The Marketing Mix and the 4Ps of Marketing Video
Video Transcript
Prime your product's entry into the marketplace by asking the right questions.
What is marketing?
A common definition is: Putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time. Sounds simple, no? Well, not always.
There are so many factors you need to consider when marketing a product or service. And, if you get just one element wrong, it can be a disaster for your whole campaign. This is where the 4Ps of Marketing are useful. They stand for: "product," "place," "price," and "promotion."
To show you how effective they can be, let's imagine we want to market a new lamp. The lamp is special because it mimics the warmth and light of the sun.
We'd start by asking key questions about the first P – the product itself. One important thing to ask is, "What do our customers want?" The answer could be that they crave warm, natural light, especially on dark winter days. We could also ask how it differs from competing products. Our lamp is of higher quality, and its light is more like the sun than the others on the market.
So let's look at the next P, which is place. Where would buyers look for this lamp? Will it be stocked in a store, sold by sales reps, or advertised exclusively online?
The next P is price. Will people think that the lamp is good value? Is our target customer price sensitive? How will the cost of our lamp compare with the others on the market?
The last P is promotion. This is where you'll define when, where and how you'll get your message out to your customers. So, what's the best way to market your innovative sun lamp? One question you need to ask is about timing. For our product, the best time to market it would probably be in the fall or winter, when everyone is craving light and sunshine.
Overall, the 4Ps is a useful starting point for building a marketing campaign. The tool helps you define what you want to say to your customers, and how you want to say it.
You can find out more about the 4Ps, and the questions to ask for each of them, in the article that accompanies this video.
Welcome to the Club.
I teach at Uni as well and often refer the business students to the Mind Tools website. I find that the information on this site gives an excellent summary of practical business ideas, strategies and approaches. It is easier to understand that some of the academic texts, which are still valuable, however this encapsulates key information in a neat package!
It is also a great place to ask questions about challenges you face or to share your thoughts and ideas to other's questions.
Hope to see you around and if you do have anything that I can help with, just let me know.
Midgie
I think it's tempting to make a decision based on a "why" analysis (I'll price my widget at $5 because that's what my target market expects to pay) without going that one step further asking, "What would happen if I priced it at $4 or $6?" There might be a whole new set of more lucrative numbers out there at either of those other price points.
Asking both questions seems like a great way to cover all bases. The great thing is, it is not limited to the 4P's - it's good decision making process in general.
It never ceases to amaze me how we can pick up gems of information in the unlikeliest of places.
Brynn