Marketing Management Report: Analyzing the 4Ps and 4Cs of Marketing

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the marketing mix, focusing on the evolution from the traditional 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion, Place) to the more customer-centric 4Cs (Consumer, Cost, Convenience, Communication) model. The essay highlights the shift towards understanding consumer needs, setting appropriate costs, ensuring convenience, and effective communication. It examines how technological advancements and social media have reshaped marketing strategies, emphasizing the importance of online platforms and personalized communication. The report draws on various sources to illustrate the changing dynamics of the marketing landscape, concluding that while the 4Ps still have relevance, organizations must adapt to the 4C model to gain a competitive edge by prioritizing customer needs and building strong relationships. The report also analyzes how companies can tailor their strategies to different industries while maintaining a customer-focused approach. Furthermore, it highlights how companies are adopting customer-based marketing plans for better success in the market.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Marketing management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors note

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This essay will talk about the marketing mix and its impact on business. Goi (2009), in his
article A Review of Marketing Mix: 4Ps or More?, discussed the present trends of the
marketing mix. The article describes various tools that marketers can use to get competitive
market advantages. The marketing plans are instrumental in organizing the firm's operation
and sales parameters. Increased market competitions led the organizations to set better
exchange relationship with the customers. According to this study, the concept of 4P
marketing mix has been criticized over the years. Review of marketing literature shows that
modern business needs to be more consumer-centric than the product or other things. This
paper will talk about how the parameters of the marketing mix have changed. This will
examine how much new theories of 4C in the place of 4P is effective. The revision of the
marketing mix and its impact on the target consumer segmentation will be evaluated.
The orientation of a customer based marketing process is inevitable in the present business
scenario. The advent of technology and information science is at the heart of this change. The
famous companies have spread their business worldwide through the successful
implementation of customer-based marketing strategies. Marketing consists of the
management part that completely concentrates on the selling and buying services. Marketing
mix of 4Ps is a business-oriented model. This model falls short in consumer orientation and
communication. Lauterborm (1990) opined that the marketing mix of 4P is more product-
oriented. The modern business contexts need to be more customer-oriented instead.
Therefore, the model of 4C is more relevant in today's business world. This study will
analyze the proposition and draw some examples from the real business world.
4Ps of the marketing mix are product, price, promotion, and place. The determination of the
need for consumers is done through this marketing mix standards. The other application of
the marketing mix is to identify the target audiences or customers. The services include the
promotion of products and services within a specific market place (Sutiksno & Shiratina,

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2015). This mix is one of the most used strategies in the business world. But this model is
changing in modern times. Companies are concentrating on developing a model that is more
customer-oriented than the product. This is where the idea of 4C seems more relevant. The
components of 4C are consumer, cost, convenience, and communication. Understanding of
these four components could provide an organization with advanced marketing skill sets.
Figure 1: Changed idea of 4P to 4C
(Source: Created by author)
The 4C model is said to be the improved and modern version of 4P. The first component of
the 4C model is Consumer need and demands. The previous model put more importance on
the business rather than the customers. Modern marketing managers are finding it more
helpful to shift the focus on customers' needs than the business (Wu & Li, 2018).
Determining product worth and innovating new ideas are necessary to create a new market
Communication
Product
Customer demands
and Needs
Price Cost to Customers
Place Convenience
Promotion
4Ps 4Cs

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base. If a company does not concentrate on this, they may lose their hold on their set target
markets. Customer will get the advantage to choose from a huge variety of products, and this
may cause disadvantages in competitive markets.
The second element is Cost, and this is an important means to determine whether customers
will buy the products or service or not. The cost of service or product needs to be set
according to the target market and customer analysis (Wu & Li, 2018). People are budget
conscious. They are interested in paying as less as possible and getting the most out of it.
Examples from real business scenarios are numerous. If we take the example of Amazon in
this context, we would know that this company is continuously implementing new methods
for customer convenience (Qiongzhi & Guohua, 2013). Therefore, the third most important
aspect of marketing is customer convenience. This is the reason that most of the companies
are taking their business online. Customers want their products to be at their disposal.
Companies are taking a step to make the services easy and fast. Online businesses are
growing worldwide because customers have access to the internet, and they could order the
products they need from anywhere and anytime. In the 4P model, the third component was
placed that concentrates on the location and accessibility of the stores. The revised versions
have the store location as well as all the convenient ways of marketing advantages. Online
delivery purchase and delivery options have increased the business scope of ecommerce in
Singapore and all over the world. The number of ecommerce retail in Singapore has
increased immensely in the last few years. The revenue increase in ecommerce in Singapore
is shown in the graph below:

