BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

For a company to be successful in today's worlds of business, it must employ a well-definedstrategy of marketing mix. This strategy tends to be a foundation for success of a company's entiremarketing activities because it is very vital for any marketing firm, The marketing mix conceptwas derived from twelve key variables in the typical programme, these twelve key variables were subsequently reduced to product mice place and promotion and they are simply referred to as 4p\s. According to Okafor (1995), marketing mix is the right combination of the 4p's of marketing at any point in time product price place and promotion in order to accomplish the firms objectives and to create satisfied customers. These marketing variables 4p's can be summarized below.

PRODUCT: Any discussion about the marketing mix must begin with the product. The product in this context means anything that us offered to a market for its use or consumption. It can be seen as anything that can be offered to a market for its attention acquisition or consumption. The product can be a physical object tangible service intangible personalities, place organization and ideas. It specifically concerns the size, colour, brand name, packaging, varieties, quality, warranties, return, and style.

PRICE: Price is next to product because it is the only element of the mix which produces revenue, the other produce cost. It can be defined as the consideration exchanged usually -in monetary terms for the value received or it can be the naira value of goods and services exchanged price decisions in order more that the number on the price tag. They include invoice discount, marks up and every terms. Types of pricing are penetration price negotiation or flexible pricing and geographic pricing, auctioneer and bid price.'

PROMOTION: It meanscreation of awareness for a produce and or service. It means letting the public, institutional private or public society know of the product, service idea, philosophy or combination of information or it is all effort directed at achieving customer awareness of the organizations product, idea or service. No product can sell itself. The public must be told or informed about the product where to purchase it the price etc. this is the work of marketing promotion. The promotion mix or variables comprises personnel selling. Sales promotion advertising public relations and publicity. Among them advertising is the chief instrument of promotion.

PLACE: This stands for the various activities the company undertakes to make the product easily assessable and available to target consumers. In order words it involves the physical distribution of the appropriate marketing channels that goods and services follow. This shows then that the distribution consists of marketing demands and physical distribution marketing channels of distribution are marketing institutions which facilitate the movement of goods and services from

their points of production to their points of consumption, physical distribution made up of sub-system such as transportation, storage and warehousing. Physical flow of materials and final goodsfrom point of origin to point of use in order to meet consumers need and at a profit.

It simply means the movement of finished goods from then producer to the ultimate consumerwith the support of the distribution mix such as transportation facilities, inventory management, unitization and communication. If the word foundation were to be used here it will refer tomarketing mix as a starting point or story base on which all marketing activities are rested or seated. If foundation is poorly laid it will lead to the collapse of all marketing programme. Therefore to ensure success in any marketing mix variables must be taken into consideration.

If is then concluded that marketing mix should not be taken for granted by marketing oriented

organizations when introducing a new product. Since it is the foundation therefore indispensibleto the success of all marketing programmes marketing managers should therefore not loose sight of the role of marketing mix in their respective firms to yield higher return=s son investment (ROI).