What Are the 4 Ps of Marketing?
The four P's represent essential elements that must be considered carefully and thoughtfully to successfully promote a service or product. These are price, product location, and promotion.
The 4 Ps are commonly known as the "marketing mix." They are a collection of variables that are considered when marketing a product, which includes what consumers want and, how the product or service can satisfy or not satisfy those needs, how the item or service will be perceived in the marketplace, how it differentiates itself from competitors, and how the business that produces it interacts with its customers.
Since the introduction of the four Ps in the 1950s, Ps have been discovered, including people, processes, and physical evidence.
Understanding the 4 Ps of Marketing
Neil Borden, an advertising professor at Harvard, was the first to popularize the marketing mix concept and concepts that later became commonly referred to as the four Ps during the 1950s. His 1964 essay, "The Concept of the Marketing Mix," illustrated how companies can use advertising techniques to attract customers.
Even after ten years, businesses still use the ideas that Borden made famous for promoting their products and services.
Borden's concepts were refined and developed over time by other prominent actors in the field. E. Jerome McCarthy, an instructor in marketing at Michigan State University, refined the concepts of Borden's work and named his ideas the "four Ps" of marketing. McCarthy wrote the book Fundamental Marketing: A Management Method with someone else, which helped spread the idea even more.
When the idea was first launched, it was able to help companies overcome physical barriers that would hinder the widespread adoption of products. Today, the Internet has allowed businesses to overcome these barriers.
Process, people, and evidence from physical sources are all extensions of the initial Four Ps and are relevant to the current trends in marketing.
These are the 4 Ps of marketing:
1. Product
The process of creating a marketing campaign begins by understanding the product. Who will need it, and for what reason? What can it do that nothing else on the market can accomplish? It could be a novel idea so unique in its style or function that people will want to purchase it when they come across it.
The role of a marketer is to describe the product's qualities and characteristics and present them to the buyer.
The definition of the product is crucial to its marketing. Marketers must be aware of the product's lifecycle, just as business executives must establish a strategy to deal with the products throughout their lifecycle.
The product's type will determine what it will set, where it will be best placed, and how it will be advertised.
Most of the top-performing products were among the first in their class. For instance, Apple was the first to develop a touchscreen phone that could listen to music, browse the Internet, and even call. Apple announced that the total sales for the iPhone were $71.6 billion in the first quarter of 2022. In 2021, Apple hit the milestone of two million iPhones purchased.
2. Price
A price is the price consumers are willing to pay for an item. Marketers have to tie pricing to an item's actual and perceived value. They must consider supply costs, seasonal discounts, competition pricing, and retail markup.
In certain situations, business leaders may increase the cost of a product to give it the appearance of exclusivity or luxury. In other cases, they might reduce prices, making consumers more likely to try the product.
Marketers should also determine the time and place when discounts are appropriate. Deals can attract more customers, but they may also make the merchandise less appealing than it used to be.
UNIQLO, founded in Japan, is a major global producer of casual clothing. Like its competitor, Gap, and Zara, UNIQLO creates low-priced fashionable clothing for young consumers.
What makes UNIQLO distinct is that its products are highly innovative and of high quality. This is achieved by buying vast quantities of fabric and continuously seeking the finest quality and least expensive materials worldwide. It negotiates directly with its manufacturers and has formed strategic alliances with the most innovative Japanese manufacturing companies.
UNIQLO's production is also outsourced to partner factories. This gives it the ability to switch production partners when its demands evolve.
In addition, the company has an experienced team of textile craftsmen that it sends to its partners' factories across the globe to check quality. The production managers go to factories at least once weekly to fix quality issues.
3. Place
The place is the factor to consider. It is where the product is accessible, such as in brick-and-mortar shops or online, and how it will be presented.
The key is to decide if the makers of premium cosmetic items will want their products to be showcased at Sephora and Neiman Marcus, not Walmart and Family Dollar. The aim of business leaders is to ensure that they make their products visible to those who are most likely to purchase them.
This means a product is placed only in specific stores that specialize in displaying it to its most significant benefit.
The term "placement" can also refer to advertising the item correctly to attract customers' attention.
