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exploring the Fifth and sixth Ps of marketing

Editors notE: In our December issue, we published five experts perspectives on what the fifth P of marketing should bewhat concept or quality or characteristic deserves to be added to the marketing mix. What follows is a sixth experts perspective on the matter, which supports and synthesizes the views that three of our experts espoused in December. Contact us at editor@ama.org to let us know your thoughts.

By BriAn solis | ExpErT COnTrIBuTOr

editor@ama.org
or years ive written about how the four Ps of marketing product, price, place and promotionrepresented a dated perspective of customers and markets. in an era of connected consumerism, one could argue the merits of any of the Ps and whether or not theyre still relevant. i suppose thats a debate for another time. instead, id like to introduce two additional Ps that will propel a decades-old concept forward and modernize it for a social economy: people and purpose. needor do not even realize that they needinnovation follows. And this is a time for innovation as peopleand how they connect, discover, communicate and shareare evolving. understanding and appreciating people, and the individuals that make up our markets, teaches us how to, in turn, become more human, especially at a time when brands are becoming people and people are becoming brands. At the end of the day, we are the very people we are trying to reach. you and i, and the scores of people like us, form the fifth P. experiences, and translate this new direction as a matter of purpose. its imperative that this edict and the mission come from the top. For without it, change is stunted. i often think about a conversation that i had one night with tony Hsieh, ceo of Zappos. When i asked him about his inspiration for delivering happiness to customers, he explained, companies with a higher purpose outperformed those that focused on market leadership and profitability in the long run. i then asked him about the importance of vision and creating a supportive culture as he set out to deliver happiness. your culture is your brand. customer service shouldnt just be a department; it should be the entire company, Hsieh said. He then shared the importance of unity in bringing about change and marching collectively in a new direction. customer service is about making customers happy. company culture is about making employees happy, so lets just simplify it and, at the same time, amplify our vision for our customers, employees, vendors and peers. Whether or not you agree that people and purpose officially earn a place among the traditional set of Ps is certainly open to discussion. But the impact of these two pillars is undeniable. By investing in people and purpose, we will spark a revolution in not only business philosophy and supporting processes, but also, and more notably, in the shift from a culture of management to one of leadership. m

People as the 5th P

in a social economy, its practically absurd that this requires explanation. People should beor should have beenat the center of everything. it has been argued that people are already at the core of each of the existing four Ps, but i disagree. its easy to overlook the importance of people in the mix. For the most part, people are largely lumped into market segments, spoken to as audiences and serviced as tickets. Honestly, we can and must do better. understanding the needs and expectations of people inspires an important element often missing in day-to-day business strategy: empathy. it is empathy, after all, that unlocks ambition to do something that goes beyond the ordinary. it offers clarity to help see beyond routine road maps and reports. empathy also channels aspiration to help teams strive to always do better. the result? Businesses will possess the means to develop more meaningful products and services, as well as to procure the confidence and resources to truly engage customers to build thriving communities. once you really feel what people experience and what it is they

Purpose as the 6th P

regardless of the technology you adopt or the trends you pursue, one of the key things thats often missing is a sense of direction or aspiration. im not referring to a common vision or mission statement, though. motive, objective and resolve are paramount, and theyre manifested in the leadership and its decrees to bring about real change. i spend my time in the throes of digital transformation and as you can imagine, there are a great deal of politics, emotion and anxiety at work. in many cases, efforts to lead change are done in the absence of bearing or alignment. steps are taken simply because thats what is supposed to happen, not because a course was defined. As such, existing processes, philosophies and communication channels sometimes work against the quest to pursue the fifth and sixth Ps. in order to unite teams and decision makers around a common vision, that vision must be defined and it must resonate. ive done my fair share of developing business transformation initiatives, and part of that work involves helping executives visualize and vocalize the future of customer engagement and

BriAn solis is a principal analyst at Altimeter group and author of Whats the Future of Business (WTF).

January 2013 | marketing news