•Read the following article about the four Ps of the marketing mix and the questions that follow. •For each Question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose. The variety of smaller market segments within the consumer and business market is enormous, and the firm that is good at target marketing will have a valuable edge over its competitors. But identifying the market is only part of the task. The other basic element in any total marketing program is the marketing mix. The marketing mix can be defined as the blend of product, price, promotion, and placement (or distribution) that satisfies the demands of the chosen market segment. The four Ps have to fit closely together. And, as we shall see, the key to effective marketing is the ability to adjust each of the four factors in response to the demands of the target market. Product A businessperson's first marketing decision concerns the products or services that will attract customers in the target market. The key is to determine consumers' needs and wants and translate them into desirable products and services. Rising crime rates, for example, have created a target market among small businesses for a growing number of security services. Similarly, the rapid increase in the number of working women has inspired clothing manufacturers to include more high-priced ladies' suits in their overall product mix: many women have discovered they need to 'dress for success' just the way men do. Changing conditions require the continuous reevaluation of product lines. At Procter & Gamble, alert executives saw rising detergent costs as a threat to continued high-volume usage of their products in the home and added to their list of products a number of cloth substitute paper products, including Pampers disposable baby diapers. Pampers now outsell P & G's Tide detergent. After picking the products to be developed businesspeople make other marketing decisions about each one. These include selecting a brand name, designing a package and establishing a product guarantee. Price Having made the basic decisions about the product line, the marketing manager must decide how the company should price its products. Perhaps a policy based on low prices will increase profits to the greatest possible amount. Supermarkets have used this tactic successfully on two levels. Most offer unbranded, so-called generic products at the lowest price and offer their own brand, usually at a slightly higher price, in addition to the highest-price commercial brands. On the other hand, the desirability of some products depends on a high-quality image, which a high price helps to confer. Curtis Mathes brand televisions are advertised as the 'the most expensive television set in America and worth it,' and come with a four year limited warranty. Promotion Very often the most important decision a marketing manager makes is how the manufacturer should inform. prospective customers about its products. This involves promotion, which includes the sales approach. Some marketing strategists, like those at Avon Products, may decide to emphasize direct selling and spend most of their promotion dollars to train and pay salespeople. Others, like producers of soap and headache remedies, promote their products through advertising, primarily on television. Department stores also spend heavily on advertising, but they choose newspapers as the most effective medium. The alternatives are many and the choice may determine the success of a marketing effort. Placement The fourth element in the marketing mix is placement (or distribution): how the manufacturer gets its products to the customers. Transportation is the major factor here, but placement also entails decisions about distribution outlets. Tupperware, for example, distributes dire