B2B Marketing – Evolving the 4P Model
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 3:37 am
Philip Kotler’s “ 4P Model ” has served as a foundation for business and marketing people for more than half a century to date.
However, the reality is that in the “ business to business ” context (B2B – companies “business to business” or whose market is in direct sales to businesses rather than direct consumers) it is necessary to rethink the way in which the terms product, price, place and promotion are approached and developed.
According to studies published in the 91st edition of Harvard Business Review by Richard Ettenson, Eduardo Conrado and Jonathan Knowles , there are guinea business email list indications - after 5 years of studies and research with more than 500 managers from different countries and industries - that the 4P Model "has fallen short" for marketing managers in B2B companies, mainly for 3 main reasons:
It leads marketing and sales teams to compromise on the quality and technological aspects of the product - even though this is no longer a differentiating factor - since the cost of entry is still simple.
It ignores the importance of building a robust infrastructure to generate new solutions for the client.
It creates distraction, taking the company away from taking advantage of its advantage as a trusted source in solving problems for its customers.
So, it's not that the 4Ps are irrelevant or useless today, but that they need to be interpreted differently for B2B Marketing.
Given this situation, the "SAVE" Model (proposed by the same 3 authors who criticize the 4Ps in the B2B context) is presented as a successful proposal where the product becomes a solution, the place becomes access, the price becomes value and the promotion becomes education.
In a nutshell, we could interpret the SAVE Model as follows, and make the most of it with certain strategies:
SOLUTION : Let's focus on defining our offering by the needs it covers, not by its features, functions or technical superiority.
ACCESS : Let us develop channels that allow us to interact not only in the consumer's purchase, but throughout the entire pre and post-purchase process.
VALUE : Let's articulate and communicate the benefits of the good or service in relation to its price, and not how it has been structured based on its costs and margins.
EDUCATION : We provide information relevant to the specific needs of consumers at each stage of their purchasing process, beyond investing excessive resources in the "front line", made up of sales agents, PR and advertising actions.
However, the reality is that in the “ business to business ” context (B2B – companies “business to business” or whose market is in direct sales to businesses rather than direct consumers) it is necessary to rethink the way in which the terms product, price, place and promotion are approached and developed.
According to studies published in the 91st edition of Harvard Business Review by Richard Ettenson, Eduardo Conrado and Jonathan Knowles , there are guinea business email list indications - after 5 years of studies and research with more than 500 managers from different countries and industries - that the 4P Model "has fallen short" for marketing managers in B2B companies, mainly for 3 main reasons:
It leads marketing and sales teams to compromise on the quality and technological aspects of the product - even though this is no longer a differentiating factor - since the cost of entry is still simple.
It ignores the importance of building a robust infrastructure to generate new solutions for the client.
It creates distraction, taking the company away from taking advantage of its advantage as a trusted source in solving problems for its customers.
So, it's not that the 4Ps are irrelevant or useless today, but that they need to be interpreted differently for B2B Marketing.
Given this situation, the "SAVE" Model (proposed by the same 3 authors who criticize the 4Ps in the B2B context) is presented as a successful proposal where the product becomes a solution, the place becomes access, the price becomes value and the promotion becomes education.
In a nutshell, we could interpret the SAVE Model as follows, and make the most of it with certain strategies:
SOLUTION : Let's focus on defining our offering by the needs it covers, not by its features, functions or technical superiority.
ACCESS : Let us develop channels that allow us to interact not only in the consumer's purchase, but throughout the entire pre and post-purchase process.
VALUE : Let's articulate and communicate the benefits of the good or service in relation to its price, and not how it has been structured based on its costs and margins.
EDUCATION : We provide information relevant to the specific needs of consumers at each stage of their purchasing process, beyond investing excessive resources in the "front line", made up of sales agents, PR and advertising actions.