Sorooshsima Podcast #19
4p and marketing mix
Most businesses know marketing as advertising to attract customers, but marketing is really a concept that covers all aspects of business. In this podcast, we are going to introduce you to the concept of marketing mix. This types of marketing helps get to know and manage your business and ultimately will lead to more sales and profit. But contrary to the meaning, marketing mix is not a strange or complex, and without knowing the concept at all, businesses deal with it. For example, one of the most important issues that almost all business have to decide on is pricing which is considered a part of marketing mix.
Also in this article, we will examine the main components of this type of marketing approach, the 4p and its evolution, namely the development of 7p and 8p and … using this marketing strategy, make it possible for your business to thrive with a detailed strategy.
The concept of marketing mix was introduced by Jerome McCarthy in 1960. He saw marketing mix as consisting of four components, product, price, place, and promotion. Today, 60 years later, these four P’s are updated to reflect the modern facts of the business world.
To produce and supply a product, you need to produce a product people need and then distribute it in places that easily accessible for customers and consider the price in accordance with the values. However, producing a product that customers want, identifying where they shop, and pricing that reflects the value and collecting it all at the right time, is not an easy task. Because negligence in any part is catastrophic and can cause huge damage to your business. Suppose you offer an expensive product where the same product is available at a lower price, or presenting a product at an inappropriate time that has not buyer, what are the consequences for your business?
Marketing mix helps you avoid making these mistakes when you decide to start your own business.
4p marketing and marketing mix are used as synonyms, but are necessarily the same.
4c marketing has just been added to these definitions, because 4p marketing only takes the sellers’ perspective into account, while the customer’s viewpoints are different on what is offered to them and can be effective in finding effective solutions.
Therefore, it is best to take this approach with the customers’ demands and sentiments. 4p and 4c are like the two sides of a coin, one examining the customers while the other the buyer’s view.
As mentioned, Edmund Jerome McCarthy raised the concept of “marketing mix” and considered a structure that he thought would encompass all aspects of the marketing of a business: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
Given that all these words begin with the word “P”, this structure is called 4p’s.
Of course, there is a model that is related to the process of service companies. Process, manpower and physical environment encompass this process and is called the 3P’s.
Twenty years after Mr. McCarthy and a number of marketing theorists have come to the conclusion that the 4p model is not complete and does not meet the needs of some businesses (especially service oriented companies). So three more parts were added to the 4p model: People, Physical evidence and process. By adding these parts, the defects of the previous model were partially eliminated and (thanks to the commitment of these dear marketers to P) the 4P structure was transformed to 7P’s.
Of course, not long after, other models of marketing mix with 8P, 11P, 13P and 15P were also introduced.
Marketing mix 4P’s are: get the right product at the right time and place and at a reasonable price.
At first glance it is very simple, but this is just the appearance. In essence, we need to know how to manage all these 4Ps seamlessly, because whenever one of them doesn’t work properly, the other parts are in trouble as well and our business may be at risk. To better understand this, let’s examine these 4P’a separately and come to a general conclusion.
1st P: Product
What is meant by product is the product or services we offer the customer. The product is not necessarily tangible and physical. For example, not only the car we buy from factories is a product, but also services like hair cut a hair salon provides or the internet bandwidth we buy form operators are also considered a product. What is important is what attributes or features should the product have?
2nd P: Price
Price is the same cost that a customer pays to use our product (goods or services).
Many people think if we calculate the cost involved in producing a product, and add our percent of the profit we are considering, we get the product’s price.
3rd P: Place
After looking at different aspects of the product and fixed a price for it, it’s time to think about distributing it in the right places. The question of what is the best channel for your product or services, that depends on the type of business and your target market.
4th P: Promotion
We assume that you have successfully completed the previous three steps. At this point, you should talk and promote your product.
The 7P model, In addition to the 4P’s, we had in the marketing mix, has three other parts: people, physical evidence and process.
5th P: People
People include all those involved in the direct and indirect operation of your business. It’s the people that form and shape your business. You should not be surprised at the impact they have and the image they form in the client’s mind.
6th P: Process
Process is the trail that products (goods or services) take to reach a customer. In other words, the process is the same path we know as customer journey, and the easier the journey, the better the user experience.
7th P: Physical Evidence
Corporate building, corporation decoration, personnel appearance, the fonts we use on the company’s site, and the overall environment in which we operate, all constitute physical evidence of our brand.
So far, we have been introduced to the 7P’s of marketing mix and have examined each separately. But as I said at the beginning of our discussion, our P-stories don’t end here. Different experts have also added other P’s to the marketing mix and made models like 8P, 11P, 13P and 15P. But most of these new P’s are just a subset of the previous ones.
With the right understanding of Marketing Mix
You will have a comprehensive and integrated look at your company’s marketing and it will be better coordinated. You will also be sure that you have considered all aspects of your marketing and will be able to design a complete marketing strategy.