Marketing mix - create the perfect
business strategy with the 4 P's

The marketing mix - also known as the parameter mix - in most contexts contains what are called the 4 Ps. These are 4 parameters that describe a company's product or services. In broad terms, the 4 parameters are mainly about the buttons that a company can turn and adjust.

The 4 P's of a marketing mix consist of:

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion.

With the 4 Ps, you as a company can turn up and down factors that differentiate you from your competitors and make you most attractive to your customers. So you can't avoid the 4 Ps when you talk business strategy.

The Product parameter will usually be the first P you look at in its parameter mix, as it is the foundation of your business - and therefore your business strategy. A product can also be a service, but for service companies it will also make sense to define their marketing mix based on the extended "7 Ps" model(more on this model later in the guide).

The purpose of the product parameter is to describe your product (or service) and how it can meet your customers' needs and requirements. Start by defining basic elements such as:

• Type
• Brand
• Design
• Quality
• Function
• Packaging
• Assortment.

It may be worth considering the production cost of the product, as this may affect whether or not you need to adjust for a better product. It is also important to define how the product solves your customers' problem - in other words: What is the benefit?

Here, the FFU/EFU model is useful because it helps to define how features/characteristics of a product or service contribute to benefits and, in particular, to customer value. Functions/features describe what something is, benefits describe what it does, and benefits describe how the product makes a difference to the customer.

Once you have defined your product, you can start looking at prices. Among other things, you can take into account:

• Basic pricing
• Discounts
• Package prices
• Credit schemes.

When explaining your pricing, it is useful to assess whether your prices are comparable to those of your competitors. This is particularly true for companies operating in a price homogeneous market - especially if your prices are significantly higher than the average of your competitors.

It should also be worthwhile for your customers to choose your product, so if your price is higher than your competitors', there should be a good reason for this - for example, exceptionally high quality or exceptional customer service that comes with the product.

As mentioned, for service companies it will also pay to define their marketing mix based on the extended model of the "7 Ps". The model also deals with the 4 Ps but is an extension of traditional marketing mix that also looks at 3 additional parameters - namely:

• People
• Physical evidence
• Process.

These are particularly relevant to look at for service companies that do not have a physical product. We look at these in more detail below.

It may sound a bit paradoxical that a service company should deal with physical evidence - a service is not tangible. But it can still be part of your marketing mix. Examples might be:

• A stamp card that gives your customers access to free services after X stamps.
• A free e-book that creates value for your customers in the form of knowledge about your service.
• A loyalty card that offers special benefits to your customers.
• A professional website that gives customers a good impression of your business.

In short, it's about making your service tangible for customers.