In the 1940s, James Carrington compared marketing managers to "combiners of different elements", and in 1953, Neil Boden proposed the concept of "marketing combination". In 1960, Jerome McCarthy took the lead in proposing the 4Ps marketing combination element view, and in 1967, Kotler confirmed the model in his bestseller, making it widely disseminated.

Products refer to existing products and their characteristics, updates and development innovations, and require unique selling points; prices are the economic returns pursued by the company and are priced based on brand strategy; distribution is various activities to enable products to enter the target market ;Promotion is the company that stimulates consumers and promotes sales growth by changing sales behavior.

Products are a system, including three levels: core products, tangible products, and intangible products, as well as the breadth, length, depth and relevance of the product series combination, and also cover brand, quality, after-sales service, etc.

Price is a system that includes indicators such as factory price, dealer shipment price, retail price, and discounts and rebates. Pricing should be based on consumer value, not just by cost and competitors.

Distribution includes the company's channel strategy, such as channel construction methods, terminal strategies, channel chain planning, etc. Enterprises need to choose appropriate distribution methods based on their own and market conditions to meet market demand.

Promotion is a promotional combination for consumers, employees, terminals, and dealers. When formulating promotional strategies, detailed plans should be formulated, data collection and analysis should be carried out, and expected results and evaluation standards should be clarified.

4Ps laid a basic theoretical framework for management marketing, summarized corporate marketing activities into four factors, which are concise and easy to understand, so that companies can adapt to the external environment and promote transactions through the planning and implementation of products, prices, distribution and promotions.

The list of factors is difficult to cover all marketing variables, and there are differences between different products and industries; separating 4 Ps to the marketing department violates the original intention of the marketing combination and is not conducive to the development of marketing work; it is only applicable to guiding marketing activities for consumer goods in the manufacturing industry, and for other products and industry guidance has limited effect.

#Case 1: Analysis of 4Ps marketing combination strategy in rural supermarkets in my country

In 1986, Philip Kotler proposed Power (Power) and Public Relations (Public Relations) based on 4Ps, and proposed the concept of big marketing, aiming to break trade barriers and open up the path for corporate marketing.

In 1981, Booms and Bitner added three "service Ps" based on 4Ps, namely People, Process, and Physical Evidence, to emphasize the importance of employee participation and service processes.

In 1986, Kotler proposed to add strategic 4P in addition to the 6Ps of the big marketing, namely Probing, Partitioning, Prioritizing, and Positioning, to form a 10Ps marketing combination theory, including strategic elements. and tactical elements.

Philip Kotler proposed the 11P marketing concept, adding exploration, segmentation, priority, positioning and people to the 6P of the big marketing, and calling products, pricing, channels, and promotions the tactical 4P, which will explore, segment, priority, and position. Called Strategy 4P, it emphasizes the important role of employees in marketing activities.

In 1990, Lauterpin proposed the 4Cs marketing theory based on the problems existing in 4Ps, including customer, cost, convenience, and communication, which is centered on consumer needs, but there are also shortcomings.

On the basis of 4C marketing theory, Don Schultz proposed the 4R marketing theory, including Relevance, Reaction, Relationship and Reward. It is competitive-oriented, reflects the idea of ​​relationship marketing and emphasizes the company and Customers establish interaction and win-win relationships.

4Ps are the foundation, 4Cs and 4Rs are innovation and development based on 4Ps. The three are derived from practice and guide corporate marketing practices, and cannot be separated or opposed.

4Ps focus on enterprises and products, 4Cs focus on market and customers, and 4Rs focus on win-win, relationships and competitors. They were proposed at different times, reflecting the development and evolution of marketing theory.