{"id":2355,"date":"2024-12-21T06:56:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T11:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/?p=2355"},"modified":"2024-12-21T06:57:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T11:57:38","slug":"how-dare-you-talk-sht-about-the-4ps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/how-dare-you-talk-sht-about-the-4ps\/","title":{"rendered":"How DARE You Talk SH*T About the 4Ps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>(Read <a href=\"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/stop-blaming-ceos-for-not-valuing-marketing\/\">this<\/a> first)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, really?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How about a reality check?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s ironic. People defend the 4Ps like they&#8217;re the Magna Carta, but toss around terms like &#8220;B2B vs. B2C&#8221; or &#8220;brand positioning&#8221; without thought\u2014terms that overlap or state the obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Truth? A business always sells to a person (hello, H2H), and positioning is inherently about the brand. If we&#8217;re going to be sticklers, let&#8217;s be consistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 4Ps: Sacred, but are we using them right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 4Ps\u2014Product, Price, Place, Promotion\u2014are core for a reason. They structure strategy and give marketers shared language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But let&#8217;s be real: they&#8217;re often misapplied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Product: Lists features instead of focusing on customer needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Price: Discounts get attention while value capture is ignored.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Place: Talk channels but miss how customers actually buy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Promotion: &#8220;More ads&#8221; isn&#8217;t a plan, it&#8217;s procrastination.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The 4Ps aren&#8217;t broken\u2014they&#8217;re misused. Yet people defend them like careers depend on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, redundant terms like &#8220;B2B vs. B2C&#8221; slide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reality: every business sells to humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether pitching software to procurement or sneakers to teens, buyers are people with emotions, fears, and motivations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Humans want competence, minimal risk, working solutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Humans want to feel good, solve problems, indulge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Marketing connects with people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why cling to this B2B\/B2C divide?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How about &#8216;Business 2 Humans&#8217; instead?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t even get me started on &#8220;brand positioning.&#8221; What other positioning exists? Adding &#8220;brand&#8221; is like saying &#8220;wet water.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another dumb rivarly.<br>Brand Marketing vs. Performance Marketing<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brand builds awareness.<br>Performance drives conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But they&#8217;re not isolated. Strong brands make performance cheaper and more effective. Performance fuels brand growth by reaching new audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This rivalry isn&#8217;t real.<br>They&#8217;re two sides of one coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you strip away the jargon and bring \u201cbrand vs. performance\u201d down to the execution layer\u2014what the customer actually sees\u2014it often boils down to aesthetics: beautiful\/aspirational vs. ugly\/utilitarian. Customers don\u2019t differentiate between \u201cthis is a brand ad\u201d or \u201cthis is a performance ad\u201d; they just perceive what you put in front of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why are we so selective about what we defend?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nostalgia: 4Ps feel foundational.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Echo Chambers: Terms gain momentum through repetition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Convenience: Easier to stick with old frameworks.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I recommmend holding everything to the same standard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Call Out Redundancy: Stop using &#8220;brand positioning&#8221; or &#8220;B2B&#8221; as filler.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use 4Ps Strategically: Not a checklist\u2014make them work harder.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unify Brand and Performance: They&#8217;re complementary, not competitive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Focus on Humans: Forget B2B\/B2C\u2014understand people.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 4Ps deserve challenge. If we defend them, question the redundant buzzwords we&#8217;ve let slip. Heard of symmetry of logic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marketing should simplify, clarify, and create impact\u2014not get lost in delusional jargon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Read this first) Oh, really? How about a reality check? It&#8217;s ironic. People defend the 4Ps like they&#8217;re the Magna Carta, but toss around terms like &#8220;B2B vs. B2C&#8221; or &#8220;brand positioning&#8221; without thought\u2014terms that overlap or state the obvious. Truth? A business always sells to a person (hello, H2H), and positioning is inherently about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2355"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2359,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions\/2359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}