The Four P’s of Marketing: Price, Product, Location, and Promotion

You might have also heard people talk about how X company or organization’s marketing strategy works. But by using the term “marketing strategy,” what exactly are they referring to?

Generally, a marketing strategy is a plan developed by a business to support purchasing and selling a product or service. Although that is somewhat accurate, that is not everything.

Some important steps between a product’s supply and demand are essential to marketing.

When we discuss the crucial components involved in the marketing of an item or service, we are talking about the 4Ps of marketing.

Product, Price, Place, and Promotion are the four Ps of marketing. It might now sound familiar. Since the 1950s, people have been using this idea.

We mentioned earlier that a good marketing strategy uses these four components effectively to sell a product or service. A good marketing strategy is not patented for large businesses. These 4Ps play a bigger role when your company is smaller.

We’ll begin with defining the phrase “Marketing Mix” because it serves as the foundation for understanding the function of these four principles of marketing.

What does “Marketing Mix” Imply?

The term “marketing mix” refers to the strategies or tools used to sell a product or service in the market. The integration of the four Ps is a common name for it.

Companies generate, explain, and deliver their product’s value to their target customers through marketing.

The key components of the marketing mix are creating a product, talking about it, and offering it for sale at the appropriate time, place, and price.

The concept of the marketing mix, sometimes known as the four Ps, was popularised by Harvard University advertising professor Neil Borden. In his paper “The Idea of the Marketing Mix” from 1964, Borden covered the many methods in which businesses may interact with their target audiences through advertising.

Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State University, developed the idea of the four Ps while working on the book by Borden.

Since then, it has gained enormous popularity and is frequently utilised by businesses to create the finest marketing strategies for goods and services. They make the most of the marketing mix’s elements to choose the most effective marketing strategies to advertise their goods.

Promoting Examination has likewise arisen as an instrument for organizations that assist them with shaping better showcasing methodologies. However, the conventional idea of the four Ps cannot be ignored.

The Meaning and Application of the Four Ps

1. The Product in Marketing

The term “product” in the marketing mix refers to the good or service created for a company’s customers.

A product can be intangible, such as a service, or tangible, like a finished product.

“The first stage in marketing is the manufacture of a product” is a questionable statement in and of itself because of disagreements over the function of an organization’s R&D division. It still holds true when we merely discuss the marketing mix. Each item goes through a certain lifecycle with three phases: growth, maturity, and decline in sales.

Marketers must ensure that a product does not enter the final phase too quickly, and even if it does, immediate action is taken to reimagine it and increase demand.

The quality of a good or service raises the value of a company’s brand. Without a product, there would be no business since we identify businesses by their goods or services. Not every product is brand-new. As we’ve already discussed, a product must be reinvented when its sales drop.

An organization’s R&D department investigates customer feedback to determine the cause of a product’s declining demand. The R&D department has found it easier to conduct research due to the development of technology like Big Data Analytics.

One thing that needs to be brought to your attention is that businesses also develop new products with a higher value than the original product.

Amul Masala Chach, for instance, was introduced after the company discovered that customers preferred masala to be added to their Amul Chach.

A product’s price largely determines the success of a business. The list price, the price of the competitor, the discount, the terms of the sale, and other factors are considered before determining a product’s or service’s price.

A product’s demand in the market can be significantly impacted by even a little price change. This sensitivity to price changes in demand is known as demand’s price elasticity (PED).

The opposite is also true. In addition to considering the product’s demand elasticity, prices are set for goods.

A product’s price should be controlled because customers won’t buy it if it’s too expensive or too expensive.

For instance, a product discount may occasionally attract more buyers, but it may also make the perception that the product is less rare. As a result, marketers must be cautious about whether and when to provide discounts

2. Place in Marketing

Place in the marketing mix refers to the geographical location where the company sells its products and provides its services.

It is said that location is one of the most important parts of marketing strategy. That is why smart consumers will research opportunities that are accessible to them locally and then proceed to make a payment.

Where you sell your items is significant because the area should have your objective clients. Selling to people not interested in your product or service is pointless.

Therefore, a business ought to position and distribute its product in a location where potential buyers and customers can easily access it.

The store’s location is not always referred to as “place.” It also refers to how products are displayed inside a store.

Companies like P&G typically demand that their items be given priority in a store’s planogram. This would imply that their items should be positioned such that they are at the customer’s eye level when they enter the store.

With everything moving towards digital platforms, businesses must set themselves up on those platforms and use digital marketing.

So, in certain instances, the term “placement” may also apply to featuring a product to draw attention to it on websites, in movies, or in television programmes.

The e-commerce industry has grown due to more and more businesses placing their products and services on digital platforms.

3. Promotion in Marketing

The communication that aims to promote a product, activity, or brand among the target customers is referred to as promotion in the marketing mix. Increasing sales, it involves both the seller and the buyer.

Promotion can, however, attempt to do more than boost sales. It can also strive to enhance the organization’s reputation. This kind of advertising is referred known as public relations.

Because a business cannot draw clients without talking about a product, promotion is a crucial part of the marketing mix. Moreover, it is employed to persuade buyers to buy a certain brand of something.

Promoting a product or a brand can also take the form of an activity or promotional activity. Promoting a product or service makes use of a variety of tools.

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) 

Advertising Public Relations Digital Marketing Direct Selling Personal Selling Sales Promotion Event Marketing A single or multiple IMC tools are utilized simultaneously for product promotion. For instance, when a company advertises a product, it must ensure that the advertisement is supported by a newspaper report that discusses the product.

The Value of the Four Ps of Marketing

Encourages Synergy

When the four marketing pillars are correctly combined, they produce coordination, give the product a good pitch, and work more effectively as a unit than they would alone.

brand fidelity and worth

By using these 4Ps, the product gains the consumer’s loyalty and trust by placing a primary emphasis on meeting their wants and requirements and assuring their satisfaction.

Connects the Company and the Customer

While the promotional components of the product aid in better presenting the product, the features, location, and pricing of the product are decided to meet the customer’s expectations.  As a result, a connection is made between the customer and the business.

Directs Choice

Our 4Ps are crucial in helping us make decisions. For instance, the advertising of a product will be done appropriately if it is headquartered in a remote area. As a result, the product’s quality and price will be decided.

Greater Amount of Sales

The 4Ps would raise more product sales, the higher the consumer happiness and the larger the market.

The Seven P Model

The principles need upgrading as the market changes over time. Since the 1950s, the 4 Ps idea has been in use, although several essential components seemed missing.

In addition to the four Ps, the seven P model discusses the three additional elements: Physical evidence, process, and people. In marketing, a company’s employees are called “people.” Because they are the ones who provide services to customers, they are crucial to an organization’s success. People Analytics is very helpful in managing people, which is important to manage.

The business procedure by which the service is provided to customers is called the process. To prevent any error, it becomes necessary to monitor the procedure regularly. The sales funnel, payment systems, distribution procedures, and customer relationship management are all aspects of the process that must be evaluated.

In marketing, “physical evidence” refers to maintaining evidence that a service or purchase was made and the brand’s existence.

Product delivery confirmation can be a receipt, invoice, or brochure; for brand validation, it can be the company’s website, logo, or business cards, among other things.

Final Thoughts

Since the 1950s, the four Ps of marketing has been in use. This idea, developed by E. Jerome McCarthy, revolutionized the marketing industry.

This idea also started to look old, so marketers had to add three more Ps: people, process, and physical evidence.

“The only constant in life changes,” according to Heraclitus. Additionally, this 7-P model would develop further over time.