The 4Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion

The 4Ps of marketing are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. It may be sounding familiar now. This is a concept that has been in use since the ... The4PsofMarketing:Product,Price,Place,andPromotionRiteshPathakFeb08,2021MarketingUpdatedon:Jun08,2021YoutoomayhaveheardpeopletalkingabouthowgoodthemarketingstrategyofXcompany/organizationis.Butwhataretheyreferringtobyusingthetermmarketingstrategy?   Marketingstrategy,ingeneralterms,isassociatedwithstrategyformationbycompaniestofueltheprocessofbuyingandsellingagoodorservice.Thoughitholdstruetosomeextentthatisnotall.    Marketinginvolvessomekeyelementsthattakeplaceinbetweenthedemandforaproductanditssupply.   Wearereferringtothe4Psofmarketingwhenwetalkaboutthekeyelementsinvolvedinthemarketingofagoodorservice.    The4Psofmarketingare Product,Price,Place,andPromotion.Itmaybesoundingfamiliarnow.Thisisaconceptthathasbeeninusesincethe1950s.    Agoodmarketingstrategy,thatwementionedearlier,involvesefficientuseofthesefourelementstosellaproductoraservice,andagoodmarketingstrategyisnotpatentedforbigcompanies.Thesmalleryourfirmis,thebiggeristheroleofthese4Ps.    Recommendedblog-B2BMarketingStrategies   Tounderstandtheroleofthese4PsofmarketingwewillstartwiththedefinitionofthetermMarketingMixbecauseitallstartswiththisterm.       WhatismeantbyMarketingMix?    Marketingmixisdefinedasthesetoftoolsortacticsadoptedtopromoteaproductoraserviceinthemarket,inordertosellit.ItisoftenreferredtoastheintegrationofthefourPs.   Marketingisaprocessbywhichcompaniescreate,communicate,anddeliverthevaluefortheirproducttotheirtargetcustomers.    Marketingmixisallaboutdevelopingaproduct,communicatingaboutit,andsellingitattherightplace,priceandtime.    NeilBorden,anadvertisingprofessoratHarvardUniversity,popularizedtheideaofmarketingmixthatwaslaterreckonedasthefourPs.In1964,Bordeninhisarticle“TheConceptoftheMarketingMix”discussedthewaysinwhichcompaniescoulduseadvertisingtoengagewiththeircustomers.    WorkingonthebookbyBorden,E.JeromeMcCarthy,marketingprofessoratMichiganStateUniversity,cameupwiththeconceptof4Ps.    Fromthen,itbecamewidelypopularandisbeingusedextensivelyacrosscompaniestoformthebestmarketingstrategyforaproductoraservice.Theyleveragethecomponentsofthemarketingmixanddecideonthebestwaystopromotetheirproduct.   MarketingAnalyticshasalsoemergedasatoolforcompaniesthathelpthemtoformbettermarketingstrategies.However,thetraditionalconceptof4Pscannotbeleftatabay.   Let’sdivedeepintothemeaningandapplicationsofthesemarketingmixcomponents,thefourPs.      1.ProductinMarketing    Productinmarketingmixreferstothegoodorserviceproducedtoservetheconsumersofacompany.    Aproductcanbetangibleintheformofanyfinishedgoodorintangibleintheformofanyservice.    “Thefirststepinmarketingisthemanufacturingofaproduct”,thisstatementisdebatableinitselfassomemayargueabouttheroleoftheR&Ddepartmentofanorganization.Nonetheless,itistruewhenweonlytalkaboutmarketingmix.    Everyproductgoesthroughacertainlifecyclethathasthreestages:thegrowthphase,thematurityphase,andthesalesdeclinephase.    Marketershavetotakegoodcareofthefactthataproductshouldnotenterthelastphasetooquicklyandevenifitdoes,immediateactionissoughttoreinventtheproductandstimulatemoredemand.   Itisthequalityofaproductorservicethatincreasesthebrandvalueofacompany.Ifthereisnoproducttherewouldbenocompanybecausewerecognizeacompanybytheservicesortheproductstheyoffer.   Aproductisnotalwaysbrandnew.Aswehavementionedabove,whenaproductreachesthesalesdeclinephase,itisneededtobereinvented.    TheR&Ddepartmentofanorganizationgoesamongthecustomerstodiscoverthereasonbehindthedeclineindemandforaproduct.TheintroductionoftechnologylikeBigDataAnalyticshasmadetheresearchworkeasyfortheR&Ddepartment.    Onethingthatshouldbebroughttoyourattentionisthatcompaniesalsocomeupwithnewproductsthathaveanadditionalvalueascomparedtotheoriginalproduct.    Forexample,AmulMasalaChachwaslaunchedafterthecompanydiscoveredthatitscustomerspreferredtohavemasalaaddedtotheirAmulChach.      2.PriceinMarketing   Priceinmarketingmixreferstothevaluewepayinexchangefortheproductandservicesofferedbyacompany.    Priceisconsideredavitalelementofthemarketingmixbecauseitdictatesacompany’ssurvivalandprofit.    Pricingofaproductplaysanimportantroleindeterminingthesuccessofacompany.Severalfactorslikelistprice,competitor’sprice,discount,termsofsales,etc.,aretakenintoconsiderationbeforedecidingonthepriceofagoodorservice.   Evenalittlefluctuationinthepriceofaproductcanheavilyimpactitsdemandinthemarket.ThissensitivenessofdemandagainstpricechangeisreckonedasthePriceElasticityofDemand(PED).    Thevice-versaalsoholdstrue.Thepriceofagoodisalsodeterminedafterlookingatthedemandelasticityoftheproduct.    Companiesshouldkeepacheckonthepriceofaproductbecauseanoverpricedorunderpricedproductdoesnotattractcustomers.    