The 5th and 6th P of Marketing
Posted by Jaci Russo
4 P's of Marketing
Marketing 101 teaches that there are 4 P’s of Marketing. These basic tenets of our industry are the foundation for every company and the product/service that they sell. Each of these P’s have undergone modifications in the past few years.
Price - Since the first time that a second product entered a category, price has been a point of competition. Where consumers can be happily relational about most of the choices they make, choosing to buy based on the relationship with the product or company that produces it, they will become transactional in a second and drive 50 miles out of their way to find it cheaper somewhere else.
Pricing strategies can make or break a company - ask Kmart. With the evolution of the internet and power in the hands of the consumer those pricing strategies are more important than ever before.
Now, while standing in a store, a consumer can use an iphone app, scan the bar code and find out that product’s price every place where it is sold (including the internet and the store across the street). Companies just can’t compete on price anymore. It is more important than ever that there is more to the offering than just a great price.
Place - Where and how do you sell your product/service? The chosen distribution channel is the place portion of the equation. Is your store in a high traffic location? Does your product have good shelf placement in the store? The traditional questions around place are still very important but now you also have to factor in the internet. Are you selling on the internet? How about SEO? Do you also have distribution agreements with Amazon? What’s your ebay strategy? Now the internet has taken the question of place and expanded it to a whole new level.
Promotion - Traditionally promotion was all about advertising. How do you broadcast your message? Sales, direct mail, public relations, and telemarketing are all parts of how you promote your product. The traditional marketing options, TV, radio, print, and outdoor, have now been joined by Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and blogging. With the evolution of promotion to include the use of the internet now the consumer provides promotion with the power of brand advocates. Using their word of mouth marketing provides for exponential opportunities for promotion.
Product - Copycat and mediocre products used to be able to enter the market and with a big enough budget they could carve out some market share. But now, people expect more. Products have to be extraordinary. They must be best in class with some unique point of differentiation. No matter how great the price, place and promotion might be it is the product that has to be great, otherwise it won’t be successful.
The traditional 4 P’s are still alive and well, even if they have become a little bit modified. But now, price, place, promotion and product have been joined by two new P’s.
Purpose - What does a company stand for? How do they give back to the community? What does a company do to improve the environment? Twenty years ago these questions weren’t even an after thought. But now, the purpose of company is just as important as the original 4 P’s.
Perspective - The original 4 P’s and even the new 5th P have one serious drawback. They are all about the company. These 5 P’s don’t take the consumer into account. In this new day and age, the perspective of the consumer is crucial. This consumer insight will let you know if you are right about how you have interpreted the data. Without the perspective of the consumer, none of the rest of it really matters.
The 5th and 6th P will be major factors in every business’s plan to market their products. Do you have a plan?
