Everyone knows the 4 P’s of marketing…
- Product
- Promotion
- Price
- Place
But Gino Biondi, vice president of sales & marketing at Zenith Products, has suggested that the 4 P’s of marketing aren’t enough anymore. Instead, he believes it takes a baker’s dozen of P’s to represent the many facets of product, channel and brand marketing.
Gino’s 13 P’s of marketing are…
Performance- Product
- Place
- Placement
- People
- Projection
- Programming
- Packaging
- Public Relations
- Promotion
- Proliferation
- Price
- Positioning
P #1: Performance
No marketing plan is worth its weight without specific and measurable metrics and goals.
- Profit
- Sales
- Share
Performance should be the first P. It lets you know how the brand is performing and allows you to set performance goals.
P #2: Positioning
This P establishes the brand road map.
- Relevant and meaningful consumer Insights
- Attributes
- Functional benefits
- Reasons-to-believe
- Emotional benefits
- Brand essence
- Brand character
- Brand tone
- Iconology
P #3: People
The idea that there are multiple targets to consider is the basis of this P.
- Primary bull’s-eye consumer – demographic, psychographic, attitudinal, & behavioral
- Secondary target purchasers or influencers – moms, kids, teachers, doctors, etc.
- Stakeholder customers/retailers/resellers – If they don’t carry it you can’t sell it.
- Sales professionals, installers, service people – sales people like to sell it, the installer prefers to hook it up and Customer Service likes to take the calls.
- Internal employees – passion and word of mouth gets generated internally first.
P#4: Product
Product is the foundation of the Brand.
- Tied to the Positioning key attributes
- Differentiated key benefits
- Innovation
- Cost base versus your competitor
- Volume
- Meeting/exceeding quality expectations
P#5: Packaging
Packaging can be the most impactful marketing tool.
- Form is a key communicator and provides key benefits – an upside down bottle of ketchup changed the industry and mustard, mayo, shampoo…
- “Green” packaging or wasteful materials impacts attitudes.
- Quality has an emotional response – sloppy fit and finish or crooked labels says a lot about the brand
- Graphics need to be compelling – authentic, modern, innovative, nostalgic, youthful, serious, fun
- Services too – trucks, vehicles and uniforms. Think Molly Maid, Geek Squad, UPS, Even name tags on a store clerk
P #6: Proliferation
How far should the brand extend is the thought behind this P.
- Product proliferation can be key to distribution, shelf expansion or consumer needs
- Flavors, varieties, colors, fragrances
- Promotions, seasonal
- Proliferation can be bad!
- It creates operational complexity and increase the risk of underperforming SKU’s
- What is the supply chain tolerance level in your company?
- Non-value added features add cost that may not be recovered
- Customer exclusivity may require SKU proliferation as well.
P #7: Promotion
This famous P should get a narrower view.
- All brands need promotion strategies for both consumers and customers
- Relatively short-term or loyalty building vehicles
- To prevent switching to another competitor
- To induce switching from a competitor
- Promotion can be used to create excitement around seasonal opportunities.
- Halloween, Spring cleaning, Back-to-School, Tax time
- Create brand excitement and pull-through
- Sweepstakes, contests, themed events
P #8: Projection
Brand Communications is the theme of this P.
- Translating positioning into compelling creative and copy
- Integrated Marketing is at the core of Projection
- Every medium is different and how you use it should be treated uniquely
- Mass media
- TV, print, radio
- Digital
- Social media platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube)
- Blog posts
- Internet, web site, viral, e-commerce
- Direct, outdoor, mobile, event
- Sports marketing, sponsorships, entertainment
- Consider ethnic audiences as well
P #9: Public Relations
PR is the cherry on top of the cake. When fundamentals are in place PR creates a genre for the brand.
- Cause-related marketing (charities) – Breast Cancer, Victory Junction Gang, Habitat for Humanity
- Major relevant events – hurricanes, storms, earthquakes, anniversaries, milestones
- Word-of-Mouth
- More realistic and relevant with real user or third-party endorsements.
- Spokespersons
P #10: Programming
This P tackles media choice.
- How much should be spent on media?
- How much should be allocated to the different mediums?
- TV
- Digital
- Radio
- Outdoor
- Direct
- Non-traditional
Be sure to measure the effectiveness of each medium.
P #11: Price
Price has multiple components and needs unique strategies and plans for each.
- List pricing
- Everyday Low Price (EDLP)
- High/Low pricing
- Hybrid EDLP with opportunistic promotions
Critical to the decision is your channel and customer strategy, competitive situation, portfolio mix and consumer pricing sensitivity.
P #12: Place
With this P you need to think broadly…from global, to region, to channel.
Global: International challenges require putting the previous P’s together to determine the merits and overall strategy of succeeding on a global basis.
Region: Regional differences do exist.
- Economic, climate, culture, population, etc.
Channel: Requires deep analysis to determine trade-offs and if presence is needed.
- Club, mass, home improvement, grocery, convenience, sporting, industrial, electronics, specialty, hardware, dollar, drug, distributors, office, etc..
P #13: Placement
Gino considers this to be a bonus P that considers the ideal place in the store where products and services should be located.
- How do you get it there?
- Front or back
- Which direction from the aisle?
- On the counter or checkout?
- Near adjacent categories?
- Near complimentary purchase categories?
- Which position on the shelf?
- Quality
- Brand block
- Size
- Variety
By thinking through Gino Biondi’s 13 P’s of marketing, you will thoughtfully consider your brands range of options and maximizing your marketing effectiveness.
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