Development of the marketing mix for cargo terminal services in maritime transportation

Seaports and maritime transportation exist for some thousand years and have developed together with the evolvement of the international trade. Contemporary seaports play vital roles in the global supply chain. Containerized cargo transportation by much bigger ships has made the intermodality possible by transshipping containers from one mode of transport to another, globally.The port industry is changing rapidly. The container business has expanded greatly thanks to the globalization of the world economy, however, great economical pressure places great competitive strains on terminal operators. It is no longer sufficient to be competitive locally. It is a common practice for terminal operators to establish global co-operations, mergers, acquisitions to defy competitive pressures. It is critical for port and container terminal operators to meet market requirements with new relations between shipping lines and cargo owners. Ports require massive investments for new and better container terminals. Maximizing returns on investment is largely a matter of marketing. Basic principles of service and maritime shipping industry marketing are well established, but specific tailoring to the port and terminal market is less studied and less understood.In this study, the expanded marketing mix for services where in addition to product, price, place and promotion, the important roles of personnel were put forward. It is also underlined that the entire service process has to be managed so that operations and marketing result in satisfactory customer service. Finally, it has been explained physical evidence, which is important in making services seem tangible and thus easier for customers to evaluate the service delivery.