Is the 4 Ps marketing mix still relevant in 2025?

Does the marketing mix (better known as the 4 Ps: product, price, promotion, place) still earn its place in a marketer toolkit in 2025, given how quickly technology has moved? How relevant and how efficient is the concept in practice, in an age of big data, AI, marketing automation and blockchain? Let us get to the bottom of it.

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Definition: the marketing mix explained simply

There are four key elements in a successful marketing mix, the 4 Ps. The first is the product, meaning the goods or services a business offers. The second is the price, meaning the amount customers are willing to pay for that product. The third is promotion, which is how you generate interest in the product. And the fourth element of the marketing mix is place, meaning where the product is sold, which underlines how much the route to market matters. All four elements have to be thought through carefully if the mix is going to work.

Since E. Jerome McCarthy introduced the concept in 1960, it has been a fixture of marketing education and marketing practice, and a foundation of successful marketing. The classic 4 P mix rests on four pillars: product, price, promotion and place. Each area is essential to the success of the others, and taken together they are a powerful steering instrument for a business. That is how companies make sure they reach consumers and sell their products or services successfully.

Good product policy leads to a high-quality product that meets the needs of the audience. Effective promotion creates awareness of and interest in the product. Well-considered pricing makes the product affordable and attractive to potential customers. And sound distribution makes sure the product is available where and when customers want it.

In short, the four pillars have to work together to create a successful marketing mix. If one pillar is weak, the others cannot make up for it. No amount of good advertising, for instance, can compensate for a poor-quality product or service, or for a price that is simply too high.

About Einfachmarketing and Marketing as a Service: we look after your 4 Ps

You are probably wondering why we are the right people to talk about the marketing mix. At Einfachmarketing you get your own marketing team with a personal marketing manager, in a subscription you can cancel monthly. All the marketing technology and tools you need are included. We support a great many businesses across the German-speaking region with their marketing strategy and with putting that marketing to work for sales.

Classic 4 P marketing: the four pillars as key elements

The marketing mix is a term that describes the various elements of a marketing campaign. The 4 Ps give a business a framework for considering and balancing the four key elements of its offer, and they can be applied to any product or service.

All four elements matter, but each one has to be thought through and balanced carefully if the offer is going to succeed. A business might have a great product, for example, but if the price is too high customers will not buy it. Equally, a business might have an affordable product, but if it is not available in the right places, sales will suffer.

1) Product

The first step is to work out the needs and wants of your target market. What are they looking for? What are their problems? Once you know what they need, you can develop a product that meets those needs.

2) Price

Next you have to find out how much your target market is willing to pay for your product. That lets you set a price that maximises your profit, stays affordable for your audience and contributes effectively to marketing the product.

3) Promotion

Once you have a product and a price, you have to promote and market it to your audience. There are many ways to do that, including advertising, public relations and social media marketing. You need to find the right mix of channels to reach your audience and get them enthusiastic about your product.

4) Place

Finally you have to decide where you want to sell your product. That covers online as well as offline channels.

All four elements have to be considered carefully to build a successful marketing mix. If you take the time to understand your target market and its needs, you can develop a product that meets those needs and promote it effectively through the right channels. That way you maximise your profit while offering your customers genuine value.

The extended marketing mix with 7 Ps

The traditional four-P marketing mix was developed specifically for physical products. Services, with their particular characteristics such as intangibility, heterogeneity and the inseparability of production and consumption, needed an extension of that model. So the marketing mix for services was extended by three additional Ps: people, process and physical evidence.

1. People: the quality of a service depends heavily on the people who deliver it. In services, staff are often the face of the business and can contribute a great deal to how it stands apart in the eyes of customers. Trained, competent and customer-friendly colleagues are essential to a positive service experience.

2. Process: the processes behind the delivery of a service are decisive for customer satisfaction. They should be designed to be efficient, customer-focused and adaptable. Process management covers the careful planning and execution of every step needed to deliver and manage a service.

3. Physical evidence: although services are intangible, customers look for tangible signals to judge quality before they buy. Physical evidence can be the premises in which the service is delivered, the design and the furnishing, but also things like business cards, reports or the company website. Physical evidence helps build trust and credibility in the service.

These three additional Ps complement the traditional four and together form the extended marketing mix, which is indispensable when marketing services. They allow the distinctive aspects of a service to be taken into account and help you steer the quality and the perception of the service experience.

In short: the marketing mix is a genuinely useful instrument for developing an overall marketing strategy, whether you work with the 4 Ps or the 7 Ps.

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Where the marketing mix sits in the wider business strategy

There is no single recipe for building a marketing mix, because the individual elements vary from product to product and from service to service. There are, though, a few important considerations worth keeping in mind. First it is important to establish the overall goals of the marketing campaign. What are you hoping to achieve? Once that is clear, you can think about which instruments and tactics will help you get there. If you want to raise brand awareness, for example, traditional advertising such as television or radio spots may be more effective than relying on social media alone. If you want to drive sales of a particular product, vouchers or discounts may work better than general brand advertising. Ultimately what matters most is experimenting with different elements of the mix and tracking the results, so that you find out what works for your business.

The marketing mix is an important part of the business strategy process, because it sets out the specific, concrete measures that will deliver the marketing objectives. The entrepreneurial spirit of marketing drives that process, as marketers keep looking for new and inventive ways to reach the end consumer. By taking a proactive, strategic approach to the marketing mix, a business can make sure it uses its resources well and hits its targets.

Is the marketing mix still important in 2025?

Yes. We, along with many other specialists, believe the marketing mix remains a relevant and indispensable instrument for marketers even in the digital age.

