What Place do the Four P's Have in the Networked Economy?

What place do the four P’s have in the networked economy? The four P’s (Place, Promotion, Price, and Product) still have relevancy in the networked economy. Their meaning is the same but their importance has changed.

Place is no longer necessarily a physical location but now it tends to be more internet based marketplace; like websites, Facebook, Youtube, online shopping sites, etc. Most/all successful companies use websites, blogs, and other social media as an online location for their company.

Promotion methods have nearly changed altogether, many of the old techniques of advertisement (radio and TV ads) have become almost obsolete. The new, more effective method to promote a product or company is through social media, blogs, and the rest of the internet. For example, Blue Cotton, a company that lets you design your own custom t-shirts online, has created much success through their use of the internet. They have a link to their blog, customer reviews, and allow you to post your t-shirt design on Facebook through their website. By using social media and online reviews to promote your product, you can turn your enthusiastic or satisfied customers into advertisers for your product or company.

Product development has changed through the use of internet to receive immediate feedback. With immediate feedback, a company can more easily determine how satisfied the customer is with their product and learn how to improve the products to meet the needs of the consumer. The internet allows customers to tell the companies what they want in a product so the company can create a new product or modify an existing product to suit their needs and boost sales. In the case of Blue Cotton, the customer can get online and basically design their own individual product.

Price is drastically affected by the internet. The internet has thousands of online stores which create competition to keep prices down. The use of internet stores also cuts out some middle men (ex. retail stores) which keeps costs lower.

The internet has many benefits to companies, but the aspect that has the most effect on the four P’s is the ability to reach massive amounts of potential customers and engage in conversation with them.

http://www.bluecotton.com/

The Old 4 P's Are Dead-Team Obey

The Old 4 P’s Are Dead- Team Obey

Marketing technique and strategy has evolved over time. From the 1970’s through the 1990’s the 4 P’s of marketing were identified as the main components in devising a marketing strategy. As we all know these include price, promotion, place, and product. The 4 P’s concept was the evolution of previous marketing thought that originated at the opening of the twentieth century. The first focus was on that of production efficiency. Firms wanted to produce as many units as possible as quickly and as cheaply as possible. This theory held into the 1950’s before shifting to a more product-centered approach that focused on quality. Marketing consisted at that time of simply having the highest quality product available and businesses assumed the demand would then come as a result. Then, in the 1960’s and into the 1970’s companies began to concentrate of selling tactics as a way to market their products. It was not until the mid 1970’s that the current idea of the 4 P’s emerged, fulfilling the needs and wants of the customers.

However, with the advent of social media, this method of developing a marketing mix is being reconsidered. According to Ritu B. Pant, a social media marketing strategist, the 4 P’s have evolved from place, price, promotion, and product to people, platform, promotion, and participation.

According to Ritu the first component is people which refers to a shift from companies pushing their product in advertisements as one way communication to engaging customers in a two way conversation. The point is that the inherent advantage in social media is the ability to receive real-time feedback from consumers to improve the product or service rather than simply talk at the customer through ads.

The next new component of the marketing mix that Ritu identifies is platform. The importance of platform is to understand what social media outlet your target market utilizes. The initial reaction is to simply jump on Facebook or Twitter but there is no guarantee that your target consumers matriculate there. We feel that this is a particularly important point because companies don’t yet understand how to properly use the ever changing social media tools available to them. Just as has always been the case, the importance of knowing your customer is paramount, even in this new age of social media marketing.

Another important ingredient in this new social media marketing mix is participation. It isn’t enough to just create a Facebook page; companies must actively participate with the consumers engaging them through social media. This is one of the most radical changes facing managers today. Managers have to be more deeply involved with their own company and products to make them able to provide the adaptation needed to satisfy the customers’ feedback.

Lastly, promotion is still has an important role in social media marketing. Tapping into community-based social media is key to build a perception of the product or company. Once the positive perception has been created the first step of the social media marketing campaign has been completed. The company’s responsiveness to consumers through social media will act as an advertisement due to the positive word of mouth buzz that will be created. Developing this relationship and sense of community with the consumer base becomes the promotion itself.

A perfect example of a company using these new marketing mix components is Martell Home Builders. The company created an interactive blog with items such as articles of interest to home buyers, updated pictures of houses in progress that customers can share with friends on social media platforms, and an innovative service called “Where’s my contractor” that uses GPS on contractors’ trucks to show customers their location at all times. Due to the firm’s mastery of social media marketing, 86% of their new customer leads come directly from their blog.

http://ritubpant.com/social-media-marketing-mix/

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-companies-doing-social-media-right-and-why/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing

THE 4 E'S (TEAM CARLOS)

To start off we all know the 4 P’s are product, price, placement, and promotion and the question being asked is how it is changing in the networked economy. To start off, the 4 P’s were developed in the 1960’s and the only real available technology to market products was the radio and television. Now, fades are only lasting a few minutes as opposed to a few years because the economy is rapidly evolving and it is hard for marketers to keep up with the change.
We read a page on the web by Brian Fetherstonhaugh that we found interesting. He stated that the 4 P’s are out and we need to focus on the 4 E’s. This consisted of changing, “from Product to Experience, from Place to Everyplace, from Price to Exchange, from Promotion to Evangelism” (Fetherstonhaugh). When it came to “experience”, they basically meant that we, as marketers, need to stop focusing on the product itself and start evaluating the total experience the consumer is going to have with the product. One company that has evolved with the changes is Hershey’s company. What they did was ask the company Ogilvy and Mather to put up a billboard in New York Times Square to advertise the company, but Ogilvy and Mather did something completely different. They ended up opening a store in Times Square to give people a chance to experience the product hands on and not just see the product on the billboard.
When it comes to “everyplace” they are trying to say that we need to be more open minded and not just market via television or magazines. Instead we should be more flexible and start marketing through all available resources and allowing the information to be more accessible at the consumer’s leisure.
When it comes to “exchange” they are basically stating that it is no longer just the type of exchange where you give me the money and I give you the product, it is much more than that. You want to exchange a relationship with the consumer as well because, in exchange, they can give you a profit in the long term. Consumers want to know that they are more than just dollar signs, and by giving them that satisfaction you can almost guarantee a lifelong business partner with the consumer.
Lastly, I’m sure some of you are wondering what the word evangelism means because I know I was wondering the same thing when I first read about it. In the most basic form of the definition, it means that you need to have a passion for what you are selling and believe that what you are selling will actually benefit the consumer. Through belief, consumers can begin talking to one another about the product and establish a connection with each other and the company. Through word of mouth, marketers are not just relying on their resources to sell the product but also they are taking advantage of their relationship with the consumer to help promote the product.
After reading this article, you will begin to understand why the innovation this company has developed has worked for them. Maybe we have a thing or two to learn from Ogilvy and Mather.

Resources

http://www.ogilvy.com/On-Our-Minds/Articles/the_4E_-are_in.aspx