The New Four “Ps” of Marketing

By Brad Smith

Remember from Marketing 101 the basics of the marketing craft – the Four Ps?

Product, Price, Promotion and Place (distribution)? I hope they still teach this. They’re as relevant today as they ever were.

But time marches on. Enter the age of technology and its impact on the third P. (That’s Promotion for those of you keeping score at home). With the almighty website as the hub of all things promotional, a whole new set of four Ps is taking shape.

Platforms – PC, Phone and Pad

What technologies will prospects and customers use to access your website in the future? While no one knows when, it’s pretty clear that there are two new emerging platforms that are likely to outpace the Personal Computer in the not too distant future – the Phone and the Pad.

Some reports say that over half of the Internet access will be from smart phones by 2015. Some say 2013. Some people say next year. Then there are the new pads, or tablet computers, a new space all of the major computer manufacturers are jumping into fast.

So what’s the savvy company to do? Invest now in the reconstruction of the crown jewel of their marketing ─ their website ─ to maximize visitor experience in all three major platforms. Why wait? Every visitor to your website who can’t read it on their Droid or iPhone is a lost prospect. They’ve branded you as “old” and they probably won’t be back.

For starters, make sure your site can resize for smaller screens by using “Cascading Style Sheets” (CSS) programming. Depending on the platform, the CSS will resize elements within your site and display your page accordingly. Things you want easily seen, like your navigation buttons, are automatically resized to maximize navigation legibility and functionality on all three platforms.

If your platform of choice has an “i” in front of it, as in iPad or IPhone, forget about picking up Flash technology. Reason enough not to use it on your website. Programming and code can replace much of the wow-factor of Flash (as well as some other alternatives).

There’s much more to consider (isn’t there always?). But the whole point is to prepare your marketing efforts now to work well for you for the longest time period possible.

Don’t Procrastinate. Be a Player in your industry. Envision the Possiblities that new technologies can give your company. All by all means, Profit from the new 4Ps.

Flickr Photo Credit: issyeyre

Live For Today?

by Steve Fodor

I heard an interview on National Public Radio recently (yes, I’m a late night, talk radio junkie). Philip Delves-Broughton, an English journalist who attended Harvard Business School, was interviewed about his recent book, “What They Teach You at Harvard Business School.”

There were many interesting points discussed during the 20-minute interview. However, the most interesting point I took away was how the curriculum at Harvard, from the author’s point of view, focuses on business strategies for achieving short-term, immediate gains versus long-term, sustained performance.

Interesting, in light of where the economy is today, and why it’s that way.

It got me thinking about the value of a brand. A brand’s value is not just measured in short-term awareness and sales. It’s measured in real dollars over time. In sales that last decades, not months. In why people will pay more for your brand versus a seemingly similar product at a lower price.

I once heard a “brand” defined as, “the process of creating a constellation of values for forging a strong bond with customers to create loyalty.” Wow. To me, that sounds like investing time and energy to understand why people purchase something for reasons that go beyond price. It’s hard to resist the urge to “live for today” and focus on short-term sales and promotions. Especially in today’s economy. But, in the long run, successful brands always command higher margins. And, in return, strong brands are rewarded with greater customer loyalty, ultimately lowering the cost-per-sale and delivering a greater return on investment over time.

I wonder if they teach that at Harvard?

Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/