The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps 5. Physical Evidence Physical Evidence is the material part of a service. Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues. There are many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following buildings, equipment, signs and logos, annual accounts and business reports, brochures, your website, and even your business cards. The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps PEOPLE People are the most important element of any service or experience. Services tend to be produced and consumed at the same moment, and aspects of the customer experience are altered to meet the individual needs of the person consuming it. The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps PROCESS There are a number of perceptions of the concept of process within the business and marketing literature. Some see processes as a means to achieve an outcome, for example - to achieve a 30% market share a company implements a marketing planning process. However in reality it is more about the customer interface between the business and consumer and how they deal with each other in a series of steps in stages, i.e. throughout the process. The Marketing Mix: 4P's and 7s 1.PRODUCT For many a product is simply the tangible, physical item that we buy or sell. You can also think of the product as intangible i.e. a service. In order to actively explore the nature of a product further, let's consider it as three different products - the CORE product, the ACTUAL product, and finally the AUGMENTED product. The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based upon the biological life cycle. For example, a seed is planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots out leaves and puts down roots as it becomes an adult (maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant begins to chrink and discut.dolina The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps 2. PLACE Place is also known as channel, distribution, or intermediary. It is the mechanism through which goods and/or services are moved from the manufacturer' service provider to the user or consumer. The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps 3. PRICE The company's goal in terms of price is really to reduce costs through improving manufacturing and efficiency, and most importantly the marketer needs to increase the perceived value of the benefits of its products and services to the buyer or consumer. There are many ways to price a product. Let's have a look at some of them and try to understand the best policy/strategy in various situations. The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps The marketing mix is one of the most famous marketing terms. The marketing mix is the tactical or operational part of a marketing plan. The marketing mix is also called the 4Ps and the 7Ps. The 4Ps are price, place, product and promotion. The services marketing mix is also called the 7Ps and includes the addition of process, people and physical evidence The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps The concept is simple. Think about another common mix - a cake mix. All cakes contain eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. However, you can alter the final cake by altering the amounts of mix elements contained in it. So for a sweet cake add more sugar! It is the same with the marketing mix. The offer you make to your customer can be altered by varying the mix elements. So for a high profile brand, increase the focus on promotion and desensitize the weight given to price. The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps . Another way to think about the marketing mix is to use the image of an artist's palette. The marketer mixes the prime colours (mix elements) in different quantities to deliver a particular final colour. Every hand painted picture is original in some way, as is every marketing mix, Let's look at the elements of the marketing mix in more detail. Click on the links to go to the lesson on each element, The Marketing Mix: 4Ps and 7Ps CLOSE-OUT QUESTION... (5 points) Based on your reading of this text, do you think it is necessary to have the additional Ps when it comes to marketing or should the 4Ps stand alone? Yes or No? Why and explain your answer. Put your answer here