Understanding the 4 P’s
The Marketing Matrix (including the 4 P’s) is something you will hear over and over when diving into the marketing industry. The 4 P’s are Produtc, Price, Place, and Promotion and come together to create the foundation for businesses to grow and create. Product is what the company is actually selling. This is th exact product/service that is being offered. The Price is the amount of money that you charge the customer for said product/service. Place discusses where the product is sold and exactly how it is delivered to the market. The final P is Promotion which naturally addresses advertising and public relations regarding the product/service.
Analysis of Brands at Different Stages
Rivian-Introduction Stage
This is an electric vehicle manufacturer that designs their own trucks. They focus on innovation and sustainability. Their product would be the cars/trucks that they manufacture. Due to the innovation, exlusivity, and quality, Rivian utilizes premium pricing. This product is sold to customers online and through showrooms- Rivian’s place. This EV manufacturer utilizes storytelling and partnerships to promote the EVs and build equity.
Nike– Growth Stage
Nike is highly focused on innovation and sustainability. Their product is not one specific thing, rather a few different athletic categories. These include footwear, apparell, and equipment. Nike pricing is value based and premium. As far as placing goes, the brand utilizes omnichannel distribution with websites, apps (SNKR), flagship stores, and retail partners. Nike focuses heavily on emotional storytelling and athlete endorsements when promoting their products-successfully increasing brand identity.
Coca-Cola– Maturity Stage
While Coca-Cola owns many different products, lets refer to the actual beverage and branding of the beverage. In that case the product is the bottles beverages and fountain beverages. Maintaining relevance, they feature different flavors and bottle/can designs. They use fairly competitive pricing, sometimes coming across as premium when looking less popuar brands of soda. Their placing is very broad, as they are available in supermarkets, restaurants, and vending machines (which could be located anywhere). When promoting their product, they utilize holiday campaign, emotional advertising (togetherness and happiness), and brand reinforcement. Their main goal is to maintian and increase a positive reputation rather than grow awareness of the product as they are already a globally known company.
How the 4 P’s promote brand equity
Through these different life stages, it is clear how the 4 P’s are applied differently accroding to the stages to promote brand equity. In the introduction stage, the 4 P’s are being utilized to make their product stand out against competition and promote a premiuim brand. In the growth stage, the 4 P’s are being used to emphasize sustainabilty and innovation as well as grow strong, emotional storytelling. In the maturity stage, the marketing foundation is used to strengthen loyalty and global reach. In each phase, the 4 P’s play a major -yet slightly different- role, increasing brand equity and promoting the brand in the neccessary manner.
References:
American Marketing Association. (2024, January 22). The four PS of marketing. https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/the-four-ps-of-marketing/
The Coca-Cola company: Refresh the world. Make a difference. (n.d.). The Coca-Cola Company. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/
Nike. (n.d.). nike. Nike.com. https://www.nike.com/
Rivian: electric vehicles designed for adventure. (n.d.). https://rivian.com/
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