Product – The Four Ps of Marketing

Like everything else in life, we need a starting point to get going with marketing a product or service. A good starting point is to build a marketing plan by analyzing the Four Ps of Marketing. Product, Price, Place, and Promotion are the Four Ps one should consider before launching or introducing a new product.

In this four part blog series, I will go over each of the Four Ps and explain how to conduct your own analysis and why it is necessary. Some people think that jumping right to Promotion is what marketing is all about, but without the other 3 Ps, it will be hard to build a solid and successful marketing plan.

The Product

The first of the Four Ps is the Product. In this category, you want to look at the actual tangible good or intangible service, that you will be selling. Once the good or service is identified, create a clear and detailed definition of the good or service that highlights what its unique characteristics are, and what features differentiate it from your competitors. Furthermore, this definition should describe the specific needs of the target audience that it fulfills or a need that is not yet fulfilled by competitors. 

Branding and packaging are also considered a part of a good or service, so their description should be included in the product’s definition. Some products even have a product life cycle that should be considered when crafting the definition.

The length of the definition can vary depending on the actual product or service. A hand-crafted clay mug would ideally have a shorter definition than a luxury car that aims to fulfill multiple needs with multiple features. It is not the length of the definition that is important, rather the understanding of the product. The better a definition is, the easier it will be to create a more effective marketing plan.

Defining Pizza as the Product

Let’s say that we wanted to start selling a new type of Pizza that no competitor is making. Our Product definition might look like so:

A triangle-shaped fine dinning Pizza, made with locally grown organic ingredients. The freshness of the ingredients make for a softer pizza dough, which no competitor is able to offer. A secret family recipe for white sauce will be used on top of the dough, topped off with fresh cheddar cheese and a selection of locally grown toppings. The topping selection will include tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, olives, and bell peppers. The packaging will be a unique triangle shaped pizza box, branded with the company name “Organic Triangles“, and the slogan “Like a pizza slice, but bigger and better!“

This definition clearly defines what the pizza is and how it will be differentiated. A tip I personally use is to highlight differentiating factors like triangle shaped or softer dough so that the key points about the product stand out to anyone reading the definition. It make reviewing the product features easier and quicker to find when building out the marketing plan. This is a personal preference of mine, and I have found it to be very useful and time saving.

The Purpose of Defining a Product

Once you have a clear grasp of what your good or service is, the Product portion of the Four Ps is complete.  This understanding will make your marketing plan more focused than it would be without such an understanding. For example, knowing that your product will be a high quality fine dining meal, you no longer need to consider marketing to people who just want a cheap & quick pizza.

Regardless of your product offering, you will be able to focus your marketing efforts where the product will best fulfill the needs of your potential customers. You will also understand what features or characteristics of your product are marketable, or which of these features you can potentially focus on. Having this knowledge can decrease the marketing effort required, and even save the valuable marketing budget.

However, creating a Product definition does not give you a complete picture. Next, we move onto the second P – Price!