2 The marketing mix

A standard approach to thinking about your offering is in relation to the four, and what has now become seven, Ps that make up what is called the marketing mix.

The seven Ps which make up the marketing mix
Figure 3The seven Ps which make up the marketing mix

Activity 3 The marketing mix from a customer perspective

Allow about 5 minutes
  1. Given the focus on customers in this session, try to replace the four Ps with a more customer-oriented version:

Which P corresponds to which C?

Cost

Price

Communication

Promotion

Convenience

Place

Customer needs/wants

Product

Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.

  1. Cost

  2. Communication

  3. Convenience

  4. Customer needs/wants

  1. Price

  2. Promotion

  3. Place

  4. Product

The correct answers are:
  • 1 =
  • 2 =
  • 3 =
  • 4 =
  1. What do you think is the point of identifying the four Cs?
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)

Discussion

One reason for replacing the Ps with Cs is that it forces businesses to orientate themselves around customers rather than thinking about it from a purely organisational perspective. Words like ‘communication’ and ‘convenience’ remind us of the two-way nature of the relationship.