“The Four P’s” refers to the four crucial aspects of marketing: Pretzels, Pancakes, Pizza and Popsicles. Just kidding. Actually – the four P’s are Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. If you want to successfully market something, you’ve got to get those four things right.
Eat Your P’s
Say you start a business selling pancakes with pretzel chunks on popsicle sticks from a food truck, for $10 per stick, and hoping sales will take off from word of mouth.
But it doesn’t happen. After two weeks driving the truck around at breakfast time, you still haven’t sold a single pancake stick.
So you start asking customers: Why don’t you want my pretzel pancakes on popsicle sticks for ten dollars?
And they tell you exactly what they think:
“I don’t go to food trucks for breakfast.”
“Pretzel chunks in pancakes are gross.”
“Ten bucks is too much for something I don’t already love.”
“Pizza on a stick could be cool, but only if the stick is big enough”
“I mostly try new things when I see them on social media.”
You write all this down, and then sit down with some pancakes (you have lots) to contemplate next steps, keeping in mind the four P’s:
Product: Maybe pretzel chunks would go better in pizza than pancakes? And maybe I need to use the pretzel itself as the stick, rather than a popsicle stick?
Price: Maybe I should start at $4.99, to make it an easier first-time purchase decision?
Place: Perhaps a food truck isn’t the right place for breakfast, so I should try lunch or dinner instead?
Promotion: Maybe I should use social media to get the word out?
And tah-dah (sound of pretzels crunching), you have a new marketing strategy!
Epilogue:
Two years later, your business has taken off. Pauline’s Pretzel Pizza Pops has become a global mobile food phenomenon, with thousands of trucks in operation, dedicated pretzel factories, and your own in-house social media marketing agency.
All because you paid attention to the four P’s… and listened to customers!
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