The marketing mix is nothing more than a blend of ingredients and spices that together create a recipe for market success. The concept emerged in the 1950s, when Professor Neil Borden described a set of marketing activities that influence whether a product will be successful.
In short, it is about choosing the right ingredients: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. These are what give flavor to the entire strategy and determine whether the final result will appeal to customers. A well-composed “marketing soup” is not only tasty but also memorable.
On paper, it sounds simple: all you need is the right price (a pinch of salt) and a well-chosen place of sale (pasta al dente). In practice, however, each of these elements is a separate challenge. You have to test the proportions, study market reactions, and adjust the recipe until you get the right balance.
Origins of the Marketing xix
The term first appeared in the 1950s, when Harvard professor Neil Borden used it to describe the set of tools used by marketers to shape demand.
Later, in the 1960s, E. Jerome McCarthy simplified Borden's long list, creating the 4 P model, which quickly became the basis for marketing education and practice.
The basic idea remained unchanged: marketing is not just about sales, but also about developing a set of interrelated decisions — what to sell, at what price, where to sell, and how to promote.
Marketing mix soup
Imagine the marketing mix as a delicious soup that you prepare for your customers, and please remember that every ingredient matters, and the right proportions determine the taste of the whole dish.
Product - the soup base
The product is the foundation of your strategy, like the broth in soup. What you offer should solve the customer's problem or satisfy their need. A solid base ensures that all the other ingredients will taste good together.
Price - seasoning
Price acts like seasoning: too much or too little can spoil the taste. When you set the price, you signal the value of the product. A high price can emphasize premium quality, while a low price will attract bargain hunters.
Place - pot
Place, or distribution, is the pot in which you serve your soup. Even the best recipe will not reach customers if it is not served in the right place and at the right time – whether in a brick-and-mortar store, online, or on digital platforms.
Promotion - aroma
Promotion is the aroma of the soup that attracts attention and encourages people to try it. It includes all communication activities: advertising, social media, content marketing, influencers. A well-chosen aroma will make customers feel hungry for your product.
The 4 P’s as the core of the Marketing mix
While the “marketing mix” can include additional elements, the foundation remains the 4 P’s.
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Product - What you offer and how it solves a customer’s problem.
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Price - How much you charge and the value that price communicates.
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Place - Where and how the product reaches your customer.
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Promotion - The ways you communicate, persuade, and build awareness.
Each “P” is a decision area and none of them exists in isolation. A premium product demands premium pricing, selective distribution, and equally polished promotion. A mass-market item requires a different mix entirely.
Example of the 4 P's Marketing strategy
Beyond the basics: Extended Marketing mix
As business models and digital channels evolved, marketers proposed extensions to the mix, especially for services and online businesses. These include:
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People – Employees, service reps, influencers, the human element.
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Process – How efficient, smooth, and reliable the delivery is.
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Physical evidence – Tangible or visual cues (packaging, branding, website design) that reassure customers.
These add-ons can add nuance, but they’re not as widely recognized as the classic 4 P’s. For most businesses, starting with the original four provides more than enough structure.
Common mistakes businesses make
Imagine a small startup called FreshlyHad, selling healthy snacks online.
The company started out with great enthusiasm, but quickly encountered problems, all because of mistakes in the Marketing Mix.
First of all, it is quite common in the market to ignore one of the elements of the mix, which does not contribute to creating a "super brew". FreshlyHad put a lot of energy into creating the perfect product (organic, tasty, and beautiful), but paid almost no attention to the price. So what happened? Customers loved the snacks, but many of them simply found them too expensive! As a result, sales stalled.
The second example is placing too much emphasis on one element, in this case Promotion. The team invested heavily in advertising and collaborations with influencers, hoping for rapid growth, but failed to refine distribution.
Example: The website was not optimized for orders, and delivery times were too long, so customers could click “buy,” but many of them abandoned their shopping carts.
Ultimately, FreshlyHad failed to adapt to changing customer behavior. At the very beginning, their target group loved weekly subscription boxes, but after a few weeks, trends shifted toward one-time purchases. FreshlyHad didn't notice this until the first complaints and cancellations started coming in.
Why the Marketing mix still matters...
The marketing mix has not lost and will not lose its value, because it is more than just dry theory. It is a practical dose of knowledge that quickly helps companies make decisions in a changing market.
Above all, the MIX gains importance through:
✅ Transparency - The mix acts as a kind of checklist before introducing a new product. Right from the start, we can easily review each element: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion to make sure nothing has been overlooked.
This is an extremely simple step that saves time and reduces errors in future strategy.
✅A holistic approach that forces you to look at the bigger picture and the factors that influence each other. Marketing, as many believe, is not just about promotion, but also about product features and how all the elements work together, i.e., Product -> Price, but also Price -> Product.
✅Flexibility – the marketing mix works almost everywhere: from small shops to global start-ups. Each element can be adapted to different products and audiences around the world, which is what makes this tool so popular.
In summary
In short, the marketing mix is nothing more than a set of decisions that influence how a product or service reaches the market. It is based on the 4 Ps strategy, which even today is a great guide for marketers around the world.
If you are just starting your adventure with strategy, begin with these four factors, and once you have mastered them, familiarize yourself with the extended Marketing Mix to refine your approach.
