The first marketing book I read defined the5 P’s to be considered in a marketing plan- what I would now call a product management plan. These still seem to be the most common 5 P’s.
- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Placement
- Positioning
The first 4 P’s were defined in the 60’s and are classic marketing. Product covers all aspect of the product- features, specifications, performance, and value. Price is based on market pressures and how the product is positioned in the market- high value, high performance, or lowest priced. Placement is how the customer gets the product and covers all aspects of distribution channels through to the placement on a store shelf in front of the customer.
Positioning appears to be a later addition which I find fits well. How do you position you product in the hearts and minds of your customer- is it higher priced but worth every penny; is it the lowest priced? To some extent position is a mix of the first 4 P’s, but it is critical in establishing a plan and profitability.
Some authors substitute People instead of position which I think is a mistake from a marketing perspective. Most definitions of People that I have seen are more about roles in implementing a product or a selling process than about marketing.
Over the years I’ve encountered many more P’s which either duplicate, replace, or expand upon the “true” 5 P’s. Or is it true 4 P’s or 7 P’s, 8 P’s, 9 P’s, 10 P’s…?
- Presence – covers customer awareness, are you perceived as a player in the market? probably a subset of promotion.
- Performance – an aspect of product.
- Process – a departure from classic marketing- what is the complete process whereby the product is created/delivered. This is more business line or product line management.
- Physical evidence – a subset of promotion, what does the customer see- samples, brochures, etc to give the confidence.
- Packaging – a combination of product and promotion, and physical evidence. How does the package promote your product on the shelf? Does it instill confidence or create desire? Does it add value- e.g. no drip spouts or easy open caps?
- People – again largely described as a general management issue- who implements your product plans. Some authors also list a customer profile in their definition of people.
- Persistence – primarily a sales factor. Do your sales people persist?
- Pull versus Push – a subset of promotion. Push relies on forcing product into the distribution chain and expecting it to sell. Pull is creating a demand directly with the end consumer an expecting that demand to pull through distribution channels.
- Personal Credibility- I suppose this could cover corporate credibility, but I have only seen it used to describe a salesman’s personal credibility. So this is a P of selling not marketing.
- Personalization – Some web oriented authors think this is a new market enhancer. The auto industry offered a degree of personalization with its interior and exterior color choices and optional equipment. Gen X&Y may not remember when it was common to order a car from a large menu of options. The web has allowed highly personalized ordering such as Dell custom configuration and personal customer experiences such as igoogle and my.yahoo.
- Profile – who is the customer? what do they value/want? Where are they? Where will they find my product? I like this for fundamental marketing since the original 4 P’s do not explicitly mention a customer.
- Participation – allow the customer to interact to define the brand- usually through social media.
- Peer to Peer – using social media to interact with and involve the customer.
- Predictive Modeling – nice if you can rely on the models.
- Purchases – huh? not sure who thinks this is a P of marketing. It is the ultimate goal so I guess it is worth mentioning.
- Post Purchase – as part of an integrated product or business plan customer satisfaction and support post purchase are important to insure repeat business, manage support and warranty costs, and realize potential secondary revenue opportunities.
- Partners – again usually an implementation detail- are we talking production partners or channel partners?
- Points – not a fundamental P. Point clubs and incentives fall under promotion, and perhaps price.
- Prizes – not a fundamental P. Prizes fall under promotion, and perhaps price.
- Pro Bono – not a fundamental P. Giveaways fall under promotion, and perhaps price.
- Privileges – not a fundamental P. Privileges fall under product, promotion, or perhaps price.
- Personas – added for ‘inbound’ web marketing. Persona is a customer profile.
- Publishing and PageRank – added for web and search engine based marketing. These fall under promotion and reflect the use of a new technology and media.
- Profit – probably a sub calculation of Price
When I started this I was trying to rationalize how many P’s there are to consider in marketing. I give you the 32 P’s of business and product management and marketing. The relationship between the P’s in not a simple indented list. It also appears that the P’s are to some extent a function of your market decisions and your target customer.
The P’s in the 60’s still describe marketing, but seem a bit dated. The customer is not mentioned and the old silo organization appears implicit. There is an implied handoff to product design, engineering, manufacturing, and eventually sales is on the hook to deliver the market projections. I think a more concurrent product management approach adjusted for the realities of your market is in order.
My preferred top level P list:
- Profile – know your customer first
- Product – define your performance/value
- Price – exploit your value, calculate profit too.
- Promotion – develop awareness and desire, I think this needs to include credibility and corporate reputation.
- Positioning – to some extent a combination of price, promotion, and placement, but worth listing.
- Placement – how your product reaches your customer
- Process – in a more integrated collaborative business environment marketing does not have the luxury of specifying a product and sales targets and leaving it to operations and sales to meet the goals. The entire process of implementing and delivering the product should be considered.
Please feel free to use these 32 P’s as a checklist to make your own list of P’s for your planning.
