The 7P Marketing mix – A quick guide with examples

You don’t need to know much about marketing, strategy or even business to have heard about the 7P marketing mix. And if you still weren’t aware. Then you can easily apply logic to understand there are always factors affecting how products and services are marketed. The marketing mix is a favorite for marketers when designing tactics that shape the overall marketing strategy. As with nearly everything, your goals and objectives set the direction. Setting SMARTER goals can help you establish what you want to achieve. This makes it easier to plan strategy and as a result, tactics.

History of the Marketing Mix

The origins of the marketing mix date back to the late 1940s by some accounts. However, it took a while, until 1960, for Jerome E. McCarthy to be credited with the creation of the 4P marketing mix in his book Basic Marketing – A Managerial Approach. . This is now referred to as the traditional 4P Marketing mix.

What were the 4 Ps?

Product

Price

Promotion

Place

We will get to these shortly.

What you need to know here, is simple. This model worked great. But only for the marketing of products. So over 2 decades later, in 1982, Booms & Bitner extended the 4P marketing mix to the 7P marketing mix. Why? To incorporate new elements that supported the marketing of services. 

What did they add?

People

Process

Physical Evidence 

And it doesn’t just stop there. The 7P marketing mix has seen a few variations since the 1980s. The 8P extension included Positioning into the mix. Then, the 9P marketing mix brought in Partners. But despite the countless variations of the marketing mix, the 7P version is still sufficient to cover enough ground as you prepare marketing tactics.

So what’s with all the Ps? Well, that’s what we are going to discuss in the next section.

The 7P marketing mix

Let’s individually assess each tenet of the marketing mix and understand how it can be used with an example.

Product

Firstly, the marketability of your offering is going to center around the product or service you are offering. So this is always your first consideration. After all, what you offer has been created to meet your customer’s needs, or fill a gap that exists. Capitalizing on that should lead to any tactics that you create as part of your marketing strategy.

It is no longer sufficient for you to just list out features and specifications. You can’t assume that’s what your customers and audiences will be drawn to. People are driven by emotions. So you need to make them FEEL. How? By turning your functional attributes into emotional benefits and then communicating that clearly.

It doesn’t just end there, under the product P you can consider: Design & features, Product line & range, Support & Customer service, Guarantees & warranty, Packaging & branding, and more. 

An example:

You are selling an XYZ smartphone that has a 50 MP camera and a 5,000 mAh battery capacity. That’s a great phone with high specifications!

But if and only if, you know what MP and mAh mean. You also need to know that a 50 MP camera will give you ultra high-quality and clear photos. You should also be aware that 5,000 mAH is 20% greater than most flagship smartphones out there, so that means longer battery life! But if you don’t know that, then those listed attributes in-store or online won’t help you.

So go after the emotional triggers behind those functional benefits. You don’t need to be technically sound to feel. It’s natural for all humans! Longer battery life means you’ll be connected to your world without disruption. It reduces the hassles of running out of battery. With a 50 MP camera, you can capture special moments clearly and have them available at your fingertips!

Price

Obviously, you are marketing your product or service to SELL it. The price you sell determines your profitability. This directly affects your success and growth. The distinction with price in the marketing mix is simple. This is the only P that generates revenue directly. The others usually require an investment or a cost. So, pick your price carefully. Furthermore, you have to consider discounts and value-adds here. These directly affect your bottom line. Look at payment methods, lines of credit, and allowances or commissions for your partners and distributors as well.

An example

If your product is aimed at the luxury market and audience. Then you have to adopt a premium pricing strategy. Steer clear of discounts. Possibly further supplement sales with add-ons. Even for a non-luxury brand, high brand equity or trust can validate a premium pricing model, which maximizes your profitability.

Place

Quickly following your product and price is PLACE. After all, customers can’t buy what they cant find. So think beyond where your customers will buy, but also where they can experience your product. You can include physical or online storefronts. It’s important to strategically place locations for the convenience of the customer and appropriate market coverage.

All your channel marketing through distributors, affiliates, and franchisees is also included here. You might be limited on resources or have restrictions that require partnerships to maximize where you are available. But structuring and nurturing relationships with these partners can mean great market coverage, and that availability coupled with the logistics and transportation operations can make your entire process smooth and effective.

With eCommerce growing exponentially over the last decade, you have to consider a delivery network and areas of delivery coverage. Your after-sales service touchpoints also need to be outlined! Further, boosting your local SEO with Google My Business provides another place for customers to get accurate information about your business.

An example:

If you are operating a woman’s jewelry and accessory business that has 2 storefronts. You can easily consider taking your business online via an Instagram shop and/or Amazon seller’s account. But this would mean coordinating delivery and logistics. You are going from limited area coverage to city-wide operations. That has its own benefits and risks. Furthermore, you can also implement a click-and-collect option, where they can pay and buy online, and pick it up from one of your stores. So you have cross-channel traffic to your stores.

Promotion

Regardless of which stage your customer is in the consumer journey, you have to be able to communicate the value your product or services brings to them. You have to consider choosing the right channels and what you are going to say, given the parameters. You can look at the content distribution model of P.E.S.O here and get an idea of all the platforms you have to choose from. Then use either a marketing funnel model or a great framework like the STDC. That will help you focus your efforts on different segments. 

