A brief summary of the 4Ps

Week 2

Are you from these people who are first interested of the price instead of the quality of the product. Are you following all promotions? If you see an interesting store on the main street, will you enter? Do you compare products? All these components make the 4Ps- Product, Place, Price and Promotion.

• 

Until now I didn’t realize how much stuff I didn’t know about the Marketing. When I applied for the PR course at Solent I didn’t even know that I will study Marketing and now I’m extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to learn some new things.

This week in class we had revision from the previous semester in Marketing and I wanted to share with you this information, because some stuff are really interesting.

I will begin with the…

PRODUCT.

• 

This is the main thing, isn’t it? Basically the product is every physical thing that you can purchase from a store. The appearance of the product has to attract customers so that they can buy it but also the name of the brand has a big influence too. I will give an example with Apple. There are coming out new products almost every year and if you notice its like a competition between people who will have the better version of iPhone. All of this is because of the name of the brand and also, because Apple promised an upgraded version of the others.

PLACE.

It’s really important where the store is placed and actually, when I take a walk, I notice that only the big brands have stores on the main streets, in the malls and this is great because these are the places that most people spend their time, because they know that everything is there. Marketers make everything easier for the consumer. The place of the product on the shelves is also from a great importance.

For instance, in Business 2 Business I read that the products are placed far from the entry and in this way while you are walking past the shelves you can see something interesting and instead of with one, you can leave the stores with more things. Its the same with the products placed next to the checkout counter like magazines, tissues ect. I personally often impulsively grab gums while I am waiting on the queue.

What about movies? Have you bought a product only because an actor used it in a movie or a tv show? Well, I am not convinced in this way that the product is good, but obviously this is good for the business because according to Accion, Hershey saw a 65% increase in profits during E.T.’s movie run. Also, the Journal of Management and marketing Research estimates that “57% of television viewers recognised a brand in a placement when the brand also was advertised during the show. “

Well, I guess this strategy works.

PRICE.

There are two types of people- the one who look at the price and the one who prefer the quality. I personally have bought a lot of stuff based on the quality and not the price and this is because sometimes I prefer to have a more durable product, which I will pay a bit more than having multiple cheaper versions of it.

Have you heard of the 99 strategy? Well, according to Entrepreneur, “customers are often expected to be more likely to buy something offered for 99 cents than for $1. Still, the customer will probably hand you a dollar bill in both cases, and they probably won’t care much about the penny they get in return. The little bowl of change next to the cash register in many stores is an indication that neither businesses nor their customers care much for those copper coins.” Most of people doesn’t care about that 99, however, every penny matters to the business.

• 

Promotion.

Black Friday? Oh, yeah! Promotions on everything! Lots of people buying big TVs, phones, computers, laptops…what a wonderful opportunity to buy a product on a good price!

I am actually quite interested in that topic and maybe I will write a blog about the Black Friday someday. I read an article in The Guardian and according to them the consumer group price checked 83 items on sale on Black Friday last year and found that nearly all were cheaper or available for the same price at other times of the year. This is actually making us think is there actually a promotion or everything is a marketing strategy?

What about subscription? Have you subscribed to a website and just receive email after email with everyday promotions. For instance, I subscribed for Fashion Days and every time I open my email I just see promotions and more invitations to become a a top member or just subscribe for another site.

• 

Is It important the location of the store?

Are you waiting all year only for Black Friday to get the desired product?

I would like to see your opinion and thanks for reading!