The 4ps Theory Of The Marketing Mix

This study was based on the 4Ps theory of marketing or the marketing mix as coined in the early 1950s by Neil Borden in his American Marketing Association presidential address. The term "marketing mix" became popularized after he published his 1964 article-The Concept of the Marketing Mix. Borden began using the term in his teaching in the late 1940's after James Culliton had described the marketing manager as a "mixer of ingredients". The ingredients in Borden's marketing mix included product, planning, pricing, branding, distribution channels, personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging, display, servicing, physical handling, and fact finding and analysis. In 1964, Jerome McCarthy grouped these ingredients into Product, Pricing,

Moller (2006) highlighted 3-4 key criticisms against the marketing mix framework; that the marketing mix does not consider customer behaviour, but is internally oriented, that it regards customers as passive and therefore not allowing interactions, that the mix is void of theoretical content, that it works primarily as a simplistic device focusing the attention of management and finally that the marketing mix does not offer help for personification of marketing activities. Kotler (2003), argues that external and uncontrollable environmental factors are very important elements of the marketing strategy programs. Therefore, marketing mix should consider customers, environmental variables and competitive variables. He suggests that two additional Ps of Political power and Public opinion should be added to the traditional 4Ps. Schultz (2001) argues that the 4Ps have less relevance today, but they made sense the time they were invented. Further, Kotler et lal argue that the 4Ps of marketing mix have a number of weaknesses in that they omit or under-emphasize some important marketing activities. For example, services are not explicitly mentioned, although they can be categorized as products (that is, service products). In addition, other important marketing activities (such as packaging) are not specifically addressed but are placed within one of the 4Ps groups. Another key problem is that the 4Ps focus on the seller’s view of the market. The buyer’s view should be marketing’s main concern. . (Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Cunningham, P.,