Marketing mix - some advice on its usage

Marketing mix is a key concept in marketing management. There are a number of versions: 4P, 7P, etc. When applied in assignments or dissertation works, students should note a few things:

a. Try not to use it as a checklist just to describe the content of the marketing tactics of a company. If your content is mainly factual and descriptive, it is not a marketing mix  "analysis".
b. Useful to examine how the various Ps are inter-related to each other; they are not separate and  independent variables. Try to consider these factors as making up a systemic, dynamic whole.
c. Examine to what extent these Ps are controllable variables by the company being studied, and in which market segments.
d. A number of departments in a company are involved in formulating marketing mix tactics; besides the marketing dept., R&D, Logistics and Accounting depts are also involved.
e. If your concern is on evaluation of marketing mix of a company, you need to be explicit with your evaluation criteria, e.g. based on certain business performance measures and goals.

There is no scientific reasons on why marketing mix must be 4Ps or 7Ps; the 4P version of marketing mix is popular as a concept in marketing because it is easy for us to remember. It elaborates on the content of marketing tactics of a company; it is not much about marketing strategy which endorses a longer time frame of planning and which deals with topics more strategic, such as strategic priority, strategic positioning, core competence and value chain configuration, etc, see, for instance, Kumar's (2004) 3Vs model of marketing strategy.

While the distinction between strategy and tactics is not totally clearcut, we can say that tactics are concerned with the means to conduct a strategy; that tactics are more concerned with efficiency whereas strategies are more concerned with effectiveness. This point is clear: marketing strategy of a company does drive its marketing tactics.
Useful reading:
Kumar, N. (2004) Marketing as Strategy, Harvard Busines School Press.