The Marketing Mix in the Online Environment

• Author: Talpau, A.
• Position: Dept. of Marketing, Turism, Services and International Transactions, Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 53-58

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series V: Economic Sciences • Vol. 7 (56) No. 2 - 2014

THE MARKETING MIX IN THE ONLINE

ENVIRONMENT

Alexandra T;LP;U1

Abstract: The introduction of the Internet into our lives has brought many

opportunities that affected also marketing. With the development of the Internet,

online sales (e-sales) have become more common in every day society and in a

certain extend even replaced components of the traditiona l environment. The

Internet is a new channel of communication which brings new opportunities in

marketing. Nowadays, online marketing has taken over more and more of the

budgets allocated for marketing, increasingly di minishing traditional marketing

in favour of online promotion activities. This p aper will present how the

marketing mix adapts to the online environment.

Key words: marketing mix, 4 Ps, online environment, product policy, price policy.

1 Dept. of Marketing, Turism, Services and International Transactions, Transilvania University of Braşov.

1. Introduction

Marketing is considered to be a process

of exploration, creation and delivery of

value to meet the needs and desires of the

target market [7]. When Neil Borden

introduced the concept of the "4 Ps", also

called the marketing mix (product, price,

place and promotion), marketers were

given the opportunity to explore every

aspect of these elements to meet customer

needs and desires.

Marketing remained, in some extend, the

same for many years, but together with the

technological progress, there was a visible

impact on the market and on marketing. In

the following, there will be a presentation

of the marketing mix tailored to the online

market, highlighting the particularities of

the 4 Ps in this environment.

2. Product Policy in the online

environment

Product policy occupies a central place in

the marketing mix because it constitutes the

support of the other three components of the

mix. Any organization must aim to produce

only goods and services desired by the public

to which it is addressed, both in terms of

tangible features (color, size, functionality

etc.), as well as in terms of the intangible

ones (transport, after-sales services).

According to the explanatory di ctionary

of marketing, product policy refers to "the

manner that a manufacturing or

commercial enterprise adopts, related to

the size, structure and evolution of the

range of goods and services that are

subject to its own activities, through

permanent reporting to the ongoing

requirements of the market environment in

which it operates".

The product, as part of the marketing

mix, comprises the combination of goods

and services that a company offers the

targeted market. The product is a key

element of the marketing offer, including

both tangible goods as well as intangible

ones (services). Product policy is closely