Learn in the textbookBasic Frameworks of Marketing Strategy
DefinitionThe 4P are four elements the seller decides, Product, Price, Place and Promotion, and designing a plan by combining them is called the marketing mix (マーケティングミックス).
ExplanationThe four elements are not set one by one; they are aligned with each other so the combination suits the target customers. Place is sometimes glossed as "location," but what it really covers is choosing the route that carries goods to customers (the sales channel). Promotion methods include the push strategy (プッシュ戦略), which gets retailers and salespeople to recommend the product, and the pull strategy (プル戦略), which uses advertising and similar means to raise consumers' desire to buy so they come to the store themselves.
AnalogyIt is like a baker getting ready to open a shop and deciding all at once what bread to bake, what to charge, whether to sell from a shop by the station or from a van, and whether to hand out flyers or offer free samples.
Memory hookRead the P in Place as how goods get delivered rather than as a location, and it becomes clear that it is about distribution channels.