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2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
1.1
1.5 1.7
3.6
3.9
4.4
Ecomm erce r evenue ($ billion)
Ecommerce revenue ($ billion)
Graph 1: increase of revenue in ecommerce in Singapore
(Source: https://www.molpay.com/v3/blog/singapore-rising-online-trend-factors/)
The last component of 4P is Promotion. The 4C model illustrates it as communication.
Promotion is the medium through which a company reaches to its customer to increase their
sale. In the 4P model, the sale promotion was limited within the advertisement and brand
identity. The modern business context demands more than that. Consumers have varied
numbers of options available to them through which they could gather information about a
brand. Market competition has increased, and it is necessary for a brand to build its identity
among the target consumers (Paul, 2014). Companies are promoting and communicating with
their consumer through online media platforms. Social network sites are playing prime roles
in brand communication. Consumers are stooping to more personalized communication
where they could feel valued and relevant. Organizations need to reach their customers more
to get exposure and promotional advantages.
Social media site Percentage of people

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Facebook
YouTube 50%
Google + 45%
LinkedIn 26%
Table 1: Percentage of people using social media in Singapore
(Source: https://infograph.venngage.com/p/55532/social-media)
Marketing and communicating through social media has made the process easy and more
accessible. As shown in the above table, a huge number of people have their accounts on
social media. Companies could increase their reach and communicate with their consumers to
build their trust and understand their demands.
In an era of connectivity and social media, the consumers have the power of technology with
them. The 4P and 4C is based on the product vs. consumer idea. Niche marketing is
becoming popular in every sector, and therefore, companies are aiming to be more customer-
oriented. 4C model helps in developing different marketing and promotional procedure for
different kind of customers (Jing, 2018). This is a more personalized marketing mix that
enables the seller to study the individual need of the customer and supply their needs
accordingly. Organizations need to adopt a method through which they will not only
advertise their product but will be able to build a loyal customer base. Communicating
through social media platforms would provide consumers with more personalized services
(Lin, Lee & Lin, 2013). To stay ahead of the competition, companies should imply innovative
and creative approaches both in their product and customer relationship.
4P model still has its relevance in marketing, but it has to be modernized so that
organizations could achieve their goals. Most of the organizations have elevated their
business to the online level so that they could provide services to their consumers at their
convenience. Marketing strategies need to be updated constantly by the organizations.

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Companies who have sorted their costs, customer demands, customer convenience, and
communication are the one who gains the highest profits (Liao, 2015). Again, every industry
is different, and they need to set their marketing mix accordingly. The health care business is
not the same as the retail business for obvious reasons, but both have to include customer-
oriented plans in their marketing. There lies the basic difference between 4P and 4C model.
Promoting and brand identity building is done on social media platforms (Gilaninia,
Taleghani & Azizi, 2013). Communicating the vision of the company and getting feedback
from their consumers would help in the growth of the business. Companies who would not
upgrade their marketing strategy according to customer demands will definitely face
challenges. Industries have to mix these revised and modern components of 4C in the most
relevant way.
The concept of 4P is considered to be most effective in business marketing for a long time.
The present business scenario has changed after the invention of technology and social
media. This marketing mix has to be changed into more consumer-oriented than the product-
oriented concepts. The idea of 4C has all the consumer-oriented components that are to be
taken care of in modern business marketing. Companies that are adopting customer based
marketing plans have more success rate in the business. Products need to address the needs,
and demands of consumer, costs, and services need to be according to the consumer's
convenience. The most important thing is that companies have to build their relation with
target customers. Use of social media is increasing for better communication with consumers.
Therefore, it can be concluded that 4P is more product-oriented and is not consumer-friendly.
Organizations need to adopt the 4C structure for their business market to get a competitive
advantage in a modern business scenario.

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