{"id":108433,"date":"2026-10-23T12:25:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T12:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/23\/marketing-mix-4ps\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T15:04:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T15:04:24","slug":"marketing-mix-4ps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/en\/blog\/2026\/10\/23\/marketing-mix-4ps\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4 Ps of the marketing mix: what they are, examples and how to apply them to your business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever seen a great product fail to sell? Maybe the price didn’t suit its audience. Or it was sold in the wrong place.<\/p>\n\n

Or, quite simply, nobody found out it existed.<\/p>\n\n

That is exactly what the marketing mix<\/strong>, also known as the 4 Ps of marketing<\/strong>, is there to prevent. It sounds like a textbook concept from the sixties. But it is still the simplest way to check whether your offer makes sense from start to finish.<\/p>\n\n

The marketing mix is the combination of four decisions (product, price, place and promotion) that a company adjusts to reach its target audience and sell to it.<\/strong> It was formulated by Jerome McCarthy in 1960 and popularized by Philip Kotler<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Below you’ll see what each P means, examples from brands you know, a template to build your own and how it all fits with your email strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n

What the marketing mix is and where the 4 Ps come from<\/h2>\n\n

The idea of “mixing” marketing decisions predates the 4 Ps. In 1948, Harvard professor James Culliton described the marketing manager as a “mixer of ingredients”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

His colleague Neil Borden picked up the idea and spread it as the “marketing mix”, especially after his address to the American Marketing Association in 1953.<\/p>\n\n

It still needed structure. That came from Jerome McCarthy in 1960<\/strong>, in his book Basic Marketing<\/em>. He grouped all those ingredients into four words beginning with P: product<\/em>, price<\/em>, place<\/em> and promotion<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

Philip Kotler brought the model into his textbooks, which is why it is taught at every business school today. Kotler himself defended it as a useful learning tool.<\/p>\n\n

That said, the marketing mix is not a strategy in itself. It is the operational part: the specific decisions you make once you know who you’re targeting<\/strong> and how you want to stand out.<\/p>\n\n

If you’re not clear on that yet, start with the types of strategic marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The 4 Ps of marketing, one by one<\/h2>\n\n

Each P answers a different question. Here’s a summary before we go into detail:<\/p>\n\n

P<\/th>Question it answers<\/th>Decisions it includes<\/th>Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Product<\/td>What am I selling and what problem does it solve?<\/td>Quality, design, range, brand, packaging, warranty, service<\/td>An app with a free plan and a paid plan<\/td><\/tr>
Price<\/td>How much does it cost and how is it paid?<\/td>Base price, discounts, financing, terms<\/td>\u20ac9.99 a month or \u20ac99 a year<\/td><\/tr>
Place<\/td>Where and how does the customer buy it?<\/td>Channels, stores, website, logistics, stock<\/td>Online sales with 24-hour delivery<\/td><\/tr>
Promotion<\/td>How do they hear about it and why do they choose it?<\/td>Advertising, public relations, promotions, email, social media<\/td>Monthly newsletter and launch campaign<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n

1. Product: what you sell (and what it solves)<\/h3>\n\n

The product is everything the customer receives, not just the item or the service.<\/strong> It includes the quality, design, brand, packaging, warranty and the support that comes afterwards.<\/p>\n\n

Think of a coffee shop. The coffee is the core product. But the venue, the wifi, the speed and the service are also part of what the customer is buying.<\/p>\n\n

To work on this P, ask yourself what makes you different. That difference is your unique selling proposition (USP)<\/a>, and it should show in the name, in the branding<\/a> and in every detail.<\/p>\n\n

Also consider which stage of the product life cycle<\/a> you’re at. A launch isn’t handled the same way as a mature product.<\/p>\n\n

2. Price: what the customer pays<\/h3>\n\n

Price is the only P that generates revenue.<\/strong> The other three are investments. That’s why a mistake here shows up straight away on your income statement.<\/p>\n\n

You can set it based on your costs, on what competitors charge or on how much your product is worth to the customer. From there, you choose a strategy:<\/p>\n\n