Comments on: Are the 4 P’s still relevant in today’s world?

By: Julian

Julian — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:33:07 +0000

Interesting thoughts Francois — do you have a link to that piece on insurance and 80%?

By: Luca Taddei

Luca Taddei — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:54:10 +0000

The 4P’s can remain fundamental, but for sure we have to give to the 4P’s new meanings, more complete meanings. And the 4C’s are also useful. I think that we have to integrate the 4P’s and the 4C’s, continuing to look around us to see changes and to understand these changes.

L.T.

By: Francois Gossieaux

Francois Gossieaux — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:24:26 +0000

I guess we could broaden the definition of the P’s so that they still make sense, but by themselves they no longer make sense.

In the old days “Place” was important – nowadays it is a matter of being available when people need you – so being “findable” is the key, and that is clearly not “place,” nor “promotion.”

In the old days pricing was important for an individual item (i.e., “product”). What is more important these days is the lifetime value of a customer, and in some cases that may mean giving stuff away for free to gain more revenue streams later…but “Pricing” for a “Product” can lead to very short-sighted decisions.

The point I am trying to make is that if you apply the 4 P’s to develop your marketing plan, chances are very high that your product will join the 80% of new products that fail…

By: Toby

Toby — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 14:30:13 +0000

Francois – I agree with David on all accounts .. a rose by any other name and so on. The 5th P – People is a critical concept and for me is the umbrella P that synergizes all of the elements. I’ve seen models where ‘social media Ps’ e.g., peer-to-peer, participation, personalization were included. My vote is not to make P soup out of this but keep it simple with one more P – People. Wonder why that People P (now that does sound bad) was not included in the original model.

By: David Blanar

David Blanar — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 05:39:29 +0000

The 4 Ps are fundamental; you can call them different names, repackage them as you see fit, but ultimately we will always need to consider the core constructs behind these four dimensions.

I’ve read about countless “Fifth Ps” but the one I think has most relevance is: People.

People, after all, form the bonds and channels between the other four distinctions and should factor into any successful marketing plan.

ps. Francois, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you there’s no such thing as free.