Marketing trends have changed to become what it is today. Brands are no longer about the product or service; they’re about the customer. Marketing and branding are now more customer focused and it is the customer that drives our brands.

In any integrated marketing communications initiative, the marketing mix is an essential component. The traditional 4P’s of Product, Price, Promotion and Place no longer suffice the requirements of our customers need. As the market becomes more customer focused, so should the marketing mix. Together with this change, a new additional marketing mix has emerged; the 3 additional Ps are People, Process and Provision for Customer Service.

The first P is People. In any customer centric environment, people is the key to achieve great success. Traditional marketing involves one-way communication. Modern consumers want a two-way channel. They want to be heard, not simply be told.

The next P is Process. Process here relates to the buying experience. Think of process in terms of the physical or virtual location, access or hours of availability. Our job is to make it easy for the customers to buy from us.

The final P is what the whole marketing mix is centered upon. What makes the marketing mix work is understanding the customer needs. Customers are no longer buying products – they are buying the “customer branded experience”.

We must learn to appreciate that customers can make or break a business. Customers today buy with their emotions. It takes a lot of strategizing to ensure that any marketing initiatives appeal to the customers and it is critical for any organization to stay competitive.