Marketing - the four Ps
What is marketing?
Place
There is a well-known phrase that identifies the various
areas of marketing. The phrase is 'the four Ps', and the
Ps stand for product, price, place and promotion.
This refers to the distribution channel, often referred to in
marketing simply as 'the channel'. A customer can find a
product in a retail outlet, such as a store or supermarket,
but how did the product get there? What logistics
operations were necessary (warehousing, handling,
transportation)? How many intermediaries were there?
Was there a distributor? an agent? a wholesaler?
Product
For a marketer, the most important things about a
product are the following.
• Its features (= important and interesting things that
will help to sell it).
• Its benefits(= how those features translate into a
better experience for the user). Marketers often
use the phrase 'value proposition' to mean the key
benefits of the product.
• Its USPs (=unique selling points, in other words
features that the competitors' products don't have).
Price
A high price says to the market, 'this product is highquality and exclusive'. If the quality really is good,
and people enjoy the feeling of owning the brand, then
some consumers will pay the high price. However, a
high price often means fewer sales and less market
share, and so identifying the exact price point for a
product is an important issue. Usually a company has
different products with different price points aimed at
different segments of the market.
We say ...
We need to set our price points carefully. (=charge as
much as possible without damaging sales)
The cost price to us was €40, and rve sell it in our stores for
€80, so the margin (= percentage profit) is 100% and
the mark-up (= amount added) is €40.
The recommended retail price (US: MSRP manufacturer's suggested retail price) is €399, but
you can often find it at a discounted price.
Our prices range from €1,250 for tile standard/ economy
rnodel to €1,950 for the deluxe/executive rnodel.
We need to cut/bring down/lower our prices.
We need to increase/put up/raise our prices.
We charge €65 per hour for our services.
Our f ee will be €8,450, all included.
Read the text for general understanding.
., Read it again and underline the words you don't know.
Check their meaning.
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All these people - logistics companies, intermediaries
and retailers - are referred to as the 'channel partners'.
Direct marketing is a type of marketing with no
•
intermediaries or outlets - it 'cuts out the middleman'.
Direct marketing includes email marketing, catalogue
shopping, direct mail, door-to-door leaflets, etc.
In the future m-commerce (using mobile devices as
a shopping platform) will grow and take its place
alongside e-commerce (using a computer).
Promotion
There are many different forms of promotion.
• Online advertising (banner ads, flash animations,
and search marketing that uses links on the results
page of a search engine).
• Ads in the media (TV, magazines, newspapers).
• Outdoor advertising (billboards, buses).
• Promotional materials (brochures, catalogues,
leaflets, flyers).
• Sponsorship (eg associating your logo with one
particular football team).
• Sales promotions (special offers such as 'buy-oneget-one-free', coupons/vouchers, etc).
• Public relations.
• Word-of-mouth (especially important in the age of
social networks on the Internet).
• Trade shows/trade fairs (especially in B2B).
We say ...
run an advertising carnpaign
place an ad online/in a rnagazine
make a TV cornmercial
sponsor an event/ a sports teanz
attend a trade fair
3 Highlight words you know passively, but don't use
actively. Choose some to write sentences of your own.
4 Check pronunciation at macmillandictionary.com
Exercises
7 MARKETING - THE FOUR Ps
7 1 Complete the text about a pizza service using the
words in the box.
7 4 Make w ord partnerships by matching an item
from each column. One solution uses each word once.
1 value
coupon
delivery
difference
leaflet
offer
online
guaranteed
range
Near to my house there are two or three pizza
. I usually
stores, all offering home 1 J 11 r
choose Pizza Place - I love their pizzas. They have a
much better 2
of toppings than the others.
and their pizzas are thin and crispy so you really taste
the topping not the base. They put a 3 _ _ _ __
through my door most weeks. and there's always some
kind of special 4
____ . For example, you can
cut out a 5
and use it in the store to get
special deals on desserts and drinks. There's a code
printed on the coupon so you can use it over the
phone or to order 6_
_
. And every Monday
they have a 'buy-one-get-one-free' offer. But the best
thing about Pizza Place is their 7
_
delivery
time. They say that if they don't deliver in 30 minutes or
less, it's free. None of the other pizza stores offer that,
and when you're hungry it makes a 8_ _ _ __
2 price
3 retail
1 Looking at the competition, I think we should try a
different
nr -_f "
. Let's sell it for €49 instead
2
3
4
aim at
place
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
attend
charge
handle
~
sponsor
translate
1 We need to
1 If the quality is good and people enjoy the feeling of
2
of €54 and see what difference it makes.
In the summer we're going to run an ______ _
across various media: online, TY and magazines.
I think we need to expand our range of
- - - s to include small local shops.
As an online retailer, the logistics company we work with
is a very important --. We use their
warehousing services as well as their delivery services.
When people type 'Rome hotel', we want our name to
appear on the first page of the
_ results.
7 .6 Complete the sentences with the verbs in the box.
feature I benefit.
owning the b
.. d, then some consumers will pay a
higher price.
Usually a company has different products aimed at
different seg ___ts of the market.
The cost price to us is €200 and we sell it in our store
for €300. So the m___ in is SOo/o and the m__ k-up
is €100.
Our prices ra e from €600 to €900, depending on the
model.
Professionals offering a personalized service, such as
lawyers, don't really use the word 'price' with clients.
Instead they say 'f __ '.
We ch
e €90 per hour for our services.
Between the manufacturer and the end-user there are
just two inter___iaries: a distributor and a retailer.
We use various retail out___s, including large
supermarkets, small neighbourhood shops and kiosks.
Billboards are an example of
door advertising.
In the age of social networks such as Facebook•
w_
-of-m __th marketing is very important.
channel
engine
partner
point
outlet
'- proposition
relations
7 5 Complete the sentences with a word partnership
from Exercise 7.4.
1 Thin, crispy pizzas are a feature I benefit.
2 Being able to taste the topping not the base is a
7.3 Fill in the missing letters.
\
4 distribution '\
5 channel
\
6 public
7 search
8 advertising
5
7 .2 Use the text in Exercise 7.1 to underline the
correct word in 1- 2 below.
campaign
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
the right price point to maximize
profits - not too high and not too low.
The consultants' fees are very high. They spent two days
in the company and then
___ d us €2,400 for a
report which said nothing new.
Our advertising budget is limited and we have to be very
careful about where we
this ad.
We have a reputation for high quality and high prices.
But in the current economic climate I think we also need
to
_ the value-oriented shopper.
It's possible to make this product with all sorts of
additional features. The question is this: do those features
___ into benefits for the customer?
The cost of the stand is very high, but we have to
····-·-··--- the Frankfurt trade fair every year. It's the
best place to meet all our customers at one time.
In order to attract wealthy clients from the local area
I think we should
the next season at the
Opera House.
A lot of customers are calling to complain about
damaged goods. We need to investigate how they're
- ____ d at the warehouse and in transit.
See page 146 for some discussion topics.
Markets, products and customers
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