The 4Ps (product, price, place & promotion) are perhaps the first thing we are taught about marketing – I was personally introduced to the concept when I was only 14, but I have encountered kids aged 10 who also seem to know this! As marketing is in it's essence collection of activities, it cannot be easily approached systematically, however scientific certain elements are.
So we need a ‘check-list’ to make sure we've covered all the basic controllable elements. The concept of the 4Ps came about in the 1940's and quickly developed into 7 Ps (people, physical evidence and process) as our industry increasingly embraced service-based companies.
Business operations have moved on so much in the last 5 years, let alone the last 70 years, that it’s a wonder the 4 or 7Ps are still a valid tool. The 4Ps have in fact evolved and adapted to become more relevant to modern day marketing, for instance the SAVE model (Solution, Access, Value and Education). And now there are additional or alternative Ps that I believe play a part in modern marketing:
Platform – by Platform I mean in its basic terms, an online method of information dissemination and collection. A platform will give you search & directory facilities, CRM (customer relationship management) tools and/or CMS (content management system) tools. The question you’re really asking is where online do I want my business to be? what information do I want to have in each location? How do I want that information to get to all these places? Some examples include market automation systems such as Marketo or CRM systems such as SalesForce, but you could also consider social media platforms here.
Partnerships – It’s not essential for us to form partnerships in order to create a business offering, but the fact is we’re all at it, from the smallest link-baiting through to a brand-link up. It's an opportunity to create a competitive advantage. Search engines actively favour websites that link with others, affiliate marketing (in layman’s terms, paying companies and networks to drive clicks to your site) is now a multi-million pound industry and for small businesses, partnering with complementary services is a major opportunity to differentiate your business offering and beat the competitor. So if you’re operating totally solo, perhaps you should ask yourself if there are any possible link-ups that might enhance your business.
Philosophy, or Personality – What are your morals, ideals and rules? What philosophy is the cornerstone of your business? How do you portray the culture of your business to your customer? The company culture or philosophy can in itself define a business offering, the company’s philosophy or personality can be the thing that sets it apart from its competitors. Think about companies like Google, Apple or Virgin and what makes them appealing to customers – it’s not just the product, it's their culture that oozes out and attracts us to them. As morality and ethics becomes an increasingly important factor in people's decision-making, getting your company's philosophy correct becomes vital.
Proposition – This is the fundamental backbone of your business offering. It’s not as simple as saying ‘We produce X Y & Z’ or ‘I offer X Y& Z services’ these days we need a new term for what the business offers. A proposition can encompasses all products & services, it tells the customer in a single sentence what your business is all about. If you’re not sure what your proposition is, start with what the audience wants from your business and then create the proposition in terms of a solution to that problem.
There are many ways you can skin the marketing cat. The most important point of the 4, or 7, or 11Ps is that you are able to critically analyse your marketing approach using each P, with the hope that in the absence of a mathematically precise method for approaching marketing, you are able to cover all possible aspects of your business.
At Cherry Fusion we help guide businesses through their marketing planning, building plans that help with any marketing objective. To get in touch call 0117 959 5198, email hello@cherryfusion.co.uk or visit www.cherryfusion.co.uk.
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