The 7 (formerly 4) P's of Marketing

Once upon a time, in a college far, far away, they taught students the four "P"s of Marketing. In no particular order, they were:
Price
Product
Placement
Promotion

All pretty self-explanatory. You have a product, determine its selling price, the proper placement for that product in stores, etc., then you promote it. And hopefully, people buy it and everyone lives happily ever after.

Not so fast.

Somewhere along the way, three extra "P"s joined in the marketing parade so now there are actually 7 P's of Marketing.

The three "new" P's are:

-- Process: What a consumer has to go through to get the product. Or, what a company has to go through to get a product to market.

-- Packaging: Millions of dollars are spent to develop eye-catching, attention-grabbing packaging that will hopefully cause a customer to pick up the product and buy it.

-- People: the feeling you get from the salesperson. Think about it -- how often you buy (or don't buy) something based on the person trying to sell it to you.

Hard to believe that marketing is even more complicated than before. Any comments?

Think about it...

Heard a funny line at a seminar last night, and tought I'd pass it along. I'm sure you know someone like this..

I know some people who stopped to think, and didn't start up again....


Enjoy the day!
Rich

What a girls' soccer team can teach about business

I was watching my daughter's 10-and-under soccer team play last Saturday, and to say they weren't playing well would be quite an understatement. Not to say that there are any future Mia Hamm's on the team, but they were playing this game like it was their first time together. You know, when the coach starts out by saying "This is a ball. We can't use our hands." etc. etc. etc.

After watching them suffer their first defeat since Thanksgiving, it suddenly struck me. It's not that we think that the girls will win every game (although they've pretty much done that since forming in September), but we've come to expect a level of play from them. And when that level of play -- that consistency -- isn't there, the results are disappointing.

The same thing applies to business. How often do we return to do business with the same companies over and over and over again? Is it because they're the closest? The cheapest? Or maybe, just maybe, you get consistent service and quality from them. It's a comfort level that you've reached with them, for whatever reason.

Businesses spend thousands -- actually, probably millions -- of dollars a year trying to find out why consumers go to one store over another. I mean, is there really THAT much of a difference between McDonald's and Wendy's and Burger King? Probably not. And how about supermarkets? You could probably blindfold most people and they couldn't tell if they were inside a local Shop Rite or Acme (pronounced as three syllables in Philadelphia) or any other brand.

Usually, it comes down to that certain "something." Maybe the restrooms are cleaner. Maybe the lighting is better in the parking lot. Maybe it's the color scheme in the company's logo. Maybe your parents always shopped there. Whatever "it" is, the store has "it", and that makes it tough for you to change. Just like it makes us soccer parents tough to comprehend when our team doesn't play consistantly.

This is a ball. We kick the ball into the net. That's our goal.

And in business, our goal is to help you meet your goals as well. And hopefully, you like the color scheme in our logo...