5 Cs of Marketing - Definition, Importance, Components & Example
What is 5 Cs of Marketing?
5 Cs of Marketing - Company, Customers, Competitors, Collaborators, and Climate are used to analyze these five key areas that are involved in important marketing decisions for a company covering internal and external stakeholders along with the business environment. The 5 C’s of marketing are a good guideline to make the right decisions and construct a well-defined marketing plan and strategy. It is a marketing methodology to analyze various aspects of the environment in which the company works in.
Importance of 5 C's of Marketing
5 Cs of marketing gives an interesting perspective to view a business and its performance. If a company is in control of its 5 Cs, it can predict its future and adapt itself for more success. The 5 Cs cover important concepts of marketing and combines them into a framework to help brands succeed.
E.g. Customer is the most important stakeholder for any business and another example is the collaborators like vendors without whom the company can't succeed alone in the market. So if customer and collaborators are well managed along with other C called company, company can control its internal factors. Competition and Climate can be outside the control of an individual company but should be closely followed so that if there is a change, plan should be ready to cope with the changes.
Components of 5 Cs of Marketing
Let us discuss each component individually:
Company
Determine if your company is in a position to meet those customer needs. For example, whether your company has the right product line and technical expertise. A good tool to find out your company’s strengths and weaknesses is “SWOT” analysis.
• Strengths: innovative products, expertise and procedures
• Weaknesses: lack of knowledgeable technical support or average product quality
• Opportunities: a new international market or a market led by a weak competitor
• Threats: a new competitor or price war
Customer
Determine what are the needs of customers and from which clients that you’re trying to satisfy. A few areas of research can be market segments, frequency of purchases, quantity of purchases, retail channel, and customer needs depending on trends over time. Customer is the one who is consuming and paying for the product or service being sold hence it becomes one of the most aspect of marketing and hence an important aspect of 5 Cs of Marketing.
Competition
Competitive Analysis is required for any business to survive. You are competing in a market with many other companies. Having a lot of competition can be good or bad at the same time as it would mean you are in the right market but it will take a lot of effort and cost to compete.
Determine who competes with your company in meeting the customer’s needs. Is the competitor an active competitor or is it a potential threat? What are their products exactly? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Collaborators
Determine if there is any outside source or third party help that can help the company such as distributors, suppliers etc.
Imagine a manufacturing company building plastic furniture for patio. The company is good in making and modelling the furniture but they need a supplier or a vendor to supply the plastic which is the primary raw material for making the finished product. This supplier is a collaborator without which the company cannot function effectively.
The above image shows the 5Cs of marketing.
Context or Climate
Determine if there are any limitations due to
• Political issues: legal problems, trade regulations, taxes or labor laws
• Economic issues: growth rate, labor costs, and business cycle stage
• Social impacts: demographics, education, and culture
• Technological developments: impact on cost structures
• Legal Factors: Changes in policy and other aspects
• Environmental Factors
This is also known as “PEST” analysis.
Example of 5 C's of Marketing
Let us take example of Coca Cola.
Customer
Coca Cola company produces many beverages which are mass produced and are consumed by customers of almost all segments and demographics.
Company
Coca cola is one of the biggest beverage brands and has portfolio of many brands like coca cola, sprite, smart water and more. Coca cola company is present in most of the world and was stated in US.
Competition
Pepsi is its biggest competitors along with local competition across markets but there are other brands like Dr. Peppers which are significant competition.
Collaborators
Coca cola collaborates with many companies for bottling, sourcing and ingredients
Context/Climate
Coca Cola brands are assumed to be high in sugar hence many people expect and prefer more healthy options. Coca Cola also produces diet and zero versions of its famous brands.
Hence, this concludes the definition of 5 Cs of Marketing along with its overview.
This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
Browse the definition and meaning of more similar terms. The Management Dictionary covers over 1800 business concepts from 5 categories.
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