What are the 4ps of the marketing mix?

The marketing mix is one of the many strategies that companies usually carry out to improve and, like everything else, it has to be reinvented over time and with the new objectives that marketing demands of us. Today we tell you exactly what it is and what the 4 Ps are.

what is the marketing mix?

The marketing mix is an analysis based on the internal strategy that companies usually develop. The way in which the marketing mix develops this analysis is based on four variables known as the 4Ps: Product, price, distribution (place) and promotion .

The aim of this analysis is to understand the internal situation of the company in order to subsequently develop a specific strategy that will help us to better position it.

what are the traditional or old 4Ps of the marketing mix?

• Price: In this variable, the main information offered is the price of the product that the company is offering to the market. This is the most competitive element, because a large part of the demand depends on it and whether our target customers choose the competition or us. This point must be taken care of and thought through, as it is the only one of the four that directly generates income, apart from having all the power over the consumer. You must find answers to these questions:
  
  - Whatvalue does the product have for the customer?
  - Are therestandard prices established or strongly assumed by consumers for our product or for similar products?
  - Ifwe lower the price of the product, will we really achieve a competitive advantage in the market?

• Product: This variable is the central element of the strategy; we need to have a product to place in the market for the other three variables to make sense. We must also bear in mind that this variable not only encompasses the product, but also all the complementary elements and services that encompass the product itself, such as customer service, packaging, etc. You may find some of the following questions to ask yourself very useful:
  
  -what am I selling?
  -What needs does my product satisfy?
  -What features does my product have?
  What are the benefits obtained from each of them?
  What added value does my product provide?

• Point of sale or distribution (place): Within this variable, what we are analysing is how we are distributing our product to consumers. The analysis in this variable focuses on the channels that a product goes through from the moment we create it as a company until it reaches the hands of the consumer, including the analysis of storage or points of sale.

• Promotion: Here what can be analysed is all the efforts made by the company to make its product known and increase its sales to the public. A large part of the analysis of this strategy is based on ROI, i.e. finding out whether or not the return on investment is positive .

what are the 4ps of the new Marketing Mix?

Within marketing, new variables have emerged that also complement each other. Since the emergence of Inbound marketing and the fact that the product is no longer the centre of the strategy, changes have occurred in all marketing variables. The four new variables we are talking about are the following:

• People: With inbound marketing, the centre of any strategy has become the customer, as the most important aspect of marketing is the customer's relationship with the brand.
  
• processes: The analysis of this variable includes the structural system, as well as the creativity and discipline that exists within marketing management. Thanks to having these variables well optimised, we will obtain multiple benefits.
  
• programmes: This variableincludes the traditional 4Ps mentioned above, as well as all the companies that focus on the consumer, in addition to multiple traditional or non-traditional activities that have to do with the fulfilment of the company's objectives.
  
• Performance: This variable is the one that is linked to the digital world, i.e. it focuses on the collection of data that we use to design our campaigns in the best possible way. Here we find all the databases and/or strategies that help us to achieve the maximum return, the greatest benefit and the best impact indicators.

Evolution of the 4Ps to the 4Cs

• Consumer: What are your customer's desires and needs? In this evolution we replace the focus on the product or the people to put it directly on the consumer.
  
• Cost: We replace price and processes with cost, because the cost of a product or service is not only reflected in its price, but it is necessary to take into account all the costs from its manufacture until the product reaches the end consumer.
  
• Convenience: Convenience is the substitute for location at the point of sale and programmes, because when this P evolves, it is not only about where the product will be sold, but also about other aspects of the customer's buying habits.
  
• Communication: Content marketing and social media are key to reach your audience and interact with them in a digital space where they feel comfortable.