The four Ps of marketing strategy applied to Dell laptops

¶ … Ps of Marketing for Dell Laptop

Analyzing the Marketing Mix for a Dell Laptop

Product, price, promotion and place or distribution are the cornerstones of effective marketing strategies. The use of these four components of the marketing mix for the positioning and selling of high technology are critical as there is often little differentiation at the product level, with greater positioning being accomplished through value-added services and support. The role of the 4 Ps of marketing is to set a framework in place to execute effective marketing, communications and selling strategies (Goi, 2009). Applying these concepts to the marketing of a Dell laptop is the goal of this analysis.

Applying the Four Ps of Marketing to a Dell Laptop

The PC industry is one that competes on time-to-market and the breadth of features within one product or system relative to another. The creativity, ingenuity and innovation that one company has relative to another often make a major difference in how they are perceived in the market and the level of sales they achieve. In the laptop market, these aspects of product design are critical for a system to achieve market share and be successful from a profitability standpoint as well. The 4 Ps of marketing are foundational to any laptop attaining its sales and financial goals. Each aspect of the marketing mix is defined in this analysis.

Price

The common perception is that price is often the most effective differentiator and catalyst for driving up sales of products. Ironically for laptops, where there are many competitors and the price is often already very low, dropping the price doesn't increase demand. The inelastic nature of the laptop market makes price a positioning variable in the marketing mix. By raising prices on certain laptops for example, Dell has been able to communicate greater value for them, which is especially the case in the higher-end build-to-order product models (Fields, 2006). Pricing is used as a means to communicate relative value and critical to the financial success of a given product. Dell uses pricing very effectively for communicating both market position and optimizing the potential for profitability.

Promotion

The promotional strategies for laptops center on both print and online media, with social networks being heavily used to launch new models. Dell relies on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and an extensive series of marketing automation and demand generation applications to promote their laptops. The website also serves the dual purpose of providing a product configurator, online ordering store and a wealth of product information as well (Fields, 2006). Promotion is heavily used for defining the value proposition of the laptops and also their unique, highly differentiated features.

Place or Distribution

Dell is a pioneer in the development of Internet-based marketing and selling, with the build-to-order selling approach now permeating their business model (Fields, 2006). Dell also sells through mass merchandisers, online retailers and through television shopping clubs and outlets. It also has a corporate or enterprise sales force that sells into Fortune 1,000 accounts as well. All of these factors make the distribution strategy Dell relies on one of the most multifaceted and multi-channel there is in the laptop and PC industry.

Conclusion

Dell continues to redefine how marketing is managed and executed for high technology products, including the development of innovative product, pricing and promotional strategies. Of all of the aspects of their business model that are the most effective, the build-to-order product strategies are by far the greatest in terms of their ability to differentiate the company from competitors (Fields, 2006). Combining a highly effective process within the company for customizing products to customers' needs further supports and strengths the core foundations of the marketing strategies as well.