BY PROF DR CHIN YEW SIN

THE traditional marketing mix concept, which consists of
product, price, place and promotion (better known as the 4Ps),
was first proposed by McCarthy in 1960.

According to Culliton (1948), the marketing mix was developed
from a notion of the marketer as a "mixer of ingredients".

In other words, the marketer plans various means of competition
and blends them into a "marketing mix" to optimise the profit
function and it comprises a list of categories of marketing
variables (Gronroos, 1993).

In fact, the main concern of marketing is to align the
organisation's business objectives with those of its clients.
Therefore, the basic marketing strategy applied by a company is
the result of the mixing of different marketing components and
these consist of the following:

· services or products offered;

· accessibility and availability of service or product offered;

·promotion or communication to prospective client; and

· price charged for service or product offered.

In light of the conventional 4Ps, the marketing strategy is
applied and adopted as part of every business philosophy and
strategic planning. Nevertheless, with rapid changes in the
environment, which have in turn brought about new changes to
marketing components, Kotler (1984; 1986) augmented two new Ps
into the industry, namely public relations and political power,
while Magrath (1986) added three more Ps for the service
industry, namely people, physical evidence and process.

In addition to the above, this author will introduce a new P:
packaging.

Each variable of the marketing components - from the traditional
4Ps right down to this author's 1P - are discussed below.

  

McCarthy's 4Ps

Product is essentially the magic weapon used to wage a war in
the commercial world. According to Kotler (1984), a product is
defined as "anything that can be offered to a market for
attention, acquisition, use or consumption; it includes physical
objects, services, personalities, places, organisation services
and ideas". Successful products have to be produced based on
client's perceptions and needs.

Place is related to the possession of service that is accessible
to the client at the right place and the right time. Services or
goods can be delivered in many ways, be it in tangible or
intangible form. Placing of product is achieved by optimising
the strategic locations, advantages and resources available.

Promotion is any means of informing, persuading or reminding
clients about the marketing mix of product, place and price.
Promotion tends to create awareness among potential clients and
improve their attitudes towards the product or firm.

Price is quite commonly the sole determinant for choice of
product. The price of products or services will be derived from
fixed overheads, indirect overheads, direct cost, profit margin,
risks and uncertainties.

  

Kotler's 2Ps

According to Kotler (1984; 1986), when organisations attempt to
enter markets abroad, they need to master the art of satisfying
parties other than the target clients alone.

These other parties include governments, trade unions and other
interested groups who act as gatekeepers to their own market.
Upon recognising the political nature of this new marketing
environment, Kotler introduced two further Ps, public relations
and political power, which in marketing terms are known as
"megamarketing".

Kotler (1984) also advocated the importance of power to win the
influential support of industrial officials, legislators and
governments so as to enter and operate in the targeted market.

To attain this objective, Kotler (1984) added that marketers
should possess good negotiating skills with the relevant
authorities.

  

Magrath's 3Ps

According to Magrath, the traditional 4Ps proposed by McCarthy
(1960) are not sufficient for marketing in a service-based
industry.

The 3Ps - people, physical evidence and process -suggested by
Magrath are deemed as "vital marketing components" that would
capture the management's attention and must be augmented to the
marketing mix.

These 3Ps are inter-related and represent crucial marketing
components in the management of the service business. People are
the key to service creation and also the only element in the
firm that can deliver service to potential clients.

Gronroos (1996) states that the process management perspective
is very different from functionalistic management, which permits
each function or department to focus on specialisation that
requires internal collaboration.

Such internal collaboration can easily create sub-values instead
of total value that customers are looking for in relationship
marketing.

However, in the process management approach, the whole operation
in the firm is involved, organised and managed as value-creating
processes. Such an approach will break down distributive
activities and boundaries between departments and enable
stronger management relationship.

  
Author's 1P

This author believes that another P, packaging, is also
important in the marketing field. According to Kotler (2000),
packaging comprises the activities of designing and producing
the container for a product. The container is called the
package, and might include up to three levels of material.

For example, Old Spice aftershave lotion is in a bottle (primary
package) that is in a cardboard box (secondary package) that is
in a corrugated box (shipping package) containing six-dozen
boxes of Old Spice.

Well-designed packages can create convenience as well as provide
added value. Several factors have led to packaging's growing
application as a marketing tool:

Self-service: An increasing number of products are sold on a
self-service basis. The package must perform many of the sales
tasks: attract attention, describe the product's features,
create consumer confidence, and make a favourable overall
impression;

Consumer affluence: Increasing consumer affluence means
consumers are willing to pay a little more for the convenience,
appearance, dependability, and prestige of better packages;

Company and brand image: Packages lead to immediate recognition
of the company or brand.

Innovation opportunity: Innovative packaging can bring great
benefits to consumers and profits to producers.

McCarthy's 4Ps were and are still essential in the marketing
field, but within a complex and swiftly changing market, we must
always adapt to changes and adopt new ideas in our marketing
practice. The six extra Ps are thus useful additions to
McCarthy's 4Ps.

______________________________________________________________________________

The author is a Malaysian who is a visiting professor of
Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, China and the CEO of Oriental
Strategy Research Centre. He can be contacted at
yschin@mailcity.com