Q.
Marketing mix - How many "P"s?
A.
Traditionally, there are 4 Ps. However, marketing gurus have come out with extended Ps. These Ps can be sprint off from the existing Ps, over entirely new Ps.
See below extract from Professional Academy at its link here.
The extended 7 P’s:
People – All companies are reliant on the people who run them from front line Sales staff to the Managing Director. Having the right people is essential because they are as much a part of your business offering as the products/services you are offering.
Processes –The delivery of your service is usually done with the customer present so how the service is delivered is once again part of what the consumer is paying for.
Physical Evidence – Almost all services include some physical elements even if the bulk of what the consumer is paying for is intangible. For example a hair salon would provide their client with a completed hairdo and an insurance company would give their customers some form of printed material. Even if the material is not physically printed (in the case of PDF’s) they are still receiving a “physical product” by this definition.
Though in place since the 1980’s the 7 P’s are still widely taught due to their fundamental logic being sound in the marketing environment and marketers abilities to adapt the Marketing Mix to include changes in communications such as social media, updates in the places which you can sell a product/service or customers expectations in a constantly changing commercial environment.
Is there an 8th P?
In some spheres of thinking, there are 8 P’s in the Marketing Mix. The final P is Productivity and Quality. This came from the old Services Marketing Mix and is folded in to the Extended Marketing Mix by some marketers so what does it mean?
The 8th P of the Marketing Mix:
Productivity & Quality - This P asks “is what you’re offering your customer a good deal?” This is less about you as a business improving your own productivity for cost management, and more about how your company passes this onto its customers.
Even after 31 years (or 54 in the case of the original P’s) the Marketing Mix is still very much applicable to a marketer’s day to day work. A good marketer will learn to adapt the theory to fit with not only modern times but their individual business model.
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