Monday, October 13, 2008

4Ps, 4Cs and CCDVTP

The concept of 4 Ps has been here since the late 70s courtesy Dr. Kotler and since then anyone who has done any degree or diploma in management has studies it. So complete is its penetration it is not surprising to come across non MBA people being aware of it. In fact, IIPM, which is known to be non conformists and innovators call their flagship magazine 4Ps!!

Then why did revered Dr. Kotler need to stir the pot and come out with CCDVTP. Of late he has come very close to debunking the whole concept of 4 Ps itself. But considering that the staple text on marketing by Kotler stll carries the stuff and considering others like Professor Jagdish Sheth are still busy bringing out 4 As rather than debate the Ps, the dated concept of marketing mix might be in for a silent, gradual low key burial.

What was missing?? Nothing much. In fact it was working pretty fine….. Yeah, a new found “focus on the consumer”, “experience is everything”, “holistic marketing” etc. was making it difficult to continue using 4 Ps without a massive overhaul. Consider this: Every marketing text since the 80s has been screaming that customer should be the focus and in the same breath they were talking of marketing strategy without the consumer anywhere in the equation (Do you see consumer anywhere in 4 Ps??). Yes, the 4 Ps Vs 4 Cswere definitely a step in the right direction, but even the concept of 4 Cs was based on the interpretation of 4 Ps rather than wiping the slate clean and inking strategy from the scratch.

CCDVTP is what Kotler now calls is marketing and it seems to make a lot of sense.

·         C: Create

·         C: Communicate

·         D: Deliver

·         V: Value

·         T: Target Market (to the target segment)

·         P: Profitably

So according to CDVTP you crate value by conceding of, designing and manufacturing a product which will seek to satisfy an observed need in the segment of the market you are targeting. Of course creation of value is not enough, you need to communicate it to your target audience by the way of product design, features, UMP (unique marketing proposition, again USP vs. UMP!!), the price, service levels and extent, the positioning etc….

Delivering the value is self explanatory. In fact effective delivery at the desired location is itself a major value addition. This becomes even more important considering that distances in the virtual world have died but the physical distances still remain. So it has become infinitely easy for me to reach a seller online, place my order and pay through my papal account. But the moment money goes out, the countdown begins. The seller better be fast, so what if he is book seller somewhere in Philadelphia and I am in India. Now the seller has to deal with the real distances and the sometimes (in act often,,,, or maybe always) un realistic expectations of the customer!!! So delivery is a very important part of the setup.

The “T” stands for your target market. I am sure we all know what a target market is and I am sure most of us will accept that technology has made it easier to tap into target segments easier and at the same time more complicated!!). In fact now service organizations are being matched by manufacturers to manufacture in “batches of 1”!! Consider logging on to Dell’s site and custom building a DELL PC!!

P is of course for profitably. Needless to say, business is business. You do not make and sell stuff to please people. You do it to make money. Yes, you would love to make money and to see the customer happy. Why? So that he comes back, brings a couple of friends along and you make more money!!! In this new age, all business organizations have access t the same technologies and market resources. The costs of manufacturing and operations have been controlled so tightly that corporations are almost at the limits of squeezing the last drop out of every penny. Profitability has become a variable that needs to be kept in focus right from the very beginning. Ad hoc and isolated actions to “boost” profitability by “cutting costs” often results in sub optimal marketing conditions.

The CCDVTP as you can see is more “targeted” and “specific”. It talks of a specific action (creating value) by the organizations to specific people (the target segment).

So CCDVTP it is!!! At least till me or Mr. Kotler conjure up some other ore exciting combination of letters!!! 

 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

There has been an appreciation lately of the fact that marketing theory without focus on the humanizing element of markets, i.e., the customer, leads to an effort that is devoid of 'empathy' of what actually the consumers want! And that is exactly what marketing is about - deciphering what consumers want and delivering it at the right price at the right time in the right place so that the offering produces maximum value. If this value is such that it exceeds all expectations, then customers come back for repeat transactions or talk positively about their experience.

But having said that, the basic fundamentals of marketing theory may not be dumped altogether as without these the rationale of a firm may not be established. Hence what is required is to update the theory with the insights from the 'lab'. And that is precisely what Dr. Kotler seems to be doing!

luke said...

Is there a weblink to more information or an accedemic source as I want 2 use this in my business work but my marketing tutor wont accept blogs.

thanks

Ashish Pillai said...

Hi Luke..... This would be a good resource
http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Management-14th-Philip-Kotler/dp/0132102927/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325563989&sr=1-1