The marketing mix, and whether the traditional mix applies to intangible products

Meaning of the marketing mix

The marketing mix is the combination of decisions a firm itself controls, what it offers, at what price, where and how it makes the offer available, and how it tells buyers about it, put together to win its target customers. How well these ingredients are mixed decides the success of the market offer. The traditional framework groups them into four Ps:

1. Product: the goods or services offered, with their features, quality, design, brand, packaging and support.
2. Price: what the customer pays, including list price, discounts, credit terms and payment options.
3. Place: the channels, coverage, locations, inventory and transport that make the offer available.
4. Promotion: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and digital communication.

The four elements must be consistent with one another and with the chosen positioning.

Does the traditional mix apply to intangible products?

I agree only in part. The four Ps apply to both tangible goods and intangible services, but for services they are not enough on their own.

Why the four Ps still apply. Every service is an offering (product), has a price (fees, tariffs, premiums), must be made available somewhere (branches, apps, call centres) and must be communicated (promotion). A bank, a hospital or an airline takes decisions under each of these heads just as a soap maker does.

Why they are not enough. Services are intangible, inseparable from their provider, variable in quality and perishable. The customer cannot see the service in advance, often takes part in producing it, and judges it largely by the people and surroundings involved. So services marketing adds three more Ps:

5. People: the staff who deliver the service and the customers who share it; their skill and behaviour are part of the product.
6. Process: the procedures and flow by which the service is delivered: speed, convenience, waiting time.
7. Physical evidence: the tangible cues that help customers judge an intangible offer: premises, uniforms, brochures, websites, receipts.

Examples

• A packet of biscuits (tangible). The four Ps cover it: the recipe and pack (product), the price per pack, kirana and online availability (place) and television and digital advertising (promotion).
• A dental clinic (intangible). The four Ps apply, treatment offered, fees, location and promotion, but patients also judge the dentist's manner (people), appointment and treatment flow (process) and the clean clinic and modern equipment (physical evidence).
• An online learning platform. Course design, subscription price, app delivery and promotion are the four Ps; tutor quality, the ease of enrolment and learning, and certificates and app design are the added three.

Conclusion

The traditional marketing mix is a sound base for both goods and services, but intangible products need the extended seven-P mix, because people, process and physical evidence shape how a service is experienced and judged.