The changing landscape and consumer behavior shifts have raised many discussions about how marketing needs to change.
Some years ago, Brian Fetherstonhaugh, then CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide, said:
He also proposed a new framework from 4P’s to 4E’s, Download Fetherstonhaugh’s article here.
So, if the 4Es are compelling, why are so many brands still struggling to evolve from the 4Ps?
We believe there are two main reasons:
Over the last few years and subsequent versions of BERT (the most-advanced NLP models), this has brought exciting new competency. Suddenly, we’re approaching human-level accuracy on language tasks that machines could barely handle only a decade ago.
The 4Es challenge us to redefine how we interpret consumer needs, wants, and behaviors.
Now, consumers look at more than the product when making a purchase. They will judge you on their entire experience interacting with you during their buying (and usage) journey.
If brands haven’t proven themselves by providing the information customers need to make the right purchasing decision, consumers walk away. A reasonably ‘good’ brand that focuses on customer experience thereby has the potential to outperform the ‘best’ brands.
This is the most debated aspect of the 4Ps to 4Es conversation. It creates tension in
balancing the business that’s been built in brick-and-mortar and proactively growing online sales.
While customers may prefer to use a particular channel (such as a pet store, a vet clinic, or an e-commerce site), in the consumers’ minds, they are interacting with the brand, not the channel.
Marketers have always disliked competing on price, as they devalue the brands they are trying to build.
While marketers have got their wish, consumers have stretched the goalposts: they don’t just look at the price (based on the product quality, features, and benefits). Shoppers value how brands engage with and support them, the information they need to make the right purchase decision, and the after-sales support they get.
Getting people to shout about your brand means unleashing the emotion and passion behind the brand and showing these values consistently across several touch points. While online paid media will continue to play a role in strategy, evangelism and earned media are much more authentic and powerful – as well as cheaper.
What brings urgency are the newer and direct-to-consumer brands that have embraced the 4Es from the outset (without the legacy of the 4Ps):
As these brands grow online, they will create demand in-store and in-clinic, threatening the strength of established brands and trumping the distribution built over many decades.
To implement this new approach, you need an analytics partner who appreciates how your business operates, understands the language of pet parents and the pet industry, and can deliver the qualitative insights required for 4E’s evolution. There is a compelling case to embrace the 4Es, and the capability is now available.
If you’d like to learn more about how we go further, please read our article, “Who's at the center of your Marketing Flywheel?”.
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