Forexample,adiscountonaparticularproductcansometimesdrawmorecustomersbutitmightalsogiveanimpressionoftheproductbeinglessexclusive.Thus,marketershavetobecarefulwhenandifdiscountingisappropriate.    4PsofMarketing   3.PlaceinMarketing   Placeinmarketingmixreferstothegeographicallocationinwhichthecompanysellsitsproductsandprovidesitsservices.    Itissaidthatlocationisoneofthemostimportantpartsofmarketingstrategy.    Whereyousellyourproductsisimportantbecausethelocationmusthaveyourtargetcustomers.Thereisnosenseinsellingproductstopeoplewhoarenotinterestedinyourproductorservice.    So,afirmshouldpositionanddistributeitsproductinaplacethatiseasilyaccessibletoitspotentialbuyers/customers.   Placedoesnotalwaysrefertothestorelocation.Italsoreferstotheplacingofproductsinsideastore.    Generally,companieslikeP&Gdemandtheirproductstobeprioritizedintheplanogramforastore.Thiswouldmeanthattheirproductsshouldbeplacedinamannerwheretheproductsmeettheeye-levelofthecustomerwalkinginsidethestore.    Nowadays,wheneverythingisshiftingtowardsdigitalplatforms,itbecomesnecessaryforfirmstoplacethemonthosedigitalplatformsandleveragedigitalmarketing.     Soinsomecases,placementmayalsorefertotheactofincludingaproductontelevisionshows,infilms,oronwebpagesinordertoseekattentionfortheproduct.   Thisincreasedplacementofmoreandmorefirmsondigitalplatformshasledtoariseine-commercesector.    Recommendedblog-ServiceMarketing     4.PromotioninMarketing   Promotioninthemarketingmixreferstothecommunicationthataimsatpromotingaproduct,activity,orabrandamongthetargetcustomers;inordertodrivesales,andinvolvesbothbuyerandseller.   However,promotioncanalsoaimatbuildingthereputationoftheorganizationratherthanjustincreasingsales.Werefertothistypeofpromotionaspublicrelations.    Promotionisanessentialcomponentofthemarketingmixbecausewithoutcommunicatingaboutaproduct,acompanycannotattractcustomers.Itisalsousedtoinfluencecustomerstobuyaproductorchooseaparticularbrand.    Promotionalactivitiescaninvolvespreadingawarenessaboutaproductorthebrandoralsoanactivity.Therearedifferenttoolsthatareleveragedforthepurposeofpromotion.    TheseventoolsofIntegratedMarketingCommunication(IMC)are:    Advertising PublicRelations DigitalMarketing DirectSelling PersonalSelling SalesPromotion EventMarketing   OneormorethanonetoolofIMCisusedatatimetopromoteaproduct.Forexample,ifacompanyisadvertisingforaproduct,itmustensurethattheadvertisementisbackedbyareportinthenewspaperthattalksabouttheproduct.       Importanceof4PsofMarketing   Promotessynergy The4MarketingP'soncemixedproperlygenerate coordination,offeraproperpitchtotheproduct,becomingapowerfulforcetogetherasopposedtoindividually.     Brandloyaltyandvalue Withthefocusprimarilybeingontheneedsandrequirementsoftheconsumersaswellasensuringtheir satisfaction, theproductearnsthe loyaltyandtrustoftheconsumerthroughthese4Ps.    Linkstheconsumerandorganization Thefeatures,place,andpricingoftheproductaresettledwiththeobjectiveofsatisfyingthecustomer'sexpectations,whiletheproduct'spromotionalaspectshelpinbetterpositioning theproduct.Asaresult,alinkisestablishedbetweentheconsumerandtheorganization.    Guidesdecision Our4Psplayanintegralroleinguidingourdecisions.Forinstance,ifaproductisbasedinaremotelocation,thepromotionoftheproductwillbecarriedoutaccordingly.Accordingly,thepricingoftheproductanditsqualitywillbedetermined.   Highersalesvolume Themoreenhancedthecustomersatisfactionandthebetterthemarketscale,themoreproductsaleswouldbeboostedthroughthe4Ps.   The7PModel   Asthemarkethasevolvedovertheyears,theconceptsalsoneededanupgrade.Theconceptofthe4Pshasbeeninusesincethe1950s,butitseemedtomisssomekeyelements.    The7Pmodeltalksaboutthethreeadditionalelementsapartfromthe4Ps:People,Process,andPhysicalEvidence.    ThetermPeopleinmarketingreferstotheemployeesworkingforacompany.Theyplayanimportantroleinthesuccessofanorganizationastheyaretheoneswhodelivertheservicestoclients.ItisimportanttomanagethisresourceandPeopleAnalyticshelpsalotinmanagingpeople.    Processreferstothebusinessprocessthroughwhichtheserviceisprovidedtotheclients.Itbecomesnecessarytokeeparegularcheckontheprocesssothatanysortofmistakecanbeavoided.    Examiningtheprocessmeansassessingaspectssuchasthesalesfunnel,paymentsystems,distributionprocedures,andcustomerrelationshipsmanagement.    PhysicalEvidenceinmarketingmeanstomaintainevidence/proofthatserviceorpurchasetookplaceandprooforconfirmationoftheexistenceofthebrand.    Itcaneitherbeareceipt,oraninvoice,orabrochure,forproductdeliveryconfirmationwhileforbrandvalidation,itcanbethecompany’swebsite,brandlogo,businesscards,etc.      Conclusion   The4Psofmarketinghavebeeninusesincethe1950s.E.JeromeMcCarthycameupwiththisconceptandtransformedthewaymarketingwasdone.    Withtime,thisconcepttoostartedtoseemasoutdatedandforcedmarketerstoincludethreemorePsnamely,People,Process,andPhysicalEvidence.    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