IS THE 4Ps FRAMEWORK STILL RIGHT?
We live in a world where things are changing fast, where the power is shifting from brands to consumers, and where consumer behaviors are constantly evolving. As a brand manager, it’s hard to keep up… The four Ps (Product, Place, Promotion and Price) framework was created in 1964 by Neil H. Borden (The concept of Marketing) and has been widely used by generations of marketers. The four Ps are the parameters that the marketing manager can control, subject to the internal and external constrains of the market environment.
Is the 4 Ps framework still relevant today? Are the 4 Ps still the right concepts to keep in mind when you think about marketing? The answer is yes, more so than ever. The framework helps the marketing manager to innovate based on what matters.
Product: the fact that 75% of new products fail at launch demonstrates that people don’t need more stuff, they need better experiences. More than thinking about products, brand managers should think in terms of experiences. How can the offer be integrated within a social context? How can product delivery build customer loyalty when quality is less and less a differentiating factor?
Place: the Internet opened new opportunities for product distribution. More than a new retail channel, the web represents today an enabler for a new type of transaction. How does the Internet reshape the distribution strategy of your offer?
Price: the severity of the economic crisis has prompted consumers to fundamentally rethink the way they act and consume. Price is probably the burning topic in any brand manager’s head right now. 55% of the people who reduced spending as a result of the recession did it through choice (source: McKinsey consumer research, 2010). How will your pricing strategy reflect the new thrift mentality of consumers? How can you leverage new saving mentalities to innovate on new products and services?
Promotion: promotion represents “the various aspects of marketing communication, that is, the communication of information about the product with the goal of generating a positive customer response” (source: NetMBA.com). Today, 65% of people feel they are constantly bombarded with too much advertising (source: Yankelovich 2009), and 76% of customers don’t believe the claims made in advertising (source: Word of Mouth Marketing Association, 2010). Promotion is still at the core of successful marketing strategies, but tactics need to evolve. How can you create relevant, open and long-lasting conversations with customers?
Don’t think the framework is bad. Despite its limitations and perhaps because of its simplicity, the 4 Ps framework still offers a solid approach to marketing. What represents each of the 4 Ps may have changed, but the framework still invites each of us to ask ourselves the right questions.
(Jean-Yves Minet)