Are the 4 P’s of Marketing Still Relevant?

The marketing mix or the 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion, were developed in 1948 and were easily described as the launching pad of your marketing plan. You simply couldn’t have a plan without completing the 4 P’s. The question is, are the 4 P’s still relevant?

I would say yes, absolutely! People can’t stand without a spine – a marketing plan doesn’t have a base without the 4 P’s. How they are defined may have changed over the years but the essence of the marketing mix is still very much the building blocks of any good marketing plan. In the 1990’s the concept of the 4 C’s were introduced as a replacement to be more customer driven: consumer, cost, communication and convenience. In 2012 another 4 P’s theory was proposed with people, processes, programs and performance.

Times have changed so much that the initial concept of looking internally at the 4 P’s is no longer valid, however, if we switch them around and look externally at what our customers want, the 4 P’s are still very much valid.

Product
Product is no longer about the physical product or service that you are offering, but rather studying what your customer is really looking for. Take a walk in your customers shows and see if there are things you would change in the entire product experience.

Price
Relying solely on the best price won’t get you anywhere. People are looking for what value you can offer.

Place
We live in a much more global world. Place is no longer one location, a business can be locally run, a global business or even a glocal company… businesses offering online services both locally and globally!

Promotion
Promoting your business is no longer about blasting your potential customer with ad’s and bulletins, but about truly communicating with people and showing them you have something of value to offer.

Your actionable this week: What are your 4 P’s and how can you adjust them to bring them into modern marketing methods?

I’d love for you to leave a comment and share with the community what your 4 P’s are.