The New 4 P’S in marketing S.A.V.E.

The 4Ps of marketing, Product, Price, Promotion and Place, have been used by marketers around the world for decades. Because of changes in the environment, consumer behavior and business models, these classic principles are increasingly at odds with how business is done today

During the workshop ‘Business Model Innovation for Marketers’, I discussed the new marketing framework S.A.V.E., based on an HBR study, that can be used when designing new business models.

According to Eduaro Conrado, Chief Marketing Officer for Motorola and one of the authors of the HBR study, business owners should look to the S.A.V.E framework instead of the 4P’s marketing mix, as they craft and define their unique offering. The framework advises focusing on the Solution, Access, Value and Education of a product or service.

1. Focus on Solution instead of Product: Many organizations are moving their business model from product-oriented to service- and solution-oriented. Customers don’t care about the product, all they care about is solving their problems. What is the job you get done?
2. Focus on Access instead of Place: Many organizations are moving their business model from ownership to ‘access to’. Nowadays, many businesses operate around always-on, high speed Internet access. Place is irrelevant, it’s all about access. What do you give a customer at this precise moment that they want or need?
3. Focus on Value instead of Price: Customers have concerns about price, but only after their concerns about value. What is the value you create? When designing new business models your value proposition is key.
4. Focus on Education instead of Promotion: Businesses today can act as ‘entreproducers’, providing current and potential customers with information relevant to their interests to create a sense of familiarity and trust long before a purchase is even made.

The S.A.V.E. framework allows businesses to keep this mindset at the forefront of their operations, acting as the centerpiece for this new solution-selling strategy and can be useful in designing new business models for your organization.