Ps of Marketing for Dell Essay

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.

References

Gary Fields. (2006). Innovation, Time, and Territory: Space and the Business Organization of Dell Computer. Economic Geography, 82(2), 119-146.

Goi, C.. (2009). A….....