The 4 ‘New’ P’s to Marketing: Priceless, People, Pennies, & Purple Cows!

Now if you don’t already know the typical P’s in marketing let me give you what the typical textbook says: Product, Place, Price and Promotion. This is simply a lame way to explain what marketing was. To me it seems like and old-fashioned way of doing something. If your following this typical marketing strategy I salute you, but I would encourage you to think about one thing, are you marketing in a way that causes a stir in your area or are you just throwing dollars at a typical newspaper ad because that is what everyone else is doing? This is why I have developed my own four P’s to marketing: Priceless to substitute for product, People to substitute for place, Pennies to substitute for price, and Purple Cows to take over promotions. 

The first “P” in this discussion is “Priceless.” A product can’t be an item that just gets the job done anymore. If you want your product or service to sell itself you need to have an excellent product that no one can live without. For instance, the iPhone is a remarkable product that not only gets the job done, but it changes the way you view your phone. This phone isn’t just a phone it’s a way to stay in touch with your life. The phone has now become a part of everyone lives. My friends that use this phone swear by it and can’t live without this $500 piece of equipment.

The second “P” is “People.” This is the key ingredient to your marketing strategy. You want people to tell more people and those people to tell more people. The idea of placement is a great strategy, but I would say having the right people supporting your product is even better than placement. If you can get a guy like Tiger Woods using the Gillette Razor then it must be amazing. Most men probably think that their handicap score will improve by two strokes simply for buying the new “Fusion Power Razor.” Now if I recall this razor isn’t being placed in anywhere unique other than aisle 4 at the local Walgreens. To me the placement will come once you have enough people talking about your product or service. This is not to say that location isn’t key for your physical store. I think having a place where people can see your store is great, but with the way the web is moving you no longer need a physical location to succeed.  If anything, try to get local politicians or hometown heroes to try your product and get their feedback. If these particular people like your product then more than likely the word will spread fast, especially in a small town.

The third “P” involves what you are spending on your marketing campaign, in fact as a small business owner you can help your business out by marketing for “Pennies” compared to typical businesses. What does this mean you ask? What this means is that you should use your head not your wallet to promote you business. Spreading the word via word of mouth is a much more effective way of promoting your business and is a little bit cheaper. People enjoy seeing the face of the business. Also, take a look at your local editors for cost effective ways to market. This involves press releases and insider stories. Better yet, spread the word about your business all over the Internet. Many people read the paper over the web now rather than a standard newspaper. You also need to start thinking in terms of guerilla marketing, which is defined as spreading your idea in a new way without spending buku bucks. I will elaborate further in the next section.

The fourth and final new “P” is in regards to the “Purple Cow.” After reading many books and hearing many new ways to market in today’s world no one puts this concept into better words then Seth Godin. He is the inventor of the Purple Cow and claims that you need to come up with something new and original if you want to be effective in the new world of marketing. His example discusses that if you were driving down the road and saw a bunch of black cows and then out came a Purple Cow what would you do? More than likely you would stop the car or for the rest of the day that Purple Cow would stick in your mind. Are you sticking in the back of people’s minds? Why aren’t you dancing to the beat of different drum? This is where thinking like a guerilla marketer can be extremely beneficial for your business. Do you remember the little lite-brite boxes that had police in Boston thinking it was a terrorist attack? This was a marketing tactic by Aqua Teen Hunger Force to promote their movie. Now you don’t have to market to scare millions of people, but the idea is to get people talking about your business. Do something different for a change and take a risk. You more than likely took a risk to start your business, so what is holding you back now? 

Now that you have the 4 new P’s to marketing, take some time to think about these items. Hopefully, your mind is turning. I have found that looking at marketing through this scope has helped me envision a new way of promoting my business ventures, and I hope it helps you in your ventures