For instance, the film released in 1995, GoldenEye, came out as the 17th film in the James Bond movie franchise and the first one to not have the Aston Martin car. In the movie, instead, Bond actor Pierce Brosnan was able to drive the BMW Z3. While it was confirmed that the Z3 was not launched until after the film was released, BMW received 9,000 orders within a month following its opening.
4. Promotion
The promotion aims to inform consumers that they require the product and that it's priced accordingly. Promotion includes public relations, advertising, and the overall approach to introducing a new product.
Marketers typically combine elements of promotion and placement together to reach their primary customers. For instance, in the age of digital, "place" and "promotion" aspects are just as important as offline. In particular, how products are featured on a company's website or social media and what search engines will generate specific ads to promote the product.
It is said that the Swedish vodka label Absolut sold just 10,000 cases of vodka in the year 1980. In 2000, the company sold 4.5 million cases of vodka, thanks in large part to its famous campaign advertising. The campaign's images included the company's iconic bottle with various surreal photos, including a bottle with a halo, a bottle made from stone, and a bottle in the shape of trees positioned on a ski slope. The Absolut campaign was among the longest-running campaigns ever between 1981 and 2005.
How to Integrate the 4 Ps into Your Marketing Plan
The four Ps offer an outline to build your marketing plan. Consider each aspect. Refrain from fretting if aspects cross-check. That's inevitable.
Before you do that, look at the product that you are selling. What characteristics attract you to it? Think about similar available products. Your product could be more durable, user-friendly, attractive, or durable. Its ingredients might be environmentally friendly or naturally sourced. Determine the characteristics that draw the attention of the people you want to sell it to.
Consider the right price for the product. It's not just producing costs but also a profit margin. It could be positioned as a premium or luxurious product or as a primary, cheaper alternative.
Placement is finding online and offline stores that sell similar items and serve customers like yours.
Promotions should be assessed concerning the type of consumer you are targeting. The product could appeal to the younger generation or to upscale or bargain-hunters professionals. Your marketing strategy must target the right audience by using the appropriate message.
What Are the Four Ps of Marketing?
Promotion, price, product, and location are the four Ps in the marketing mix. These are the primary aspects of introducing a service or product to the general public.
7 Ps of Marketing Mix
The importance of the four Ps: product prices, price, and promotion, has been the core principle of the field since 1950. Three more modern Ps enhance the marketing mix in the twenty-first century.
- People place emphasis on the individuals who are the face of the product. In this day and age, this includes not just employees in customer service and sales but also social media influencers as well as social media viral campaigns.
- Logistics is the process. The demands of consumers are increasing for a speedy and efficient supply of items they desire when they need them.
- Physical evidence may be the most up-to-date among the 7 Ps. If you're selling diamonds online, it should be evident to the buyer that you're an established company that can fulfill the promises. A professionally-designed website with excellent functionality, an "About" section that lists the company's principles and physical address, professional packaging, and efficient delivery service are all critical to convincing the consumer that your product is good but also real.
4 Ps of Marketing Examples
- "Place refers to the location where people purchase your product or where they learn about the product. Consumers can learn about products and buy them online by using a smartphone app in retail shops or by contacting an agent for sales.
- The price is the price of the item or service. The proper method of determining a product's price includes analyzing market conditions, consumer demands, production costs, and the amount consumers will pay. Different pricing models, like the choice between one-time purchase or subscription models, are worth considering.
- The type of product a business offers is contingent on the nature of the company and the things they are best at. For instance, McDonald's provides consistent fast food in a casual environment. They might expand their menu but will keep their primary focus.
- Promotion is the term used to describe precise and targeted advertising to the audience to sell the products. A company could reach the right people in the right place with an Instagram campaign, a public relations campaign, an advertising placement email marketing campaign, or a combination of all three.
Using the 4 Ps of Marketing
The 4Ps model can be utilized to plan the launch of a new product, look at an existing product, or increase the sales of a current item.
An in-depth study of these four elements—product price, location, and promotion—helps a professional develop a plan that successfully introduces or reintroduces an item to the general public.
Product price, location, and promotion are often known as the "marketing mix." These are the most essential elements in planning and marketing the product or service, and they all interact. One way to develop a complete marketing plan is to look at all these things.
Article credit: Investopedia