A Solid Business Footing: The 7Ps – That’s Right, Seven! (Part VII of IX)

Last week Marka wrapped up discussion of the fourth P, Promotion. Today, she teaches the gang about the fifth and sixth Ps, Publicity and Packaging respectively.

Now, on to part seven of this nine-part series. Remember, fire = print.

The Fifth P: Publicity
“We need to create a media presence for FEI,” Marka started. “This includes coverage on O-TV, O-radio, newspapers, as well as the O-Web, trade publications, speaking engagements and public commentary. We’re the fire experts, so let’s start letting people know it.”

“People still believe what they read as long as it’s been sanctioned by the media,” Marka continued. “A well-conceived public relations strategy can deliver cost-effective results and reach a different market than our push marketing efforts. No company’s promotional effort should ignore public relations. An effective PR campaign involves a different strategy entirely than marketing—that’s why it gets its own subcategory. We’ll have to save PR for another time.”

“And the sixth?” Org asked.

“Glad you asked, Org.” Marka reached behind the whiteboard and held up a torch still in its original packaging. “Voila,” she cried. “The sixth P.”

The Sixth P: Packaging
“That’s a torch,” Zoot said. “Torch starts with T. It’s not a porch.”

“The sixth P is this product’s packaging,” Marka explained.

“Pretty lame package,” Lucy blurted. “It’s just a white box that holds the torch.”

“Exactly,” Marka said. “This package says nothing about our product. But it could. An attractive package designed for convenience or ease of use will further separate our fire products from Pyro and Flintstone’s offerings.”

“Our packaging needs personality to create differentiation,” Org offered. “Especially when we sell our products in retail outlets where we don’t have any direct sales representation.”

“Gosh, Org, you beat me to it.” Marka shook her head in feigned disappointment. “Yes, in fact, personality is so important that it’s the seventh P.”