This may be due to government regulations, testing your business model, or simply limited resources. With that being said, it’s often an advantage to choose an initial geographic region to service and expand from there. This has reduced the emphasis on place in marketing decisions. The internet has made it possible to open an online storefront and sell products and services all over the world. Keep in mind that the pricing strategy you adopt at the beginning of the product lifecycle can be different from the one at the end of the product lifecycle. There are many pricing strategies to choose from but there are a number of factors to always take into consideration:Ī price sensitivity survey can help you make the most of this process. The perceived value is vastly different but the LV shirt appeals to a much smaller customer base. A white t-shirt from a brand like Louis Vuitton (LV) can sell for hundreds of dollars while one that’s not too different in quality can sell for $10 at Target. The power of perceived value is illustrated best in the fashion industry. Price is determined by the type of product you have but, more importantly, the real and perceived value of the product. Price is one of the most important principles of marketing and will impact the type of customer you attract, the number of customers, and even the messaging you use to promote your product. How will you handle each stage and slow down the decline process? How will the product itself and the messaging change along the way? Price For example, someone pays for an email marketing service to send emails but the job that’s getting done is communicating with customers to produce sales.Īnother factor that should be considered by marketers and business owners is the product lifecycle which includes: To be successful in the product stage, it essential to understand the Job To Be Done associated with the product. Most small businesses will create products and services to meet existing demand which is perfectly alright. The second scenario is more difficult and usually requires a large number of resources and intimate knowledge of demand generation techniques. Conversely, it can also be a good that you develop in order to meet the demand that you intend to create. It’s any good that you seek to sell to a market that meets an existing demand. Product, in this instance, can also be substituted for service. The first four are considered the 4 Ps and all of them together are the 7 Ps. Elements of the marketing mix explainedĪ rundown of the 7 Ps. Let’s look at the individual Ps and how they’re used. In the end, whether you use the 4 Ps or the 7 Ps, it’s more important that you create a marketing mix that serves your business. This is true whether you have a service-based business or a product-based business.
Though it was created to expand the philosophy to include service businesses, it’s recommended that every brand use all 7 Ps in their marketing mix. It adds people, processes, and physical evidence which expands its usefulness for businesses that don’t sell physical products. The 7 Ps of marketing were created in 1981 – about 20 years after the 4 Ps – by Booms & Bitner. That’s because they don’t take into consideration the intangible aspects of service delivery. One thing to keep in mind is that the 4 Ps are better suited towards product businesses as opposed to service businesses. For example, if you’re marketing to a low-income audience, you may reduce the price but increase it for an affluent audience without changing the product too much.
The way you utilize and make decisions related to the 4 Ps is greatly influenced by the internal and external environmental factors affecting your business. Jerome McCarthy coined it in 1960, but the main concepts were created by Neil Borden and have been used by a large number of organizations since inception. The 4Ps of marketing are part of an overall marketing mix that includes the product, price, place, and promotion.
Neither one is better than the other but they do have advantages and disadvantages. The first one is called the 4 Ps and is older. There are two main philosophies that make up the marketing mix. It’s an essential concept that plays a large role in whether or not marketing campaigns are successful. It includes the channels used, the way each of the ‘Ps’ is implemented, and human resource allocation. It originally included the 4 Ps of marketing but was later expanded to the 7 Ps.īeyond the ‘Ps’ it’s the approach a business takes to market its products and services. The marketing mix is all the tools and activities a brand uses to achieve its marketing objectives. Final word on the 7Ps of the marketing mix.Elements of the marketing mix explained.