Once upon a time, in a land not so far from Harvard, there lived a wise scholar named Neil Borden. In the year 1964, he sat in his candlelit study, surrounded by scrolls, ink pots, and too much coffee, pondering how merchants might better charm their customers.
From his thoughts was born a marvellous potion, The Marketing Mix, a blend of twelve mysterious ingredients that, when mixed just right, could make demand rise like bread in the oven.
But alas! The potion was too complex. Too many ingredients, too many sleepless managers trying to measure dashes and drops. So along came Sir E. Jerome McCarthy, a thoughtful alchemist from 1960, who looked at Borden’s concoction and said, “Let’s simplify the spell.” And so, in his Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach, he crafted a crystal clearer formula, the legendary Four Ps.
He gathered his students around and declared:
“To rule the realm of markets, you must master these four forces — Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.”
And thus, it was written:
- Product: the treasure itself, crafted to meet a need and delight the beholder.
- Price: the coin demanded for that treasure, reflecting its worth and rarity.
- Place: the path and portals through which the treasure travels to reach its seeker.
- Promotion: the voice that tells the tale, persuading knights, peasants, and nobles alike that this treasure is the one they’ve been waiting for.
The Four Ps became the sacred pillars of the Marketing Kingdom. For many years, merchants, bards, and businessfolk followed these rules, spreading the wisdom through the writings of Philip Kotler, the sage who ensured that every marketing apprentice knew the power of the mix.
But as centuries -well, a couple of decades- passed, new lands rose, not of gold and silk, but of service. In these strange lands, the goods were invisible, inseparable from those who offered them. Merchants could not hold them, weigh them, or store them in barrels. The Four Ps began to tremble.
Then, in the year 1981, two great explorers, Bernard H. Booms and Mary Jo Bitner, arrived bearing new wisdom. At the Marketing of Services gathering -a noble council held by the American Marketing Association-, they proclaimed:
“The Four Ps are noble, but the world has changed. Services need more.”
With a wave of their quills, they conjured Three New Ps, completing the grand spell of Seven Ps.
Thus, the new guardians joined the court:
- People: the living souls who serve, whose warmth and wit define the experience.
- Process: the rhythm and ritual through which service flows, ensuring grace and consistency.
- Physical Evidence: the stage and scenery that prove the service is real -the décor, the website, the scent of fresh coffee, the soft glow of trust.
And so, the Seven Ps reigned together, balancing logic and magic across the marketplace.
Yet, even in harmony, scholars whispered of new prophecies. Some said there were Eight Ps, others claimed Nine, and one brave thinker, Joseph Ezenwa (2019), declared there were Fourteen Ps, naming wonders such as Personality, Perception, Permission, and Performance. Still others, like Chai Lee Goi (2009), studied the growing forest of Ps and wrote in A Review of Marketing Mix: 4Ps or More? that no single number could contain the living, breathing art of marketing.
In time, the people of the Marketing Kingdom learned this truth:
The number of Ps matters less than the purpose behind them.
For the true magic lay not in how many letters one could list, but in how wisely they were used; to listen, to serve, and to create value in a changing world.
And so, the tale ends where it began, with curious minds, restless markets, and an ever-evolving spell. The kingdom still grows, new Ps appear and vanish like stars, but the heart of the story remains:
To understand people, to bring meaning, and to make the marketplace a little more human.
And if you ever find yourself lost in the forest of marketing theory, just follow the trail of Ps, they’ll lead you home.
Moral
In the end, the wisest merchants learned that marketing’s letters were but tools, helpful, yes, but hollow without a heartbeat behind them. The Four Ps spoke of products, prices, places, and promotions; yet brands that truly endured began not with a product, but with a purpose, not with a mix, but with meaning.
They saw that business-driven branding starts where spreadsheets end, in strategy that listens to both reason and emotion, aligning purpose with profit, and customers with culture. The audience was no longer a “target” to persuade, but a community to understand and co-create with.
For while the Ps can guide the market, only a living brand, one born of clarity, coherence, and conscience, can guide the future.
Count your Ps if you must… but let your brand be led by people, not only by parameters.
Inspired by Borden (1964), McCarthy (1960), Booms & Bitner (1981), Kotler, Goi (2009), and Ezenwa (2019)
