The 4 Ps And 4 Cs

The four Ps

The consideration of the interaction of Product, Price, Place and Promotion

provides a valuable structure in working towards a set of strategies. When this

is coupled with substantial market information and used against a background

of careful analysis of the micro- and macro-environment then

marketing objectives are more likely to be achieved:

Ð'* Product Ð'- all the product or service characteristics aimed at the target market

Ð'* Price Ð'- the real cost to the customer or user, including other costs than solely

money

Ð'* Place Ð'- everywhere and every way the product or service is made available

Ð'* Promotion Ð'- all the methods of communication used to reach the target markets.

The four Cs

The strategic change and approaches implied by Kotler's four Cs will be a

more readily acceptable mix to many librarians and information professionals,

who should nevertheless examine both marketing mix formulas

closely.

Philip Kotler, the Ð''experts' expert of marketing', says that marketing must

focus more sharply on the customer. He convincingly argued that the seller's

paradigm of the four Ps Ð'- product, price, place and promotion Ð'- should

become the four Cs of a buyer's or customer's mix as propounded by Robert

Lauterborn (1990) in an interview with Mazur (1991Ð'-2). Kotler's name is truly

synonymous with marketing. The fact that just about every student and

practitioner of marketing has studied and benefited from his work is a testament

to his contribution