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Four P's Of Marketing And Folgers Coffee

Introduction
This Essay will deal with the Four P’s of marketing as it relates to Folgers Coffee. It will be demonstrated how the marketing function is visible in these four areas. It will also be shown how the coffee giant had lost its lead in market share and then recovered it in the mid 1990’s. We will explore how now that Folgers is being operated by Smuckers, the coffee giant has used some clever marketing schemes.

The Four P’s
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place (distribution)
4. Promotion

Product
In looking at our product, Folgers Coffee, a sure way to see where a product is going sometimes is to look at where it has been. In 1992, Kraft’s brand of coffee, Maxwell House, had gained the lead in market share and appeared to be poised to drive a nail in the coffin of Folgers. The obituary for Folgers was premature as Folgers began a marketing campaign that consumers still remember. You can ask almost anyone who makes the “Mountain Grown” coffee and almost all will answer “Folgers”. It took them a year to regain the lead with sales of almost $120 million compared to Maxwell House’s sales of $102 million. (Deveny, 1993)
According to Business Week, “Folgers primarily engages in sourcing, blending, and roasting green coffee beans; and packaging, marketing, and distributing branded coffee products. Folgers three divisions, Commercial, Retail and Millstone are showing that the company is diversifying its products. The offerings of the retail division are Folgers Classic Roast and Folgers Coffee House Series. Folgers is also offering single serve coffee products, such as Folgers Pods, Folgers Cappuccino, Folgers Singles, and Folgers Instant. Also included are ground coffee and gourmet roast products, such as Dunkin’ Donuts licensed retail packaged coffee products and Folgers Gourmet Selections. The Commercial division provides packaged roast and ground coffee products to offices, foodservice, quick service and casual dining restaurants...