what are the 4 ps of marketing 
the four ps or marketing are a marketing mix comprised of four key elements product price place and promotion these are the key factors that are involved in introducing a product or service to the public often referred to as a marketing mix they provide a framework that companies can use to successfully market a product or service to consumers since the four ps were introduced in the 1950s more ps have been added to the mix including people process and physical evidence investopedia julie bangunderstanding the 4 ps of marketingneil borden an advertising professor at harvard popularized the idea of the marketing mix and the concepts that would later be known primarily as the four ps in the 1950s his 1964 article the concept of the marketing mix demonstrated the ways that companies could use advertising tactics to engage their consumers 1decades later the concepts that borden popularized are still being used by companies to advertise their goods and services borden s ideas were developed and refined over a number of years by other key players in the industry e jerome mccarthy a marketing professor at michigan state university refined the concepts in borden s article and named them the four ps of marketing mccarthy co wrote the book basic marketing a managerial approach further popularizing the idea 2at the time the concept was introduced it helped companies breach the physical barriers that could hamper widespread product adoption today the internet has helped businesses to overcome some of these barriers people process and physical evidence are extensions of the original four ps and are relevant to current trends in marketing any successful marketing strategy should be revisited from time to time the marketing mix you create is not intended to be static it needs to be adjusted and refined as your product grows and your customer base changes 1 productcreating a marketing campaign starts with an understanding of the product itself who needs it and why what does it do that no competitor s product can do perhaps it s a new thing altogether and is so compelling in its design or function that consumers will have to have it when they see it the job of the marketer is to define the product and its qualities and introduce it to the consumer defining the product also is key to its distribution marketers need to understand the life cycle of a product and business executives need to have a plan for dealing with products at every stage of the life cycle the type of product also dictates in part how much it will cost where it should be placed and how it should be promoted many of the most successful products have been the first in their category for example apple was the first to create a touchscreen smartphone that could play music browse the internet and make phone calls apple reported total sales of the iphone for fy 2022 at 205 4 billion 3 in 2021 it hit the milestone of 2 billion iphones sold 42 priceprice is the amount that consumers will be willing to pay for a product marketers must link the price to the product s real and perceived value while also considering supply costs seasonal discounts competitors prices and retail markup in some cases business decision makers may raise the price of a product to give it the appearance of luxury or exclusivity or they may lower the price so more consumers will try it marketers also need to determine when and if discounting is appropriate a discount can draw in more customers but it can also give the impression that the product is less desirable than it was uniqlo headquartered in japan is a global manufacturer of casual wear like its competitors gap and zara uniqlo creates low priced fashion forward garments for younger buyers 