The Forgotten Five P's of Marketing

With all the hype and excitement around Internet marketing, you sometimes get the impression that marketing as a whole is now just about web presence and nothing else! But if you put all your efforts into this area, and forget the core principals of holistic marketing, you may pay the ultimate price in business.

The marketing industry has gone into overdrive with the excitement of Internet Marketing, Websites Optimisation, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and any other of the latest fads and fashions. All of which has thoroughly confused the poor old general public. I sometimes wonder if anyone is paying attention to the rest of their marketing unless it has the 'web' word in it? The trouble is, you could create the most fantastic-looking website you can imagine and optimise it so that you hug the 1st page of Google every day - but trust me, if you haven't got the fundamental 5 P's of holistic marketing right, then you're just wasting your time.

So let's take a deep breath, get back to basics, and rediscover the science of holistic marketing...

1. Product

This is where it all begins. Product is the start and the end of your organisational life. It is the reason for being, your true North, and the final arbiter of your success or failure. Creating a desirable product (or service of course - but for the purposes of this article we will use 'product' as a generic term) requires vision and imagination, as well as the ability to spot gaps, predict demand, foresee trends and hone in on the exacting requirements of your prospective customer.

The primary differentiator between successful and failing companies is whether their product fits with the market needs, and meets consumers' expectations. Get this wrong, and no amount of marketing, optimisation or promotional wizardry will get you out of trouble.

2. Price

Now that you have the best product anyone has ever dreamed of, you have the difficult job of determining its worth. When pricing your product you have to consider the 'elasticity of demand', which correlates your sales volume with your price point. Concept of 'elasticity of demand' determines that the higher the price, the lower the volume. Price it too high and you will limit demand, restricting your potential sales and market share, as well as giving your competitors the opportunity to swoop in and steal the market from under your nose. Price it too low and you will go out of business by drowning in debt, as your costs will outweigh your revenue.

Price also transmits a critical signal to the market regarding your position and your aspirations, as well as communicating the value of your brand against the value proposition of your product. As you can see, pricing is not as easy as it sounds. Pricing is the 'Rubik Cube' of marketing. Just as you thought you'd got one side right, you find the opposite side has all gone out of shape!

3. Place

This is about your route to market - i.e. the process by which your products reach your audience, or the place they will go to buy them. By combining imaginative means of extending your market reach, through a well-balanced mix of channels, your route to market can turn out to be your competitive advantage. Direct sales, e-commerce, distribution, indirect channels and so on are just a few options open to you. Select the right route and you can stun your competitors and steal a march on them. But remember, changing your route to market strategy is expensive and time consuming - and can prove to be terminal if you get it wrong!

4. Promotion

Now sadly this is what most people head straight for when you start to talk about marketing. Promotion - as in advertising, branding, PR, collateral, documentation and so on - is only one part of a holistic marketing strategy. The unfortunate thing is that many organisations spend most of their time, energy and money on this, expecting 'Promotion' alone to fix product shortcomings, price misjudgements and ineffective route to market strategy.

These days the focus has become even narrower, and all anyone is talking about is web-based promotional activity. We focus 80% of our time, money and grey matter on less than 5% of our holistic marketing, and then we wonder why we are failing!

5. People

This truly is the forgotten P of marketing. People are the essence of any business, whether you are considering your customers, your suppliers or your own organisation. The old adage that 'people buy from people' is still true, even in this 24-hour, always-on, high-octane Internet world. At the end of the day nothing happens until a person decides to buy your product, which then kick-starts your processes and the interaction with your personnel. At this point, you need to ensure that your customer uses your product and is satisfied with it! And this is where those of us in marketing have to remind ourselves that 'people' are the most unpredictable part of the Marketing Jigsaw.

Now you may be asking why I chose to put Promotions (or 'marketing' to the uninitiated) as the penultimate point in this discussion. And the answer is simple. If you don't get your basics right, no amount of focus or money spent on promotion will save you. Holistic marketing requires a measured and scientific approach to the business of designing your product, pricing and your go to market strategy. The days of 'let's make something and hope someone buys it' are over - assuming there were ever here in the first place! Product management and proper 'product lifecycle management' is the answer when it comes to minimising the risk of failure and delivering a truly world-beating and successful product. Just ask Apple, Porsche or Dyson to name but a few.