The main reason is surely that it secures the coordinated use of marketing instruments, which is what successful marketing requires. Technology certainly helps with collecting data and automating certain tasks, but the human element of decision making and strategy is not replaceable.

New technology serves instead to make the marketing mix more effective. The concept defines the audience, product and distribution objectives set by marketing. That combination of products and services, service and product pillars, is decisive for a coordinated marketing effort that reaches the target audience and achieves the results you want.

Marketing 2.0, 3.0 and the marketing mix

Yes, the marketing mix still matters in 2025, but the conditions around it are changing, because marketing has changed at its core over the past ten years. Customer relationships, consumer behaviour and the way businesses work are radically different today. The traditional framework for marketing decisions is still important, but the way it should be applied is shifting. Above all we see a move away from mass marketing towards personalised, targeted approaches. That shift is driven by changes in technology, in consumer behaviour and in the competitive landscape.

Static concepts meet agile project management, and data keeps growing in importance. The biggest change we are living through is the way technology keeps pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Not so long ago the idea of personalisation was wishful thinking; now it runs almost by itself. The same goes for targeting and engagement in real time. We have seen at first hand how those changes play out in the market, and we are still only scratching the surface. In the end this shift will lead to more meaningful experiences for everyone involved: consumers, brands and businesses.

The 4 Ps in marketing, illustrated by Red Bull

Red Bull is a textbook example of a business that has used the 4 P marketing mix to drive its success. You can tell that the individual marketing instruments have been tuned to one another perfectly.

The product itself is distinctive and appeals to a broad range of customers. The Red Bull pricing strategy is very well considered too. The company holds a premium price point that underlines the effectiveness of the product benefit. Even so, everybody can afford Red Bull, because discount promotions repeatedly bring the price down without the premium value suffering for it.

On the promotion side, Red Bull has invested heavily in sponsoring high-profile sporting events and in using social media platforms to reach potential customers. The product benefit is communicated not only through television advertising but above all through testimonials.

Finally, Red Bull has an excellent distribution network that makes it easy for customers to find the product when they want it. Production has been outsourced from the very beginning; the group concentrates on its core competence, marketing.

Through the effective use of the 4 P marketing mix, Red Bull has aligned its individual marketing activities perfectly and achieved worldwide success with them.

What can a good 4 Ps model achieve?

A good marketing mix can help a business hit several objectives at once. It can help lift sales of a product, reach new audiences and improve communication with customers. A good mix also helps a business understand its distribution channels, product policy, pricing and communication better. In the end all of those factors can lead to higher profit and a more successful business.

Price, promotion, product and place: how to work the marketing mix into your everyday business

The key to integrating the marketing mix into your day-to-day business lies in analysing and reviewing where you stand at regular intervals. That means looking closely at your sales figures, your customer feedback and the trends in your market. On the basis of that information you can adjust your mix. If your current advertising campaign is not delivering the results you want, for example, you can switch to a different type of advertising. Or if you notice that your target market is shifting, you may need to adjust your product mix. By analysing and reviewing your marketing mix regularly, you can be sure it is always working effectively for your business.

Which of the 4 Ps matters most: price, promotion, place or product?

How important each of the 4 Ps is (pricing, communication, distribution or product policy) depends heavily on the industry, the market environment and the specific objectives of the business. It is often argued, though, that product policy is central, because it lays the foundation on which the other Ps are built. A high-quality, well-developed product that meets the needs and wishes of customers is the precondition for using pricing, communication and distribution effectively. Without a convincing product there is no purchase, however attractive the price, however well thought through the distribution or however creative the communication. Product policy is therefore central to securing long-term success in the market and building lasting customer relationships.

How do the four pillars, the product and the route to market change across the product life cycle?

Over the course of the product life cycle, which divides into introduction, growth, maturity and decline, it is not only the product and the route to market that change but the other elements of the marketing mix as well. Here is an overview of how the four pillars (product, price, place and promotion) typically adapt across the life cycle.

Introduction

• Product: the product is newly launched. It is often patented or distinctive and carries particular unique selling points.
• Price: either a skimming strategy (a high price) is used to recover the cost of innovation, or a penetration strategy (a low price) to win market share quickly.
• Place: distribution is selective and focused, to achieve targeted market penetration and secure availability in key markets.
• Promotion: intensive advertising is needed to create awareness and demand.

Growth

• Product: the product starts to establish itself. Early improvements or variants may be introduced to address different customer segments.
• Price: as demand rises, the price can be held stable or lowered slightly to win more customers still.
• Place: distribution is intensified and extended, since the product is now being made available to a broader customer base.
• Promotion: the emphasis in communication shifts towards differentiation and building brand loyalty.

Maturity

• Product: further development, new features or added services are introduced to set the product apart from competitors.
• Price: price competition intensifies. Businesses may use discounts, bundling or other promotional activity to hold their position.
• Place: the distribution channels are well established, and the focus turns to making distribution more efficient.
• Promotion: marketing activity concentrates on customer loyalty and brand attachment.

Decline

• Product: the product may be dated or replaced by new technology. Some businesses take it off the market or replace it with new innovations.
• Price: price cuts are common, to capture the remaining demand.
• Place: distribution is often rationalised, with less profitable segments or markets given up.
• Promotion: advertising and promotional budgets are usually reduced, as the focus moves to more profitable products or innovations.

The challenge for marketing is to adapt the product and the strategies around it to the changes across the life cycle, so that the life of the product in the market is extended as far as possible and the return on investment is optimised.

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