4 C’s of Contemporary Marketing Mix

The contemporary market has developed with the approach of more prominent customer-centric marketing conditions. Companies’ main focus is to work with consumers, identify their needs, and design products according to their needs. We can see a shift towards personalization, interactivity, and genuine, direct discourse with the client. These changes have made way for innovation, customization, and networking. These new methodologies permit marketers not only to build a relationship with the target group but also to recognize the constantly changing consumer behavior. Moreover, it has also enabled the markets to react quickly to their competitors and anticipate future market trends. Hence, all these developments have provoked the advancements of new theoretical approaches that deal with specific rather than general marketing issues and situations. It’s further feasible for companies to interact with and administer the consumer better with the help of digital platforms. Contemporary marketing incorporates the following marketing mix in the current-day marketing environment: four C’s Marketing Mix.  This model fits the contemporary market trends as it is more customer-centric.

As we are trying to focus on the contemporary market, it would only make sense to include a mix that is more customer-oriented. Smith (2003) suggested a new mix, the four C’s, that focus on building long-lasting relationships with the consumer. This mix includes:

4 C's of Contemporary Marketing Mix

  1. Customer – This focuses on customer’s needs rather than just products. This helps in relationship-based communication. For example, a watch company has introduced a watch that will play a happy birthday song on a particular date or time. If the customer isn’t intrigued by this exceptional feature the product is worthless, regardless of whether the company can offer it at a lower cost.
  2. Cost – This focuses on what it costs a consumer to possess a product rather than evaluating the product to make a profit. This idea makes companies think about how much a product will cost over the long haul, including factors such as maintenance costs. For example, if there are 2 similar pizza joints, and one is 2 miles away from the other one then marketers need to consider the expense of driving when promoting their company.
  3. Convenience – This focuses on how simple it is for customers to acquire/purchase the product rather than how simple it is for organizations to distribute the product. With the help of technology, consumers do not need to go out and buy the product. For example, Coca-Cola has been successful in using this concept. They have tried to make their products more accessible than their rival, Pepsi.
  4. Communication – This focuses on two-way communication with customers (listening and learning) rather than one-way communication ( telling and selling). This is the last and the most significant shift for marketers. The promotion segment of 4P’s focused more on sending brand messages to the customers so they buy the product if they could relate to the product’s message. The communication segment is focused more on building long-lasting relationships through communication. For example, in our personal lives, we build relationships with people by listening to them and learning from what they have to tell us. The same concept is effective in a business looking to develop a relationship with its customers.

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