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To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) provides the basic tools for effective marketing. Deploying your resources and informing your managerial decision making is dealt with in Unit VII introducing marketing intelligence, competition, budgeting and organisational issues. The logical conclusion of this effort is achieving sales and the particular techniques involved are explored in the final section.

McCarthy′s 4Ps mix has increasingly come under attack with the result that different marketing mixes have been put forward for different marketing contexts. Contends that the numerous and ad hoc conceptualizations undermine the concept of the marketing mix and proposes that Booms and Bitner′s (1981) 7Ps mix for services be extended to other areas of marketing. Shows how the 7Ps framework can be applied to consumer goods and reports the results of a survey of UK and European marketing academics which suggest that there is a high degree of dissatisfaction with 4Ps. Also suggests that the 7Ps framework has already achieved a high degree of acceptance as a generic marketing mix among both groups of respondents. Overall provides fairly strong support for the view that Booms and Bitner′s 7Ps framework should replace McCarthy′s 4Ps framework.

With growing mobility in a globalized world and an estimate of more than 300 million people going on religious pilgrimages every year, various researchers have been focusing on pilgrimage-driven travel services. In this context and within the Islamic religious tradition, the “Umrah” is used as a case study in this paper. In addition, this study also investigated the effects of Umrah SMM (promotion, place, people, product, price, process, physical evidence, marketing communication and after sale service) on customer satisfaction and loyalty toward Umrah travel agents in “Malaysia.”

Convenience sampling technique at four international airports in “Malaysia” was used to obtain data from Umrah travelers who had used Umrah services at least once. A total of 384 usable questionnaires were collected from this study and the data were analyzed using the partial least square.

The result indicated that the marketing mix has a significant positive effect on customer loyalty through customer satisfaction both directly and indirectly. This study will be of interest to the Umrah travel industry, for Malaysia and all the other countries, in understanding how marketing mix strategies are essential in maintaining a long-term relationship with customers.

The literature on Umrah travel services revealed that the traditional service marketing mix (SMM) of 7P’s is inadequate. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap and examine an innovative service marketing mix strategy for “Umrah Service” including marketing communication and after sales service. It investigates the effects of enhanced Umrah SMM on customer satisfaction and loyalty towards Umrah travel agents in “Malaysia”.

Discusses the nature and sometimes negative consequences of the dominating marketing paradigm of today, marketing mix management, and furthermore discusses how modern research into, for example, industrial marketing and services marketing as well as customer relationship economics shows that another approach to marketing is required. This development is supported by evolving trends in business, such as strategic partnerships, alliances and networks. Suggests relationship marketing, based on relationship building and management, as one emerging new marketing paradigm of the future. Concludes that the simplicity of the marketing mix paradigm, with its Four P model, has become a strait‐jacket, fostering toolbox thinking rather than an awareness that marketing is a multi‐faceted social process, and notes that marketing theory and customers are the victims of today’s mainstream marketing thinking.

The shift in consumer focus towards green marketing mix elements is not a unique thing. Especially in recent times, most organizations are trying to implement green marketing strategies in order to influence customers as well as to reduce the negative impacts of environmental footprints. However, in recent times service marketing requires thorough implementation of a Green Marketing Mix as evidenced by Asian countries. However, research also claims that the use of a traditional green marketing mix is not a guarantee of success in the long run and therefore has been criticized by several researchers and scholars. Hence, there is a need to follow the Green-SIVA (Solution, Information, Access, and Value) concept in order to create a long-lasting impact on consumer buying and to discuss the application of tools in a more comprehensive manner. Although the linkage of Green-SIVA marketing might provide a new way to develop an effective marketing mix strategy for services. Hence, this chapter has been written purposely to discuss GMM elements with reference to the service industry of Pakistan and tries to develop an association with green-SIVA marketing practices in order to optimize service marketing practices.

The quantity surveying profession has a long history in the building industry. Although the profession has reached maturity, practising quantity surveyors seem to have failed in so far as strategic marketing and planning are concerned. Many quantity surveying firms do not have formal written marketing plans. They do not appear to believe that such plans are useful because of uncertainties in the construction market. In view of this lacuna, aims to highlight the importance of strategic marketing and planning to quantity surveyors. Examines the seven Ps in the marketing mix concept for applications in the quantity surveying profession. Quantity surveyors should keep these applications in mind when marketing their professional services.

Examines the role of strategic marketing in public sector services. Looks at the strategic marketing planning process and identifies the barriers which hinder the utilization of synoptic marketing planning in library services. Concludes by putting forward an incremental model of marketing planning which it proposes is more applicable to this sector.

Argues that a cognitive bias is found in the language used to describe services, since services are defined in relation to manufacturing. Proposes that services should be accurately described as they are very different from manufactured goods. Considers service from an alternative viewpoint, highlighting this perspective′s implications for marketing thought. Draws attention to practical implications with regard to the marketing mix.

Although significant advances have been made in customer service research, a majority of this research has concentrated on defining and measuring the importance of customer service in isolation from the other components of the marketing mix. In order to achieve a competitive advantage from customer service, it is necessary to establish service levels as part of the firm′s overall marketing strategy. This monograph reviews the development of customer service; evaluates past customer service research; presents a methodology for integrating customer service and marketing strategy, and provides some suggestions for future research.

Discusses the nature and sometimes negative consequences of the dominating marketing paradigm of today, marketing mix management, and furthermore discusses how modern research into, for example, industrial marketing and services marketing as well as customer relationship economics shows that another approach to marketing is required. This development is supported by evolving trends in business, such as strategic partnerships, alliances and networks. Suggests relationship marketing, based on relationship building and management, as one emerging new marketing paradigm of the future. Concludes that the simplicity of the marketing mix paradigm, with its Four P model, has become a straitjacket, fostering toolbox thinking rather than an awareness that marketing is a multi‐faceted social process, and notes that marketing theory and customers are the victims of today′s mainstream marketing thinking. By using the notion of a marketing strategy continuum, discusses a number of consequences of a relationship‐type marketing strategy for the focus of marketing, pricing, quality management, internal marketing and intraorganizational development. Briefly comments on the possibility of developing a general marketing theory based on the relationship building and management approach.