Seven Ps are often required to effectively apply the marketing mix to services.
The conventional concept of the marketing mix with the four Ps of marketing -- product, price, presentation and promotion -- is most applicable to tangible products. The 21st century application of the marketing mix to intangible services expands the four Ps to include three additional Ps of participants, physical evidence, and process, according to the BusinessDictionary website definition of services marketing mix.
Marketing Mix Overview
The marketing mix is a set of key elements of marketing that are interrelated. Companies consider apply this mix of elements in the marketing of their brands and products. While various interpretations of the marketing mix are said to exist, the most commonly recognized marketing mix is known as the four Ps of marketing. Product addresses the specific benefits of tangible goods. Place is more often referred to as distribution. Price indicates whether you sell a low-cost, value-oriented, or premium solution. Promotion involves the communication tools and media used to market and promote.
Extended Marketing Mix
The Learn Marketing website outlines the seven Ps included in the contemporary "Service Marketing Mix/Extended Marketing Mix." Marketing academics developed this expanded version of the marketing mix to address perceived gaps in applying the mix to intangible services. The fifth element of people relates to the reality that talented, service-oriented professionals deliver intangible services. Process, the sixth element, outlines the consistent standard for delivering efficiently and accurately to the customer. Physical evidence, the seventh element, takes into account the customer's need to see tangible proof that service delivery has taken place.
Marketing Mix Evolution
The four Ps of marketing are standard in academic teaching of the marketing mix. However, as the U.S. economy becomes more dominated by service industries, more reliance on expanded interpretations is likely, according to the MMC Learning website's overview of the marketing mix. Even product sellers must deliver intangible services to enhance perceived value. The StateUniversity website article "The American Workplace -- The Shift To A Service Economy" notes that the American workplace has shifted from predominately product-oriented to predominantly service-oriented since World War II. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated a 5 to 1 ratio of service workers to product makers in 2005. Thus, more companies should consider the benefits of the broader service-oriented application of the marketing mix.
Additional Insights
The Learn Marketing site also points out that common service characteristics impact the need for an expanded marketing mix. These include Lack of ownership (of a service), Intangibility, Inseparability, Perishability and Heterogeneity. Not surprisingly, it is noted that managing services is much more complicated than managing products. This supports the reasoning behind an expanded marketing mix. Learn Marketing points to a greater ease in standardizing products versus services. The marketing mix is, after all, intended to create consistency in marketing position. Standardizing a service is a challenge given the reliance on people for delivery, the burden of providing physical evidence and the need for a well-outlined process.
Tags: intangible services, four marketing, Learn Marketing, application marketing, deliver intangible