A lot of your content marketing efforts are concentrated here. You need to know how often to communicate and what to say. And find the right balance between sales, PR, digital, and advertising. Lastly, you also have to consider your internal marketing and the different tools at your disposal to help you promote your brand and business!

An example

If you have an eCommerce business selling adventure gear in your city. You probably want to diversify your content and communications. It’s a close-knit community of adventure seekers. So you want to hold events and outings. You could run product-specific ads based on your understanding of them. Or can even manage an active email newsletter and a Facebook group for the community to interact with. You will want to be active and serve as a powerful voice for those seeking adventure. They should not only get the gear they need. But also get accurate information about the local adventure activities when they interact with you!

People

Everyone associated with your brand represents your brand to a varying degree. You have to consider staff and associates related to service delivery. How are they recruited and trained? Even service staff at a contracted 3rd party provider have to be aligned with the values and promises of the brand. Increased employee engagement can work wonders for productivity. The simpler it is for frontline staff who face customers to share the right information and truly help customers, the higher your retention and this recurring revenue!

You want to be able to understand your customers so you can meet their needs, but you also need to know your people’s limitations and strengths so you can ensure they reach their potential and boost your success as a result. Now companies even leverage their employees’ personal brand to their advantage!

An example

When launching a new event to promote a product launch at a physical store, say a fashion boutique you own. You have to manage temporary and permanent staff to successfully execute it. But you also need to train them to provide the right information to customers, provide uniforms, set a behavior code, handle complaints, organize inventory or displays and lastly, manage queues and wait times.

Process

Processes are everywhere, in manufacturing, packaging, delivery, wholesale, retail, sales, and even beyond. Every part of your supply chain will have its own process, and a lot of it will be on the terms you set or agree to. Creating workflows for automation of your marketing based on insights and data from research and analytics is one common process establishment most companies have undergone in the last few years. Even in your sales and service manuals, SOPs are essential to meeting service delivery standards. 

A customer-centric ecosystem relies on the strength of your processes because it creates the opportunity to delight customers with quality care throughout the consumer journey, regardless of the touchpoint they prefer. Choosing the right metrics and KPIs and actively measuring and reporting them brings accountability to your marketing efforts and needs to be done regularly.

An example

You manage the marketing of a pet store in your city. A large chunk of your awareness and promotion strategy is digital via social media and blogs on pet care. You will need a content development process and a calendar to organize yourself. You also have partners in a clinic who handle pet care and you need to create a good affiliate process with them to work together. Further, you have a network of freelancers who write your blog content and you need a standardized template and process on how they work and deliver content to you.

Your store will have SOPs on operations, petcare, hygiene, cleanliness, animal checkups, regulatory guidelines, and handover paperwork. These processes need to be clear and approved for a smooth customer and employee experience.

Physical Evidence

You can’t price a product as a luxury item and then deliver it in shoddy packaging. In the same way, upscale restaurants represent their superiority in many ways, like their menu design, the furniture, silverware, glassware, lighting, and ambiance. And that’s where the description of physical evidence usually ends in other forums. But let’s take it a step further, if you walk into an Apple store now, it is a different experience altogether. It “feels like Apple”. This collection of cues and environment all add up to your physical evidence.

So don’t just limit it to tangible elements as was previously done, but if there’s something that can be done to evoke a feeling of belonging in alignment with the brand identity, then that’s what you consider.

An example

You own a custom furniture store, targeting a colorful and playful aesthetic (aimed at 25-34-year-olds). Your store should be colorful, down to the detail, and set up a playful atmosphere with a games corner. Align your theme into every stage of the customer journey so it is identifiably YOU. Your visual brand elements on the website, your emails, how your ads look, even the way people in your ads are dressed should reflect the playful nature of your brand!

Using the 7P Marketing Mix

Now you can use the findings of your 7P marketing mix and benefit from them in multiple ways:

• Plug them into a SWOT analysis to prioritize what actions you will undertake to reach your goals.
  
• Use it as a template for a marketing audit or even a content audit
  
• Create a multi-faceted marketing plan full of effective tactics
  
• Position your brand and offerings in a unique way to your customers and stand out!

Conclusion

Any marketing mix activates multiple avenues for success. Whether you limit yourself to just the traditional 4Ps or expand into the popular 7P marketing mix. Your considerations will serve to provide relevant and effective tactics to support your marketing strategy. After setting your objective, and choosing a marketing planning framework like SOSTAC, you develop tactics, and the marketing mix helps do that better than most models. 

Remember to have the right product fit for your target audience. Solve a problem or add value to their lives. Set a pricing strategy that works within your industry and is reasonable for your customers. Pick the places you can interact with your customers across channels, media, and touchpoints. And promote your product and services with effective marketing communication to maximize reach, hold attention, and boost conversions.

Then, get your processes in place to deliver customer-centric experiences that impress. Ensure you have the right people with adequate skills and training, equipped with the right tools to put your best foot forward as a brand. And lastly, let your physical environment represent what your brand stands for. Let your customers feel what your company is about. 

And there you have it. The 7P Marketing mix. Simplified.