What is the Marketing Mix- 4 P’s of Marketing ?
Marketing Mix .Huh! What is that? In an earlier blog, we agreed that marketing is both an art and a science. Science is always the easy bit. It involves the application of a formula, e.g. Linear equations y= mx +c. Suppose you know 75% of the variables. The remaining 25% is in the words of Sherlock Holmes, ” Elementary, my dear Watson,”.
The marketing mix is one of the core concepts of the Marketing theory. At its basic level, the Marketing mix involves the manipulation of the following 4 Ps.
- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Place
McCarthy[1] first postulated the 4Ps in 1964. These marketing variables are controllable. A business that wants to succeed must consistently monitor and optimise the 4Ps to delight their customers.
The art part of the marketing mix is about adjusting blending or better yet mixing the 4Ps into an optimum blend meets the needs of consumers or gives solutions to consumer problems.
The marketing mix is a set of controllable variables at the disposal of the brand owner. These variables can influence customers positively.
Let us look at them in more detail:-
Marketing Mix # 1-Product
The product element of the marketing mix is an amalgam of goods and services. At Hippos to Horses, we believe that a product is a continuum with goods (tangible) dominate and service ( intangible ) dominate. The product has a service component see the kitchen debacle story below. The same would apply for a service, e.g. if you go to a Barber or Hair Saloon, this is considered to be a service but, think about it; if inferior products are used to deliver this service, it will reflect on the service given at the Barbershop.
As a business owner, you are always selling an intangible product, and this is true even if you market an actual physical product, you are simultaneously selling a service.
Kitchen Debacle : When a Product is Good and The Service is Poor.
A few months ago, I had the Kitchen renovated. The kitchen and Bathroom company bent backwards to accommodate me to secure the order (loads of cappuccino and cookies). The company were very flexible and gave me endless kitchen options and modifications. The ability of this company to meet my every kitchen need was top class. All my fears allayed.
The company successfully secured an order from me. Once the order was confirmed, a few courteous emails were sent to inspire the payment of the deposit. The Kitchen was less than satisfactory installed. The Kitchen had gapping edges, open sockets, missing parts, and it was a disaster. The service part of the product was substandard.
I called customer service to rectify the problem, and the open sockets were fixed. I then called them to ask when they would complete the repairs and was astounded when a voice message informed me that the customer service was away on holiday and hang up. I am sure you have watched TV programmes where builders do shoddy jobs and then disappear, and now this was happening to me. They went on holiday in the middle of organising the repairs on the new Kitchen and did not even inform me.
I was a wounded lion and was not going to give up without a fight. I set off on a series of phones calls and emails. I finally called and spoke to the sales rep who had sold us the Kitchen. He was quick to say that this was not his area of concern and that it was out of his hands. He then politely told me to get in touch with… wait for it, Yes! Customer service. It reminded me of the song by Harry Belafonte, ‘There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza .’
I informed him of this fact. Not one to take no, for an answer, I sent emails with pictures of the unfinished work and made several phone calls to the organisation. The Kitchen was eventually repaired, albeit the process was painful.
I will not be recommending this company to my friends; neither will I pay the deposit for the Bathroom that they were to renovate next spring. The actual physical product was right, but the intangible product was on the other end the spectrum, appalling.
So, you see there is no such thing as the service industry. There are only industries whose service components are greater or lesser than those of other sectors. Everybody is in the service industry (Levitt, 1972)[2].
The Power and Value of Brands
The Coca-cola Brand is valued at $ 84 billion ( Statista). A strong brand, gives you the following benefits, a price premium, high levels of loyalty, perceived quality and value.
Marketing Mix #2-Price
The digital environment lends itself price transparency. Consumers now can carry out price comparisons at the touch of a button. It would be best if you never allowed your Brand to compete on price. Competing on price is always a slippery road. The result often leads to margin erosion and actual shrinkage in the value of the Industry. I would advise building a strong brand that delivers on its brand promise. Challenge yourself to create products and services that will enhance the lives of customers. As a business owner, you must work on different pricing models to ensure there your business remains an ongoing entity.
Marketing Mix #3-Place
One of the original reasons for its inclusion in the marketing mix is that if you can’t get the products onto the shelves, no-one will buy them, thus wasting the effectiveness of the other marketing activities. It is the means of obtaining products and services to customers, so the channels through which it is sold and promoted.
This would include the place of purchase, i.e. online or offline. Some different intermediaries or partners can aid in increasing visibility and sales referrals—the logistics involved in the delivery of the product.
Buying online, especially in current global uncertainty, could be through own website, on social media platforms or seller controlled websites, e.g. intermediaries such as amazon marketplace or oporto.com.
Remember that consumers are now becoming more demanding. They want free and fast delivery.
You must adjust the 4Ps to reflect the current needs of the target market. Due to the current global pandemic, most retail shops have had to redirect and boost their online sales. It is safe to say that all organisations need to have an online presence of one form or another. Zoom, a leader in enterprise video communications, has experienced exponential growth. An article in CNBC, Shows that Zoom revenues have more than quadruples to $129 Billion from $25 billion in 2019 and is now larger than IBM.
Marketing Mix #4-Promotion:
After all the hard work, it is essential to communicate to your target audience about your Brand and its benefits. There are a plethora of platforms that can be used to advertise. Social media platforms, google ads etc. This communication should build and encourage traffic to website or Business and encourage them to make a purchase.
The pace of change at the moment can be frightening, and there need to be speed as well as flexibility by brand owners and small business owners to respond to such a fluid marketplace. A concept known as Agile Marketing is slowing gaining acceptance.
Agile marketing is merely taking frequent customer-centric actions that result in steady, measurable improvements that make innovation and profit happen faster. Agility in your marketing mix enables a business to improve the speed, predictability and adaptability to change!
The 4 Ps can be summed up as a process of activities that ensures the development of the right mix of Products at a price that customers are willing to pay. Promotional messages that consumers can learn about product benefits. Securing the correct distribution channels that will make the products available at a Place customers are eager to patronise. As always, you will want to strive to create exceptional value for your Tribe by focusing on their needs.
What is The Marketing Mix – Final Thoughts
The Marketing Mix is a framework outlining the key components of any successful business. It consists of four key elements covered in the article above .
It is important to understand the Marketing Mix framework in order to identify and prioritise your company’s strategies and goals. As an entrepreneur your understanding and implementation of the different components of into your marketing strategy, will increase your probability in running a successful business.
Simply put , ensure that all your enterprise strategies are centred around meeting the needs of your key customers better than your competitors . You will always be a step ahead if you can nature an intimate and deep understanding your customer . Customers are your business.
As a growth minded business owner , you know that you are always learning and improving . If you do not get your marketing mix right the first time , learn form your failures , and try again .
If you liked this article and want to continue to receive similar content and strategies for running an online business from your home, then consider joining our weekly digest click on the link here to subscribe
[1] McCarthy, E.J. (1964), Basic Marketing, Richard D. Irwin Homewood, IL
[2] Levitt T (1972), ” Production line approach to service”, Harvard Business Review, September / October, pp 41-12
