The 4Ps of marketing (marketing mix)
Also known as: marketing mix, 4Ps
The 4Ps of marketing are the four basic decisions for taking an offer to market: product, price, place, meaning distribution, and promotion, meaning communication. Together they form the marketing mix. The modern version was proposed in 1960 by E. Jerome McCarthy and popularized by Philip Kotler, and it remains one of the most used models for organizing a marketing plan.
An artisanal granola brand reviews its 4Ps before entering supermarkets. Product: a smaller 250 gram pack. Price: below imported rivals, above industrial ones. Place: specialty stores and regional chains rather than national chains. Promotion: in store tastings and recipe creators.
None of the four decisions solves it alone. A good product in the wrong place, or priced outside its audience's range, does not sell; the mix works when all four fit together.
Each P
| What is decided | |
|---|---|
| Product | What is sold: features, quality, variants, packaging, brand, warranty |
| Price | What it costs: value, discounts, payment terms, position against competitors |
| Place | Where and how it reaches customers: channels, stores, online store, logistics, coverage |
| Promotion | How it is communicated: advertising, content, sales, promotions, public relations |
Where it came from
In 1948, Harvard professor James Culliton described marketers as mixers of ingredients. His colleague Neil Borden began speaking of the marketing mix and used the term in his presidential address to the American Marketing Association in 1953.
The four P structure was proposed in 1960 by E. Jerome McCarthy, and Philip Kotler helped spread the model, noting its value for teaching.
The 7Ps of services
In 1981, Booms and Bitner proposed extending the mix for services with three more Ps: people, process and physical evidence, meaning what customers see and touch, such as the setting and materials. In a service, who serves and how the service happens are part of what is sold.
The customer's 4Cs
In the 1990s, Robert Lauterborn proposed looking at the mix from the customer's side, with the 4Cs: consumer, cost, convenience and communication. Product becomes the consumer's need; price, their total cost; place, the convenience of buying; promotion, two way communication. It does not replace the 4Ps; it is a way to test whether decisions make sense to buyers.
How to use it today
- Review all four together whenever you launch a product or enter a market.
- Start with the customer: who the product is for shapes everything else.
- Online, place includes the online store, marketplaces and messaging; promotion includes search, social and content.
- Change one P at a time and measure the effect on sales.
Frequently asked questions
What are the 4Ps of marketing?
Product, price, place (distribution) and promotion (communication), the four basic decisions for taking an offer to market.
Who created the 4Ps?
The modern version was proposed in 1960 by E. Jerome McCarthy and popularized by Philip Kotler, building on James Culliton's and Neil Borden's idea of a marketing mix.
What are the 7Ps?
The extension of the mix for services proposed by Booms and Bitner in 1981, adding people, process and physical evidence to the 4Ps.
What are the 4Cs?
The customer side version of the mix proposed by Robert Lauterborn in the 1990s: consumer, cost, convenience and communication.
Do the 4Ps still apply to digital marketing?
Yes. What changes is the content of each P: place includes digital channels and promotion includes search, social media and content.
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Rodrigo Fávaro
Founder of ROO3, a marketing and technology agency in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. Builds AI products running in production (Tobia, gerar.app, Pense Mercado) and maintains the AI Benchmark, a public ranking of AI models.
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