Integrating All Four Ps – Watch the video, Integrating All Four Ps , and answer the following questions:

Question One:

• Describe a company that you believe represents the 4Ps well. Using ALL of the Ps, provide specific examples of why you believe this company is successful.

Question Two

• Describe a company that you believe does not do well at putting the 4Ps into practice and provide two examples of why you believe they struggle with it.

Question Three

• What recommendations would you give the company who is struggling with their 4Ps?
• Searchthe Internet for an article that supports your position and post thelink in your discussion, using APA formatting, for everyone to read.

Notes from my professor:

Marketers

Asthe news has broken of Forever 21 filing for bankruptcy, this is aperfect opportunity to look at which of the four Ps might have beentheir biggest challenge.

Startingwith each of their Ps, their product appears to be relativelystraightforward. Forever 21 focuses on fast fashion for a younger targetaudience that is looking for the latest style. The clothing offered intheir store changes on almost a daily basis. As a result, it would seemthat for the consumer that is looking for inexpensive trendy clothing,this is an excellent opportunity.

Lookingat the P of pricing would lead to the same conclusion. Fast fashiontypically has a lower price point, and Forever 21 is consistent withthis pricing strategy. Their clothing is typically inexpensive, and thequality of the fast fashion product tends to reflect that. The pricingstrategy, however, does seem to make sense as the clothing iscontinuously updated to meet consumer desires for on-trend merchandise.

TheP of placement, or location, maybe part of their issue. According toIsidore and Meyersohn (2019), most of their stores tend to be locatedwithin malls and foot traffic in malls is decreasing. Has Forever 21given their targeted consumer a sufficient reason to come into the storeand shop? And, how interesting and on-brand is their website inencouraging shopping behavior?

Finally,the P of promotion appears to be problematic. In recent years, therehas been little promotion to support the Forever 21 brand. There issignificant competition in the fast fashion market space, and the lackof promotion has not kept this brand top of mind with their targetedconsumer in all geographies (Teo, Nik, & Azman, 2019).Has Forever 21 ignored the basic idea of communication and forgottenwho their target audience is and where to find their target audience?

TheP of promotions may not be the only reason that this brand issuffering, but it is certainly a problem that could be easily fixed.

What are your thoughts on this issue? I look forward to more conversation.

Dr. Amans

References

Isidore,C., & Meyersohn, N. (2019, September 30). Forever 21 files forbankruptcy and will close up to 178 US stores. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/business/forever-21-bankruptcy/index.html

Teo, B., Nik, N., & Azman, N. (2019). Making sense of fashion involvement among Malaysian Gen Y and its implications. Journal Of Emerging Economies And Islamic Research, 5(4), 10-17. doi:10.24191/jeeir.v5i4.6236

Example from one of my peers:

Integrating All Four Ps – Watch the video, Integrating All Four Ps , and answer the following questions:

Question 1:

• Describe a company that you believe represents the 4Ps well. Using ALL of the Ps, provide specific examples of why you believe this company is successful.

The company that represents the 4 P’s well in my estimation is Verizon Wireless.The company has been around and been an industry leader since itsinception, and has had staying power even with the advent of multiplepay as you go budget service providers. The company is celebrating its20th anniversary as a wireless telecommunication provider. Verizon masters its use of the 4 P’s as follows:

Price:

Verizon consistentlyhas had a higher price point for their services compared to othercarriers. While some may see this as a major drawback, Verizon hasbuilt this price difference into the competitive market by consistentlytouting and improving its network. They are the “premium” option whenit comes to wireless service. Customers often expect to pay more fortheir experience on the “nation’s largest, most reliable network”, andare willing to pay a higher price point to get the benefit of thatservice. Verizon hasnever wavered from this stance that you get what you pay for andtherefore has always been able to set their margins higher.

Product:

Verizon alsoexecutes masterfully when it comes to providing a top-notch productthat is wanted by the public. Their wireless network service routinelywins JD Power and Associates awards for its network quality and has beenthe highest-rated through an independent study of network performancefor multiple years running. Not only has their technical product beenexceptional, but their overall support of their product has also beengreat as well, consistently winning awards for their customer service.

