Panera Bread. Do you agree that a company should build a good reputation first and then rely on the word of mouth?

The Misunderstood 'P'

The 4 p's of the marketing mix should all be carefully considered when marketing a product and marketers have to carefully decide which of the p's to focus on. Price, promotion, and product are the 3 p's that the customer notices most. Naturally, the customer will want to know the price of the item that they are buying so this may be the most important part of the marketing mix, in the eyes of the consumer. A customer will also want a high quality product, so product is very important also; and naturally the customer will need to hear about the product, so promotion is also very important. But the remaining element of the marketing mix is often overseen by the consumer.
The place variable involves many different elements in itself, including distribution, inventory, etc. The placement of a product in a store often goes unnoticed by a customer, however. For example, in a supermarket next to the checkout there is almost always candy bars, magazines, and other small gadgets that many customers buy subconsciously. I believe that the placement of these prodcuts boosts the sales of the grocery store a lot. This placement variable can be very important for marketers looking to sell their products. Again, in the supermarket, the basic staples (milk, eggs, bread) are almost always in the very back corner of the store, so that when a customer goes to purchase these products they must walk pass every aisle and often times they will buy more than they originally came in the store for. This is why I believe that the place variable of the marketing mix can be one of the most important for marketers to take advantage of. Do you agree that this may be the most important variable for marketers? Do you think any of the other variables go as unnoticed by a customer?