by Terra L. Fletcher

Created on: May 25, 2010

The Current Marketing Environment:  New Rules for the Four P’s

If you haven’t heard the admonition to consider price, product, place, and promotion, perhaps you’ve been living under a rock.  Fear not!  Marketers who have had this drilled in may be at a disadvantage.  Of course those factors are ever relevant and must be harmonious.  The change is in the evaluation of the four P’s. 

If a company is not striving for a competitive advantage and just “getting by” they will be “passed by.”  Even if a business is doing everything right, they need to capitalize on what is right or be forced out.

New Rules for the Right PRODUCT

Consumers are presented with a rainbow of product packages and a plethora of sizes for each item on their shopping list.  On the other hand, retailers and manufacturers are striving for streamlined operations and improved profitability. 

Traditionally market research involved asking customers what they wanted.  Today consumers are so overwhelmed, they don’t know what they want.  It is easier for consumers to highlight what is still lacking.  Researchers now ask their market for complaints with current choices.

Consumers now make decisions on micro-issues.  People buy things for features that seem insignificant because they assume larger issues are standard.  They don’t ask if a laptop is durable; they ask if it comes in red.  Consumers are more concerned with the number of cupholders in a car than its safety rating.

Another product trend is purchasing based on the psychological value of a product, its personality or brand image.  Whether or not consumers LIKE and ad determines their buying habits.

New Rules for the Right PRICE

Obviously the biggest box stores advocate that the right price is the lowest one.  Mass merchandise retailers have taken over pricing structures and ignore brand-name manufacturer’s suggested retail price.  There is little that can be done to influence the desire of these retailers to operate on slim profit margins.

New Rules for the Right PLACE

The current marketplace dictates that consumers receive products in ways not previously considered.  Fast-food chains, once advocating free standing stores, now share the rent with convenience stores.  Mass merchandisers dictate inventory quantities and shelf-facing requirements to consumer product companies.  General

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