CHINHOYI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
AND
GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL
BUSINESS SCIENCE

COURSE: STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT

COURSE CODE: MSCSM603/MSCAE603

Name Surname Reg. Email Address Cell Number

Number
Munashe Chimhavi C13121302T    
Mary Joe C21143548R    
Richard  Mataruka      
Question
EVALUATE THE MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY AN
ZIMBABWEAN ORGANISATION YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH.
Introduction
• The marketing mix is a framework of the dominant marketing management paradigm used to identify market development,
environmental changes, and trends.
• The marketing mix comprises of seven key elements i.e., product, place, price, promotion, process, packaging and physical.
• These elements seek to answer questions about what consumers buy, where they buy, how and how much they buy, when they buy,
and why they buy.
• The 7Ps are utilized to;
 satisfy the target market and potential customers.
 help the business achieve its predefined goals.
 meet the demands of end user or target customer.
Matrix
mix 7Ps
Case Study-ECONET
The Product

• A product by definition is anything offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that could
satisfy a need or want. Gelso (2006), Harlow (2009), Stam, H. (2007, 2010), Wacker (1999),
• A product can be tangible or intangible.
• A product or service of an organization helps create the image of the firm in the mind of a customer. For example
Ecocash as a product of Econet creates an understanding that customer can transact money or move it from one end
to another.
• Issues such as brand, quality, design and packaging are very important and influences a customer from deciding
whether to buy a product or not. If the brand is acceptable to the customer and is of high quality, loyalty of the
buyer is won through satisfaction. For example amongst other telecommunications, Econet is regarded the best in
terms of its availability and its packaging as one can access the bank with it, buy other commodities like zesa and
groceries via its applications.
• Customers purchase products and services to satisfy needs or wants and obtain benefits as a result.
Product
• These are the different kinds of benefits that people can obtain from
buying goods and services;
 good value for money
 ease of use
 safety
 availability
 economy in use
Price
• Price is an important factor that influences a customer’s decision to repurchase, recommend and
create loyalty to a given business.
• Price is unquestionably one of the most important marketplace cues largely it is present in all
purchase situations and at a minimum represents to all consumers the amount of economic outlay
that must be sacrificed in order to engage in a given purchase transaction.
• There are market conditions under which organizations can exert some control over the level at
which price is set on a product.
• Price is determined by market forces brought about by competitive pressures and patterns of
consumer expenditure.
Factors that affect pricing

Demand

Competition

Policies set by government

Segmentation
Promotion
• Promotion involves a variety of activities undertaken by a firm to
communicate the merits of its products in a bid to persuade target
consumers to purchase it.
• A company can use a number of promotional vehicles such as branding,
advertising, PR, corporate identity, social media outreach, sales
management, special offers and exhibitions.
• Econet uses promotions like free minutes, family friends bundle, adverts
on billboards, workshops on health awareness programs just to get its
name out there.
Factors that influence the
promotion
• The available budget -The amount of money available for expenditure on
promotion. A big firm likr Econet has big budgets set aside for
promotional expenditure.They engage in TV advertising , cinema
advertising and billboards advertising just to mention a few.
• Market size and location -Large dispersed markets tend to favour mass
communication coverage, such as advertising. Local markets or small
numbers of buyers may favour direct mail, specialist press or even
personal selling but for a bigger number of buyers mass marketing is the
best.
Factors that influence the
promotion
• Distribution channels -The key to successful marketing of a
product often lies in obtaining suitable distribution for the
product. Distributors therefore can exert considerable
influence over the choice of promotional medium used to
communicate with the ultimate customer.
Place
• Businesses need to decide on the place of purchase or where
and how to distribute the product to the customer.
• Consumers are satisfied if the product is available in the right
place, at the right time and in the right quantity, while
keeping storage, inventory and distribution costs to an
acceptable level.
Place
• Businesses should be strategically located so that they are
easily accessed. A place can be physical or online
• Physical- Econet has physical offices with a physical address
• Online- Econet offers services that are accessible on their
online platform such as ecocash, ecosure, vaya, sasai
Process
• Marketing process includes ways in which value can be created for the customers to
satisfy their requirements. It is an endless series of actions and reactions between the
customers and the companies making attempt to create value for and satisfy the needs
of customers.
• Whether to distribute direct to the customer or indirectly through middlemen.
• The advantages of going direct are that it enables firms to exercise more control over
marketing activities and it reduces the amount of time spent in the channel.
• The disadvantages are that it is difficult to obtain widespread distribution and more
resources are required to maintain distribution.
People
• The ‘people’ element of the 7Ps involves anyone directly, or indirectly, involved in the business side
of the enterprise.
• People may refer to Employees-those people who are involved in selling a product or service,
designing it, managing teams.
• There is no use in creating a great brand, innovative product or amazing social media presence if a
company does not have the right people behind it.
People
• Employees ought to have fair training and a considerable
understanding of their role and the impact that they have
within the company.
E.g Econet ought to have a customer service representative
who has people skills, who is empathetic towards the issues of
the company`s audience.
Physical Evidence
• Physical evidence often takes two forms these are evidence that a service or
purchase took place and proof or confirmation of the existence of your brand.
• Any services or products received count as physical evidence. As do the likes
of your receipts, packaging, tracking information, invoices, brochures.
• Physical Evidence are elements that the customer is likely to see prior to
actually engaging with the company e.g website,logo,business cards and
buildings.
Physical Evidence
• A well-crafted, strategic brand can greatly benefit from the
legitimacy that physical evidence can place a company miles
ahead of the game, and set it apart from its competitors by
showing it as professional, authentic and informed.
Applicability during the new
norm
• Covid has posed new challenges to Econet and some include
the following;
• Price structure
• Promotional strategies (use of aggressive online marketing)
• Diversification on its products (eco farming, elearning
ecosure,vaya)
• The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2009 (CIM), Accessed 17/07/2021.
• Oxford College of Marketing , 2015, Summertown Pavilion Middleway,
Oxford
• Larry Steven Londre Marketing, IMC, Advertising, Promotion, Media and
More. 2021 Edition
• Strategic Marketing Management by Philip Kotler, Alexander Chernev
Published August 1st 2012 by Cerebellum Press.
E. Constantinides, “The Marketing Mix Revisited: Towards the 21st Century
Marketing.” Journal of Marketing Management, Vol.22, pp407-438, 200