page_title: Marketing mix
section_title: McCarthy's 4 Ps
hierarchical_section_title: Marketing mix / McCarthy's 4 Ps
caption_attribution_description: 4P's modified from German wikipedia (German translation removed)
context_page_description: The term 'marketing mix' is a foundation model for businesses, historically centered around product, price, place, and promotion. The marketing mix has been defined as the "set of marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market". Thus the marketing mix refers to four broad levels of marketing decision: product, price, place, and promotion.
  Marketing practice has been occurring for millennia, but marketing theory emerged in the early twentieth century. The contemporary marketing mix, or the 4 Ps, which has become the dominant framework for marketing management decisions, was first published in 1960. In services marketing, an extended marketing mix is used, typically comprising 7 Ps, made up of the original 4 Ps extended by process, people, and physical evidence. Occasionally service marketers will refer to 8 Ps, comprising these 7 Ps plus performance.
  In the 1990s, the model of 4 Cs was introduced as a more customer-driven replacement of the 4 Ps.
  There are two theories based on 4 Cs: Lauterborn's 4 Cs, and Shimizu's 4 Cs.
context_section_description: The original marketing mix, or 4 Ps, as originally proposed by marketer and academic E. Jerome McCarthy, provides a framework for marketing decision-making. McCarthy's marketing mix has since become one of the most enduring and widely accepted frameworks in marketing.
  Table 1: Brief Outline of 4 Ps
  Product refers to what the business offers for sale and may include products or services. Product decisions include the "quality, features, benefits, style, design, branding, packaging, services, warranties, guarantees, life cycles, investments and returns".
  Price refers to decisions surrounding "list pricing, discount pricing, special offer pricing, credit payment or credit terms". Price refers to the total cost to customer to acquire the product, and may involve both monetary and psychological costs such as the time and effort spent in acquisition.
  Place is defined as the "direct or indirect channels to market, geographical distribution, territorial coverage, retail outlet, market location, catalogues, inventory, logistics and order fulfilment". Place refers either to the physical location where a business carries out business or the distribution channels used to reach markets.  Place may refer to a retail outlet, but increasingly refers to virtual stores such as "a mail order catalogue, a telephone call centre or a website. Example, firms that produce luxury goods like Louis Vuitton employ an intensive placement strategy by making their products available at only a few exclusive retailers. In contrast, lower priced consumer goods like toothpaste and shampoo, typically employ an extensive placement strategy by making their products available to as many different retailers as possible. ".
  Promotion refers to "the marketing communication used to make the offer known to potential customers and persuade them to investigate it further". Promotion elements include "advertising, public relations, direct selling and sales promotions."
caption: The 4Ps have been the cornerstone of the managerial approach to marketing since the 1960s
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