17 Nov 09 Marketing and its 4Ps

Written by: bikram

In the last post, we talked about marketing, and told you how it can become socially responsible. In this post, we will talk about 4 Ps of marketing, which otherwise is known as marketing mix.

4 Ps of marketing

• 1st P – Product
• 2nd P – Price
• 3rd P – Placement
• 4th P – Promotion

Always remember the sequence while planning your marketing moves. You first need to take care of product (which means goods and services that you want to sell in the market) then look at its price, based on these two you will need to segment the market and determine its positioning.

Now, as the positioning is done, you start the placement (distribution of product). It depends upon what segment of the market you have chosen and how you want to position your product in the market. A niche product need not be present with each grocery shop in each neighborhood, but if it is FMCG (fast moving consumable good) product like soap then it has to be present everywhere to make a sale.

You need to keep in mind the distribution need of the product (based on product type, price, the segment it will cater too, and its positioning) before you spread your resources or else you will end ou spreading your resources too thin to matter.

Now, when rest of the Ps is in place, it is time to take care of promotion. You need to advertise your product, use PR, SEO, SEM, Social media marketing, twitter, etc., to promote your products. What promotion tool you want to choose depends largely upon whom you want to sell (Segmentation), and what you want your consumer to perceive you (positioning).

Segmentation means breaking down your market into actionable parts, and positioning stands for what perception you want to create in the minds of your customers.