The Many P's of Marketing: People

Traditional marketing education teaches that the "marketing mix" is made up of four key themes, also known as the Four P's of Marketing.  In recent years, many marketing writers have proposed that the traditional four P's of marketing, Product, Price, Promotion and Place do not reflect the current marketing reality.  As the focus of marketing has taken on more of a relationship bent, a fifth P, People, has often been added the to the traditional concept of the marketing mix.

People:  People are the key to marketing.  People make decisions.  People make purchases.  A marketing effort is an attempt to influence the behavior of...you guessed it...people.

With the introduction of better information about the customer, better communications technology and more sophisticated practitioners and customers, it is not controversial to say that the focus of marketing has shifted from touting a product or service toward building and nurturing relationships.  Relationships are key to a successful marketing effort.  Most successful marketers now focus significantly on developing and maintaining relationships with customers, prospective customers, opinion-makers and staff.

Affinity programs such as frequent-flyer programs are attempts to develop a relationship with the customer. When Netflix makes recommendations for movies you might like based on movies you've watched and rated, they are trying to build value into your relationship with them.  When Ace Hardware or your local coffee shop gives you a discount card or every tenth cup free, they are trying to do the same.

Relationships have become so important that a whole branch of marketing, called relationship marketing, has emerged.  This is where marketers focus primarily on building and nurturing a relationship with a desired customer.  Relationship marketing often takes a long-term view towards towards the profitability of the customer relationship.  I will explore relationship marketing more in a future blog.

The "people" aspect of marketing refers to more than just the customers and prospects that a company works with.  It also refers to the people who deliver the customer service and communications that makes or breaks that precious customer relationship.  As I discussed in my blog on low cost retailers, that you can read here, the people that work on the front lines serving the needs of the customers make a monumental difference in the success or failure of a business.  How many times have you had a complaint or a problem with a company when the "above and beyond" service of one person totally changes your impression of the company.  How the people you employ treat the people you are trying to sell to may be a more significant factor in long term sales than any other element in the marketing mix!

For example, I used to go to a particular dry cleaner.  There was a clerk who worked at this dry cleaner who always knew my name (and phone number) and often had my dry cleaning ready to go before I ever got to the counter.  She always had something pleasant and often funny to say to me, often referring to a previous discussion.  I was definitely NOT a number to this woman but a person.  Furthermore, if I had my daughter with me, she remembered that her favorite candy was Tootsie Rolls and always had a couple for her.  My daughter wouldn't have let me switch from that dry cleaner if I wanted to!  The day that exceptional woman retired was the last day I went to that dry cleaner.

As someone said to me recently, people are often the forgotten element of the marketing mix.  People are, however, essential to good marketing!