Placement:

Inthis current business climate, it is essential to be available to placeyour products in different workspaces where customers would expect tofind them. For a wireless company, this equates to, essentially, anyand everywhere. For maximum efficiency in reaching customers, Verizon’s retaillocations are placed in high traffic foot areas for maximum salesopportunities, manifesting in sleek, state of the art, high tech, clean,cutting edge stores, replete with individuals dressed to match, readyto assist you on tablets and mobile work stations. Additionally, theyalso have retail partners in indirect stores to cater to thoseindividuals who may not feel comfortable in a high tech world, or whoare not near the epicenter of the population. Lastly, they meet thecustomer where they are. In this age, that means online. Verizon maintains not only an online websiteand store but also keeps an active profile for engaging current andprospective customers through social media such as Twitter and Facebook. The company is consistent in ensuring the placement of its product where its customers would expect it to be.
Promotion:

Verizon doesa tremendous job of promoting its service to current and prospectivecustomers in places that a customer would expect to see it. Verizon maintains exclusive partnerships with the NFL, Indy Car Racing, Amazon Web Service, and others. They maintain a specific workgroup called Verizon MediaGroup, which allows them to be promoted through standard entertainmentchannels such as cable television and the highest rated viewed weeklyprogramming on TV, the NFL. However, it also earns them the flexibilityto deliver the promotion of their services through online ads,as well as exposure through massive events such as the most-watchedevent each year, the Super Bowl. These partnerships, along with shrewdmarketing campaigns, such as the test man saying “Can you hear me now?Good”, has enabled them to deliver promotion to the masses.

Question Two:

• Describe a company that you believe does not do well at putting the 4 P’s into practice and provide two examples of why you believe they struggle with it.

Thecompany that does not do well at putting the 4 P’s into practice, in myopinion, is CVS. CVS rose to prominence as a drug store touting”Convenience”, “Value”, and “Service”. It was meant to be aone-stop-shop for beauty products and drug prescriptions. The two areasthat CVS struggles with are Price and Product.

Product:

WhileCVS value stores were originally branded as a drug store, theretail locations are not certain of their identity and their producthas suffered. The chain was once a “go-to” for prescription fillingand health and beauty items. With giants like Walgreens and Walmart in their product space for prescriptions, CVShas had to adopt new products to attempt to compete and to attract thecustomer types that would visit their competitors to fill prescriptionsand shop. However, this fails due to the design of their retail space.It makes the store layout of its retail locations inconsistent andunappealing. There is no logical organization in the store. There are1-2 aisles of grocery items, 1-2 aisles of books/magazine, and acentral pharmacy, and many other various items such as clothes andscarfs, and even a toy aisle. There is no continuity. The streamlinedproduct of prescription filling and meandering about the store are goneand it is a jumbled mess.
Price:

Dueto the change in the approach of the product, the store has had tointegrate different inventory, such as toys, as mentioned previously.To keep the inventory that would make them viable against theircompetitors, they fall into a trap on pricing. Because theircompetitors have much more retail space and a massive separate pharmacy,they can stock these items separately for sale, while CVSmust incorporate them into the store design. Due to the lack of foottraffic comparatively, the items can take up shelf space longer. As aresult of the items not moving as quickly, and the need to have theitems available to compete, their pricing structure is set much higherthan the normal. As an example, one gallon of antifreeze at Walmart was7.99. However, at CVS it was 13.99. This is a great example, as adrugstore is forced to carry antifreeze simply to compete in themarketplace, and the price is nearly double their competitor.

Question Three

• What recommendations would you give the company who is struggling with their 4Ps?

Thefour P’s are significant; however, I believe that a focus first on theproduct allows a business to then set up the other 3 P’s based on theirunderstanding of the product. Just as with any struggling business, thefirst step that CVS needs to focus on is finding its identity. Whatis the product that the company is wanting to provide the customer?What product is the company known for? What do they want the customerto think they are known for when they hear the name CVS? In this case, Ibelieve a return to the focus on drugstore and health partnershipswould be best. It seems as though the company has lost its way inremembering what product made them successful, and returning to thoseroots would be a good step to change their loss of direction. Doingthis may be difficult as some retail space would be required to beclosed due to their underperforming, however in the long term, beingrecognized as a leader in the health/prescription industry is the moreprofitable future.

• Searchthe Internet for an article that supports your position and post thelink in your discussion, using APA formatting, for everyone to read.

References

Whiteman, Doug (2019, December 13). 2020 Store Closings Will Include CVS, Office Depot and New York & Co. Retrieved from https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chains-already-announced-store-closings-153026428.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEW-5mYmu1muSCFkc8txf0A2vJyVL_3lFz5t95MSxTlDjNVXTEVT_lIuY9cTREqk2JpRb9LQAloWdC3-HJHBtY1K3wnhkdOkY0a4BrFW1KLbp98eJOPuV-81i-TpssIJFbr3Qd0tW8Lrvb_nH5Domw_9ztUoFfJIjnyujuzsQ69R