4 Ps Is Out Dated Now, See What’s The New Marketing Mix

Redefining 4 Ps of Marketing

We all have heard of 4 Ps of Marketing. The first thing we talk about when it comes to sales or marketing of anything. Management students go through this so much that it is almost in their veins. These 4 Ps are nothing but Product, Place, Price and Promotion. It has been understood till date that these are keys to market anything. It has been in use by all marketers across the globe since decades.

But now, with changing business environment and changing consumer behaviour across industries, this marketing mix is an old thing seeing the current market and business being done today. Today these 4 Ps have been shifted to a new marketing mix. A new SAVE framework which is may be taken as an upgraded version of 4 Ps.

SAVE:

According to Chief Marketing Officer of Motorola and one of the authors of HBR Study Mr. Eduaro Conrado, business owners should look to SAVE framework rather than 4 Ps as it can redefine the way their exact approach of offerings. This SAVE framework is consist of Solution, Availability (Access), Value and Education.

If you see the paradigm shift here, Product have became Solution, Place have became Access, Price is now Value and Promotion is now changed to Education as per this model. Let’s understand each separately.

Focus should be Solution not On Product:

Nowadays everyone is looking for solution. If a product is been offered as solution, it can be easily accepted in the market. There are hell number of products available in the market but now those are going successful which are not just talking about their features but actually taking about benefits or one can say solution to their consumers. There are N numbers of examples available in the market who is actually pitching their product not as a product but as a solution to their customers.

Focus should be on Access (Availability) and not on Place:

In today market, Place is irrelevant when it comes to access or availability of product and the best example to this is online business.  No one have ever thought that people would be buying products so comfortably online but it is happening and the only reason behind this cause is the availability. Now, customer don’t have time to come to your prime location, rather they want any product or services at their location. Thus, what place you are at is irrelevant until and unless you are accessible and available to your consumers.

Focus on Value rather than just Price:  

The days have gone when people use to get tempted from your discounts or better pricing. Now, better pricing means better value. Now when customer goes out in the market to hunt a product for them, they don’t just look at the price but the value for money. The easiest example is those discount store where we see more than 50% kind of discount still today’s smart consumer calculated actually at what price they are getting the product and if that satisfy them as this value can be derived in several ways as per the consumer mindset., they go for it.

Focus must be given on Education not on Promotion:

There were days when we use to say that more promotion, more business. Spending on promotion was almost directly proportional to the revenue. Coke and Pepsi is one of the best examples of this. We all know that their manufacturing cost is very minimal even we are ready to pay for it because of their promotion. But guys, in today’s world, only putting money over your promotion or just thinking that promotion will help is a wrong approach. Education should take a place of promotion where you are still spending money in promotion but your focus is to educate your customer. Once they are educated, your job is done. They will keep on buying what you have actually educated them for. Again the example is online business. If they are educated that they can buy, try and return if not liking the product, they will definitely try to try that.

Because this saves their time, they get the product at their door-step; they have varieties to select from and most importantly they are educated by you to do so. They trust on education rather than promotion.