The Winnow Consultants and Associates 9 Ps Marketing Mix
By Lincoln Bobb BSc MSc (DBA candidate)
ALL THESE Ps!!!!!
Hello fellow marketers, in this article I would like to introduce you to the Winnow 9Ps Marketing Mix. In it, I make references to some of my real-life relatable experiences (both as a consumer and provider) to bring the areas of focus to life.
Enjoy the stories
The WINNOW 9Ps MARKETING MIX focuses on developing a marketing mix that connects strategic intent, tactical activities/operations to the desired final marketing outcome. The intent is to ensure that everything that is done within the realm of marketing is connected to the vision and strategy of the organization.
Most persons have been exposed to the 4 Ps of the marketing mix-
- Product- the offering- the core product and its similar and distinct capabilities
- Price – the competitive price, the price that distinguishes your product from others
- Place- the channels through which your offering is given
- Promotions – the method of generating interest and willingness to buy among consumers
Those 4 Ps have been bandied around as the main focus of defining the elements of a powerful marketing plan/mix. It would serve all strategist and marketer to know these in detail as you build your marketing mix program.
However, in the marketing of a service more focal areas may be required due to the intangibility of services. I must emphasize, however, that the marketing of a product is usually combined with, and complemented by, a service. This, therefore, makes the Marketing of services an integral part of all marketing mix design.
THE 4 MORE PS FOR SERVICE MARKETING
Service providers found themselves in a quandary to market their intangible services effectively. The business owners began asking questions like
“How do I show my customer that my bus rides are the best?” Or
“I service vehicles with precision using the best technology, what do I say or do for my customers and potential customers to know that I service vehicles better than the other three mechanics in this area”
It is clear that the original 4Ps did not completely enable providers to market what they were offering to their customers. In other words as my fellow Winnow Consultant, Dara Wilkinson Bobb would say, “the person’s receiving the service may not always have the required tools and information to assess what you are providing” (see article –Reading the Proof).
It is the responsibility of the service providers to find ways and means to demonstrate and inform clients exactly how great their service offering is.
To do that customer/clients must have EASILY OBSERVABLE EVIDENCE, like symbols, explanations and even actions/behaviour that informs them about the quality of service they are receiving.
Organizations such as medical clinics, airlines, legal firms, universities and sanitation companies all provide intangibles and will need to find ways to ensure that the customer can distinguish what they offer from their competitors. The traditional 4 Ps marketing mix would not suffice.
To fill these gaps four (4) other Ps were added to the marketing mix.
They are:
- Physical Evidence,
- People,
- Process and,
- Productivity
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE- Adding tangibles to the intangibles
Imagine walking into the Medical Clinic, you look around and notice that it is dirty with unknown material smeared on the walls and floors, then, you look on the walls and see no certificates or credentials of any of the Doctors working there; would you register at that clinic? Chances are you would be running out of there at top speeds for fear of catching something.
The underlying fact is that the human mind is constantly analysing the space that it is in. sometimes consciously, but most times subconsciously, the mind is constantly asking questions and seeking the answers. The duty of the marketer or business owner is to provide the answers that make the client comfortable and willing to take action by purchasing the good or service.
In the example above the Physical Evidence gave the answer “DO NOT BUY HERE”, “RUN AWAY TO ANOTHER CLINIC!!!” or “THEY CANNOT PROVIDE WHAT I WANT”.
PEOPLE- Your people can make or break you
A firm offering a product to treasured clients will certainly need the product to be delivered with the best customer care possible. It has been proven over and over again that, a customer who feels well taken care of throughout his/her purchase experience are most likely to come back to purchase again and again and even bring others..
Customers who receive great care tend to get that “Good Feeling” just walking through the door of the establishment.
That “Good Feeling” is addictive!!!
It has been proven that a smile, an appropriate joke, clear and precise information and a comprehensive guide through a process are just some of the activities that make customers feel comfortable and appreciated. It should be noted that a client/customer that feels cared for usually becomes loyal.
Essential to achieving this is the PEOPLE who administer the CARE. Each person within your establishment must be trained to deliver the goods and services and show excellent care for all the stakeholders who engage with your firm including suppliers, creditors, customers and all other employees from varying departments. The management and monitoring of the people within your firm may be one of the most trying activities in the delivery of your service and must be handled strategically and with care.
PROCESS – An efficient process is an excellent way to ease customer anxiety and frustration
I remember going into an organization to get a form processed. The first thing I saw as I walked in was:
“Please proceed to the information desk first before going further”
I looked over at the information desk and realized that it looked like a Caribbean Market on a Sunday morning. There were so many persons around and all seemingly trying to get information from the information desk. I joined the mayhem as I was instructed by the sign above. Eventually, when it was my turn the young lady told me that I needed to go to line B to get the form after which I should come back to her to check it through and receive a stamp.
