4 P’s of Marketing and the Simpler Marketing Mix Definition

The definitions of marketing and marketing mix don’t have to be too complicated. The definition of the marketing mix traditionally included the 4 Ps of marketing, which are product, people, place and price. Now, you can find marketing mix definitions that include 8 Ps of Marketing and more.

While understanding the 4 Ps of marketing is important, it is a mistake to overthink this whole theory. As a result, we see business plans exceeding 300 pages and presentations with 50 or more slides. It is very easy for people to lose sight of the most crucial component of success. In today’s world where simplicity is in short supply, less is definitely more, especially when it comes to marketing.

This leads to the simplest definition of marketing and how it can be applied to the mix. Marketing can be defined with two simple words: strategic selling. Strategy involves using some brain power to differentiate and attract attention, while selling is the process of doing it. Why is this definition so important? Because the life line and the bottom line of each business depends solely on how you can strategically sell your products or services.

Since the fundamental core of every business is strategic selling, any variable or decision in a business must be viewed with a strategic selling mindset. However, strategic selling doesn’t necessarily involve high-pressure sales tactics or harpoon-style internet advertising. Marketing as a strategic selling involves first listening to the needs and desires of customers and then optimizing business variables to fit their criteria.

The marketing mix definition of the 4 Ps of marketing is one of the first concepts you learn in any marketing course. In the 1960s, Harvard’s Jerome McCarthy (where else?) Grouped the main components of marketing into captions that began with the letter P. This clever idea has held strong over the years, yet they have been added and modified the 4 Ps of marketing. and a marketing mix has been done to keep it relevant. Where would social media fit into the traditional 4 Ps? The internet wasn’t exactly mainstream in the 1960s.

Since the 1960s we’ve expanded versions of the marketing mix definition, including Philip Kotler’s 7 P’s of marketing and other models with 8, 11, and even more P’s. It seems like every guru wants to get in on the action and add its P to the marketing mix.

Some of these other Ps include personalization, engagement, peer-to-peer, and predictive modeling.