The ‘Four Ps’ of business are not wrong, just outnumbered
A few months ago I sat through a marketing plan presentation that could have been delivered, almost word for word, in 1975. The product positioning was sharp. The pricing tiers were modelled to the decimal. Distribution was mapped channel by channel. The promotional calendar was colour-coded for the year ahead.
The modern businesses that are outperforming their competitors today are doing so by relying on seven variables instead of the traditional four Ps. In the past, marketing plans focused on four key elements: product, price, place, and promotion. However, with advances in technology and changing market dynamics, a fifth element, partnership, has emerged as a crucial factor for success.
Just a few years ago, a marketing presentation might have been delivered using the same four Ps as in 1975. The product positioning, pricing tiers, distribution, and promotional calendar were all meticulously planned, but the real key to success was often overlooked. The room would go silent when questioned about the role of AI tools in the launch, highlighting the fact that a plan built entirely around the four Ps had never been asked to consider the other three.
Partnerships have become increasingly important in today's business landscape. Starbucks, for example, partnered with local operators in Thailand to expand its presence in the country. Instead of trying to build its own retail expertise, Starbucks leveraged the existing knowledge and scale of Coffee Concepts Thailand, which was itself a partnership between two established operators.
This partnership allowed Starbucks to grow its presence in Thailand from a single store to 500 outlets by 2024, with plans for another 300 outlets by 2030. The growth came not from the coffee itself, but from the partnerships that enabled Starbucks to operate effectively in a new market.
Another example of the power of partnerships can be seen in the development of a Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer and BioNTech had been collaborating on an unrelated mRNA-based flu vaccine since 2018, before the pandemic even began. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Pfizer and BioNTech redirected this collaboration to develop a vaccine specifically for Covid-19. This partnership was already in place and ready to respond when the crisis occurred, allowing the two companies to produce an authorized vaccine in under nine months.
In the telecommunications industry, AT&T faced a similar challenge. Roughly half of its 250,000 employees had skills that would become redundant within a decade according to their own strategy. Instead of replacing the workforce, AT&T invested in retraining its employees through partnerships with universities and online course providers.
This investment turned switchboard-era employees into cloud and software engineers, positioning the company for the future rather than just trying to keep up with the past. AT&T's approach became a Harvard Business School case study, demonstrating the importance of investing in people before implementing a new strategy.
These examples illustrate the three additions that now decide who wins in the market: partnership, people strategy, and generative AI. The four Ps of product, price, place, and promotion are still important, but they have become the entry fee for success. To truly differentiate themselves and achieve sustainable growth, businesses must now consider the other three variables - partnership, people strategy, and the use of generative AI - to stay ahead in today's rapidly changing business environment.
Written by urgent.news from Bangkok Post Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