Line B was another long line just to collect the form. I then re-entered the line by the information desk to get the lady at the information desk to check through the document to see if I filled it out correctly and provide me with the approval stamp.
I am pleased to report that I did fill in the requested information on the form correctly but I was then told to enter line C for form processing. Line C, though shorter in length was still rather long.
When finally I got to the top of line C the mature lady behind the counter stated
“I am sorry sir; you filled out the incorrect form, please return to the information desk for guidance”.
My response was “ARE YOU INSANE!!!!”
This is clearly a case where the process frustrates the client and may even drive them into the arms of the competition. Poor processes tend to create a feeling of anxiety, frustration and mistrust within clients. Business owners must make every effort to engineer and re-engineer their processes to deliver services to the customer in the right place, at the right time, at the right quality and at the right quantity.
An additional note must be made here about OMNICHANNEL MARKETING. Although this would be spoken about in greater detail in a subsequent article, Omnichannel marketing involves the development of systems and processes that support the delivery of goods and service through different channels e.g. through Brick and Mortar, Online, roving Salesperson and licensed distributors. If OMNICHANNEL MARKETING is part of a service provider’s strategy they must ensure that the processes that support these initiatives are well-engineered to deliver equal Ace service through all channels.
PRODUCTIVITY- Low productivity IRRITATES
Imagine this
You take your car to service to change 2 pairs of shocks (suspension parts). This process should take no more than three hours maximum as you have already purchased the replacement shocks and called ahead to make an appointment.
Your day has been planned around those 3 hours.
On entering the service station you see that there are many servicemen present and they are ready to receive you and your car. You drive in hand over the keys and they start to remove the old parts while you proceed to the waiting room. After 2 hours you check on the progress and despite having several servicemen and no other customers the car is in the same state as when you left it. You approach the manager and ask why has there been little progress. He says he will follow up on it. Within the next half an hour you check the progress of the job and only one shock has been installed. After 3 hours you become infuriated as the LACK OF PRODUCTIVITY is now impacting on your plans and your productivity.
The lack of productivity influences you, the customer, to go to another service provider as it creates a feeling of annoyance, frustration and uncertainty. Low productivity firms are viewed as unreliable, wasteful and showing little regard for customer needs.
THE CENTRE OF YOUR MARKETING MIX AND ALL YOUR BUSINESS ACTIVITIES MUST BE YOUR PURPOSE
The Purpose- If your purpose is not always the focus you are WASTING
We at Winnow Consultants and Associates added this as the final “P” as it is the only P that really links the marketing mix to strategy. Purpose allows the marketer to keep the company’s intent in focus.
So many times I have gotten into discussions with business owners that are so very excited about the possibilities of their business. Small Medium Enterprise owners tend to discuss how impactful their business would be in the future and the range of offerings that they would like to serve to the world.
I must state that I support this excitement around a business as it brings commitment, drive and determination with it, however, business owners must be unshakeably focused on the purpose of their organization.
This P is critical in the design of each factor of the marketing mix as it helps the business owner and marketer to distinguish between essential activities and non-essential (waste).
But TWO notes to the wise must be stated:
- YOUR PURPOSE MUST PROVIDE YOU WITH WIGGLE ROOM
There is a big difference between stating you are “Taxi Service Company” and stating you are “A Transport Company”. The former purpose description focuses the business eye to all that is possible for a TAXI service and hence will encourage discussions around providing transportation for persons from one place to another- usually by road. The company’s SWOT description would be around that.
The second purpose description provides the strategist/business owner/marketer with a little more wiggle room. Stating that the purpose of the company is to provide transport allows the strategist to include transport of goods and people via different means which will include by road, by train, by sea and by air. The purpose of the company allows for planning over a longer timeframe and through a wider range of offerings.
- YOUR PURPOSE CANNOT BE AS WIDE AS THE OCEAN
I once heard a story where a client came to a consultant for advice. The client wanted help in developing his Accounting systems and a marketing plan.
To initiate the discussion the consultant asked the business owner to define his business focus/ purpose. The response- “We are Tourism Company”
The consultant decided to probe deeper and asked: “What is it exactly that you do in Tourism?”
To which the business owner stated “anything in Tourism we do”
How does one effectively develop a strategy, marketing plan or an accounting system for a company that is defined like this? The truth is that this cannot be done effectively for a business defined as broadly as this.
In conclusion
The Winnow Consultants and Associates 9Ps Marketing Mix is a comprehensive framework to help marketers, business owners and strategist to analyze their offerings to their clients. We suggest that business owners use all 9Ps in their marketing initiatives to ensure that their activities are always in sync with their strategic intent. If developed and monitored properly this to can promote strategic thinking throughout the organization and reduce wastage of resources, time and effort.
We at Winnow consultants and associates are in the process of developing a handbook that would help you and members of your company to develop your Strategic marketing mix.
We are also available to help you develop your Marketing mix programme as you move forward.
If you should want any support from us with regard to your Marketing give contact us at:
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