marketing mix

Definition

The combination of tactics and channels used to promote your product, traditionally reduced to the 'Four Ps' (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) by people who love oversimplifying complex systems. It's strategic planning that fits on a napkin.

Example Usage

We optimized our marketing mix by reallocating budget from print ads that nobody reads to digital channels that people actively block.

Origin

Coined by Neil Borden in 1964, formalized as the '4 Ps' by E. Jerome McCarthy

Fun Fact

The 4 Ps have been expanded to 7 Ps, 8 Ps, and even 12 Ps by various theorists, proving that marketers can't resist complicating simple frameworks.

Source: Marketing theory and strategy

Related Terms

Beginner

barn door

A completely obvious insight or recommendation that anyone could have identified without research or analysis. The marketing equivalent of saying water is wet.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Advanced

snowmobility

A delightfully meaningless marketing buzzword invented by the snowmobile industry to make their products sound cutting-edge and innovative. It's what happens when corporate types need to describe how well a snowmobile snowmobiles but can't just say "it works good." The vehicular equivalent of saying a phone has great "phonability."

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Intermediate

fighting strategy

A media scheduling approach where advertising runs in bursts with gaps between flights, as opposed to continuous presence. Perfect for brands that want intermittent relevance and confused consumers.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Beginner

reach and frequency

The two fundamental metrics of advertising campaigns: reach measures how many unique people see your ad, while frequency measures how many times they see it. The eternal balancing act between annoying everyone once versus annoying some people repeatedly.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

grecian urn

An advertising concept that looks beautiful and timeless in the boardroom but is completely impractical for actual implementation. Named after objects better suited for museums than utility.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Beginner

Evergreen Content

Content that stays relevant forever, like a blog post about how to boil water or the timeless art of writing listicles. Marketers love it because you write it once and pretend it's generating value for the next decade.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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