RANSFORD

MARKETING 47.

Updating the Four Ps

Many years ago, McCarthy classified marketing activities into four broad categories, which he referred to as the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. A complementary perspective of these four Ps can be found in the concept of the 4 As of Marketing. However, given the complexity and evolving nature of marketing, particularly within the framework of holistic marketing, these traditional four Ps no longer capture the full scope of modern marketing realities.

The Four P
Components of
the Marketing Mix

By updating the four Ps to reflect holistic marketing, we arrive at a more comprehensive set: people, processes, programs, and performance, as illustrated below.

The Evolution
of Marketing
Management

People emphasizes the importance of internal marketing and the role employees play in ensuring marketing success. Marketers must view both employees and consumers as people, understanding their broader lives rather than simply their roles as shoppers. Internal alignment and employee engagement are key to delivering customer-focused marketing efforts.

Processes reflect the creativity, discipline, and structure required in marketing management. Marketers must move away from ad hoc planning and ensure that state-of-the-art marketing strategies are systematically integrated into all aspects of the business.

Programs encompass all consumer-directed activities, whether online or offline, traditional or nontraditional. These programs must be seamlessly integrated so that they achieve multiple objectives and collectively enhance the firm’s performance.

Performance captures both financial and non-financial outcomes, such as profitability, brand equity, customer equity, and broader social responsibility. In this context, performance marketing goes beyond sales revenue to examine metrics like market share, customer satisfaction, and the legal, ethical, and environmental impacts of marketing activities.

The 4 As framework—acceptability, affordability, accessibility, and awareness—can also be linked to the traditional 4 Ps. For instance, product influences acceptability, price affects affordability, place impacts accessibility, and promotion shapes awareness. According to Sheth and Sisodia, poor management, often due to a lack of consumer knowledge, is a major cause of marketing failures. Their customer-centric approach emphasizes that understanding consumer values is key to success.

Acceptability
Acceptability refers to the degree to which a firm’s total product offering exceeds customer expectations. The authors argue that acceptability is the central component of the framework, with design serving as its foundation. Functional design aspects, such as improving core benefits or enhancing product reliability, can enhance acceptability. Psychological acceptability, on the other hand, can be strengthened through efforts like refining brand image, packaging, design, and positioning to better align with customer perceptions and preferences.Acceptability is how well a firm’s product exceeds customer expectations, with design playing a critical role.

Affordability
Affordability refers to the extent to which customers in the target market are both able and willing to pay the product’s price. It has two key dimensions: economic (the customer’s ability to pay) and psychological (their willingness to pay). The combination of acceptability and affordability determines the overall value proposition of a product. For instance, when Peachtree Software reduced the price of its accounting software from $5,000 to $199 while introducing paid customer support, sales demand surged significantly, demonstrating the importance of balancing affordability with product value. Affordability involves both the customer’s economic ability and willingness to pay.

These two elements, combined, form the product’s value proposition. Programs, in holistic marketing, extend beyond the 4 Ps to incorporate activities that achieve multiple objectives.

Accessibility
Accessibility refers to the extent to which customers can readily acquire a product, encompassing two key dimensions: availability and convenience. Successful companies innovate to enhance both, as exemplified by online shoe retailer Zappos. Zappos excels in customer service, generous return policies, and real-time tracking of warehouse stock, brands, and styles, ensuring that customers have seamless access to their desired products.

Awareness
Awareness refers to the extent to which customers are informed about a product’s characteristics, persuaded to try it, and reminded to repurchase. It consists of two key dimensions: brand awareness and product knowledge. Sheth and Sisodia argue that awareness is often the most overlooked and ripe area for improvement, as many companies fail to develop it effectively or efficiently. For example, while traditional advertising can be impactful, strategies like word-of-mouth marketing and co-marketing often prove more effective in reaching and engaging potential customers.

Sheth and Sisodia’s 4 As framework is centered around the four distinct roles consumers play in the marketplace: seeker, buyer, payer, and user. They also introduce a fifth role—evangelizer—which emphasizes the role of consumers who actively recommend products to others, especially in the context of the Internet and social media.

The 4 As can be easily aligned with the traditional 4 Ps:

• Product primarily influences acceptability.
• Price mainly affects affordability.
• Place focuses on accessibility.
• Promotion is closely tied to awareness.

Lastly, performance in holistic marketing includes financial and non-financial outcomes, reflecting the company’s broader responsibilities and contributions to society.Ultimately, these updated four Ps apply across all company disciplines, ensuring a more integrated and aligned approach to marketing.