Marketers need an enhanced 4Ps model in the digital age

The traditional 4Ps model of marketing – product, place, price and promotion – has provided marketers with a useful starting point for planning marketing activity for years. But the marketing mix is changing rapidly in the digital age because consumers are increasingly expecting brands to offer a societal value, and deliver deeper meaning to their everyday lives. Other ‘Ps’ are emerging as vital considerations – particularly Purpose and Proximity.

At the World Federation of Advertising’s (WFA) Global Marketer Conference in Brussels last week (March 2013) the need for a new take on the marketing mix was discussed by top marketers who lead global brands. One prominent speaker at the event, Kimberley Kadlec, VP of Johnson & Johnson’s global marketing group, said the company has recently introduced a new 4P framework – Purpose, Presence, Proximity and Partnership. This has been designed to reflect the popularity of social media, increased use of mobile and higher expectations among consumers that brands should offer more than just a product.

She told the delegates: “Purpose augments price and value trumps price. You need to have a broader presence in the digital age. Proximity – refers to the fact that the new place is every place – and Partnership, is the wisdom of crowds. How can marketers bring customers together to create value for them?”

She urged marketers to view the world from a digitally-enabled consumer’s perspective and get to grips with the issues around this new landscape of enhanced customer choice: “How do we add value? If you add value you really will grow your business,” said Kadlec.

The message from the event was that marketing professionals in the 21st Century must think differently about what marketing model to use when planning a new venture, or evaluating an existing offer. Considering new elements – understanding the idea that customers want access to products and services through multiple channels and touchpoints, and expect to see customer reviews and user-generated content, will be essential if you are to optimize the impact with your target market.

Purpose will be critical going forward, says the WFA which has carried out research recently and published a WFA Brand Purpose report in January 2013. The survey found that 88% of marketers said that purpose would be increasingly important to building brands. However only 49% agreed that they worked for brands that have a sense of purpose. Even fewer (38%) considered they had been successful in communicating purpose. More than half of respondents thought it was relatively new to talk about purpose as part of the brand marketing communications. Some brand owners seem to be doing it better than others according to marketers’ ranking of the companies which best embraced a sense of purpose.

Those that have worked hard on their purpose include Unilever, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Toyota.

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