Chicken karahi looks like a straightforward dish, but by trial and error and closely observing how it is cooked, I can tell you that altering the ingredients here and there creates new variants.

Replacing tomatoes with yoghurt, using red pepper instead of black or using butter instead of oil, creates new versions, each one with a distinct appeal. You can classify these ingredients under four categories. The chicken, the oil (cooking medium), the curry base and the spice mix. Play with these four ingredients and you can do wonders.

This numeric four is common in marketing and finds its most widely applied model in the marketing mix under the four Ps – Product, Price, Place and Promotion. For me, the chicken karahi analogy explains the four Ps quite well, mainly because this is all I can cook, and just as with the chicken karahi, change something in Product and everything else changes with it. It can, for example, lead to a new Place (distribution or channel) strategy thus giving you a competitive edge.

Here we will review the origins, applications and the reinventing of the four Ps – the most widely used conception in the marketing mix (I am using marketing mix and four Ps interchangeably).

1 Four Ps – Origins and development

The concept of the marketing mix emerged in the 1960s, almost concurrently with the emergence of the formal discipline of marketing itself. It is commonly believed that the concept was pioneered by Professor E. Jerome McCarthy. Credit is also given to Professor Neil H. Borden of the Harvard Business School. The four Ps were widely applied in marketing academia, and as marketing and management practices evolved, new concepts emerged. A major change took place in the 1980s with the expansion of the standard four Ps to the seven Ps in order to address different forms of marketing services. The three new Ps were Physical (evidence), People and Process. It was the intangible, variable and perishable nature of services which called for a treatment different than the one given to the four P counterparts (i.e. physical products).

2 Four Ps – Applications

Every business model can be explained by the application of the four Ps. Thinking in terms of the four Ps may seem basic, yet the ability to think creatively across all four Ps leads to imaginative solutions. Here is an example from the healthcare sector in Pakistan. The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Aga Khan University Hospital are among the most sophisticated healthcare providers in Pakistan, but one has to physically be in Lahore or Karachi to access their facilities. However, both hospitals have now established a comprehensive network of sample collection services across Pakistan which enables them to provide their laboratory facilities to a much wider public. This became possible through imaginative thinking about the ‘place’ (channel) in the marketing mix. In terms of Product and Pricing, here is an example derived from the dengue outbreak in Lahore in 2011, when the laboratories in the city were able to offer a stripped down version of the Complete Blood Count blood test (which was the only way to test for the dengue virus at the time). With this version, only the parameters related to dengue were tested, and at a drastically reduced fee of Rs 90 (the cost of a standard test was above Rs 400). This price was mandated by the government in collaboration with the laboratories. Therefore by either expanding the network or offering a modified product and pricing model, the hospital [business] was able to optimise its facilities and achieve additional exposure or promotion to a wider audience. These examples also demonstrate an important aspect of the marketing mix – all elements are interrelated and connected to each other. They not only impact, they also rely on each other in the overall marketing strategy. If small businesses rethink their business in terms of the four Ps – reconceptualising and refocusing where needed – they will be able to increase their profitability within the same resource base. For example, having an online presence linked to home delivery services can lead to an affordable yet significant expansion for a small clothing outlet. This intervention in Place will help Promote as well as develop new Product and Price offerings for online customers.

3 Four Ps – Reinvention

Although McCarthy and Borden share the credit for pioneering the concept of the marketing mix, it was popularised in academia by Philip Kotler. His textbooks on marketing fundamentals were developed around the four Ps. What I found to be a groundbreaking thought is the new paradigm of the four Ps presented in the 14th edition of his book, Marketing Management. Here Kotler explains the marketing mix by using a more holistic paradigm by proposing four new Ps: Programme, People, Process and Performance.

According to this paradigm, the conventional 4Ps have been grouped into Programme along with activities geared to deliver value. People relates to employees and customers and requires companies to put strong emphasis on top-notch talent and a much deeper engagement with their customers. Process covers the discipline, structure and the planning required to execute a marketing programme. Performance encompasses a range of financial and non-financial metrics that measure the achievements of an organisation not only in terms of management but of society as well.

Although this was not the first time that the four Ps had been reviewed and revised, this paradigm is important for two reasons. First, it gives a holistic view of an organisation and rearticulates marketing’s role. Secondly, emphasis is placed on newer, bigger dimensions than just the organisational functions which were propounded by the four Ps (now grouped together in the new paradigm under Programme).

Other practitioners have also given their insights on this important concept. In 2009, Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman and CEO, OgilvyOne published an article titled The 4 Ps are out.

The 4 Es are in. Fetherstonhaugh’s underlying idea is to replace Product with Experience; Place with Everyplace; Price with Exchange and Promotion with Evangelism. A powerful thought for our times because it is grounded in the fact that consumers have taken control from the companies thanks to the power of digital, social and mobile. Unlike the old model which worked when consumers merely followed what marketers were offering, the 4Es have come into play firstly because we live in an age where consumers are ‘experiencing’ brands. They are not concerned with mere benefits but with the whole experience and this is what companies should focus on. Secondly, consumers can now access the brand anywhere and ‘everywhere’; therefore going everywhere is the only choice for the brands. Thirdly, consumers are not interested in just paying, they want to ‘exchange’ their money, time and even permission for something that is of value to them, and fourthly, brands can only be promoted if they are ‘evangelical’ in their approach i.e. they deliver experiences that are interesting enough to motivate consumers to share them.

So, much like chicken karahi, the marketing function (and mix) keeps evolving into new versions. The best part is that although there is not much that is new within the basics, changing or playing with one of the basic ingredient can lead to significant new results. What experts like Kotler and Fetherstonhaugh are telling us is that we should not only be concerned with the karahi, important as it may be. Equally important is the whole meal. So are we paying attention or are we still concerned about whether to use red pepper or black pepper?

Muhammad Talha Salam is a faculty member at FAST School of Management,
Lahore. talha.salam@nu.edu.pk