“Once upon a time …” , “Long ago … ” … fairytales begin with these words. The fairy tale that I want to tell you today is about the famous 4P of Marketing that you may want to replace with 4C of Marketing in this upcoming new year 2019. Every entrepreneur meets 4C sooner or later because they are still in the literature and are taught at universities.
Unfortunately, the 4P come from days gone by. The clever American marketing professor Jerome McCarthy had the amazing idea in the 1960s that the marketing mix of a company can be described as just 4Ps:
- Develop a suitable product or service for your target audience. ( P roduct)
- Offer the performance at a reasonable price, which will give you enough profit and the customer his panties. ( P rice)
- Choose an appropriate distribution channel so that your customer also has access to your product ( P lace)
- And finally, do some advertising, what your product can do, what it costs and where the customer gets it ( P romotion)
Today things are a little different. In 50 years, a lot has changed. And over time, each of the 4P has lost its marketing power. McCarthy’s famous 4P marketing model is dead!
How did the 4P of marketing die?
Actually 4P = Look how great we are and give us money. So it works no more.
Why promotion no longer works
The answer is in the questions, “Do you like to watch TV commercials? Do you pay attention to the advertisements in the newspaper? Do you mind if now a banner would pop up and you need only 10 seconds to find the microscopic X to close?”
The classic forms of advertising are losing their effectiveness year after year. Sure, if you feed in a lot of money, they still deliver results. But the problem of advertising is: it is based on disturbances.
Why the distribution channel (place) became insignificant
In fact, in 1960, the distribution channel was still a crucial bottleneck your product had to take. Since then, a development called Internet has happened, making virtually everything available anytime, anywhere in the world.
You do not need your own sales network, shops or other infrastructure. All you need is an online shop and a fulfillment service provider who will handle the delivery for you.
Why the Price is no longer allowed to play
You do not have a chance to differentiate yourself from the competition. When you’re arguing about the price, you’re devaluing all the other qualities of your product. You make yourself interchangeable and worthless.
You literally invite your customers to push their price even further or quickly select the cheapest provider on the Internet.
This price war knows only losers. You. Your competition. And last but not least, your customers who spent their money on an inferior product and bad service.
Why the focus on the product is dangerous
Remains the last of the 4P left: the product. If you follow the recommendation of Jerome McCarthy, developing a technically superior product would be a top priority for your customers.
And actually, not much speaks against it. I also want you to create a fantastic offer with an outstanding added value for your customers. But the 4P lacks the focus on the needs of the customer.
The customer often does not care how many features and subtle details are in your product. It must offer him a benefit that is special. And he should and should touch him emotionally.
Way with 4P – we need a new marketing ABC
Robert F. Lauterborn made a first big step towards a new marketing model in 1990. He made 4C:
- C onsumer: Focus your focus away from the product on the benefit for the consumer.
- C ost: Calculate the true costs for the consumer instead of the price. So also time, self-conquest or even conscience conflicts.
- C onvenience: Instead of the distribution channel, convenient availability today is the major bottleneck that needs to be overcome.
- C ommunication: to put a kick in a dialogue with the customer rather than unilateral personal ads through advertising.
Lauterborn’s 4C marketing model is a clever solution to many 4P issues. But again 4C = You are so great and so we don’t need anything.
So I want to introduce you to a more recent marketing model that comes from our time with Google, Amazon, and Facebook. SAVE!!!!!!! According to research of Expert Mortgage Solutions, people are liking this system.
Is SAVE the salvation?
We can mix up 4P & 4C and make it SAVE.
Product / Consumer-> S olution
Place / Convenience -> A ccess
Price / Cost -> V alue
Promotion / Communication -> E ducation
The solution is more important than the product
For the customers, it is irrelevant which features and refinements your product masters. What is important is that it provides the most efficient solution to his problem. Everything beyond harms more than it uses.
Take care of optimal availability (access) instead of the distribution channel
That your solution somehow comes to the customer is actually self-evident. Through the internet, we are used to being able to buy anything anytime, anywhere.
The challenge is to provide customers with easy access across all channels. The customer wants to be able to communicate with your brand when and where it is.
What matters is the value, not the price
Does it interest your customers, which manufacturing costs and which profit margin has your product?
No!
Even the prices of your competitors are secondary to the customer. What’s important is what he gets for his money. Your offer must be worth its price. That’s why you should focus on adding value that your competition can not offer and cannot easily duplicate. So you avoid being interchangeable and comparable. If your customer says “too expensive,” that’s rarely the price. It’s because you did not communicate the value enough.
Knowledge (Education) is the new way of advertising
Advertising is intrusive by nature. Because you would not look at it voluntarily, it works with involuntary disruptions. It annoys you when your thriller is interrupted at the most exciting point.
The opposite of advertising is inbound marketing: creating high-quality content that attracts your customers. Because they offer valuable knowledge. Or entertained. Or inspire. This type of marketing provides a solution to the problem or meets the needs of your customers. That’s why he actively looks for your content and is interested in it.
Marketing in the 21st century no longer sees the customer as a recipient, but as a partner at eye level. Start your new marketing with our branded URL shortener service in this upcoming 2019.
