Marketing Mix (4Ps and 7Ps).

The 4P model goes back to the American marketing professor E. Jerome McCarthy, who formulated it in 1960. The basic idea: marketing is more than advertising. An offer only works if product, price, distribution channel and communication fit together. An excellent campaign is of little use if the price does not suit the target group or the product is not available where customers are looking.

In 1981 Bernard Booms and Mary Jo Bitner extended the model for services with three further Ps: People (those who deliver the service), Process (how the service is delivered) and Physical Evidence (what makes the invisible service tangible, such as premises, website, quotes, photos of references). For trade businesses, fiduciaries, agencies or practices, these three points are often more important than the classic four.

An example for a Swiss restaurant: Product, a lunch menu with two options. Price, a fixed price including a drink. Place, tables on site and collection with online ordering. Promotion, a Google Business Profile with an up-to-date menu, a mention in the newsletter. People, a team that serves within 45 minutes. Process, online booking in three steps. Physical Evidence, photos of the dishes on the website. Only together do these decisions add up to a coherent offer.

In online marketing, the marketing mix is a useful checklist. Before budget flows into ads, it is worth asking whether the problem really lies in promotion — or in the price, in the enquiry process or in the website as 'physical evidence'. A page without prices, without references and with a long form has a mix problem, not an advertising problem. For an SME the marketing mix usually fits on a single page; in implementation, conversion rate optimisation helps make sure the website matches the offer.