The 4Es of Marketing
The modern marketplace is unlike anything seen before in human history. For example, eCommerce allows anyone to order practically anything from anywhere in the world with virtual currency, often with the help of a virtual assistant that personalizes its recommendations so that each person’s buying journey is unique. In this new age, previously reigning marketing paradigms like the 4Ps of marketing are also undergoing a transformation. Welcome to the age of the 4Es instead.
The “4Es” of Marketing are “Experience”, “Everyplace”, “Exchange” and “Evangelism”. Anyone familiar with Marketing theory will recognize that the 4Es draw their basic wisdom from the famous “4P” mnemonic in modern marketing theory.
Experience: Customer purchase decisions are a mix of utility fit and emotional appeal. A retailer’s focus may be on the visual appeal of the store, having friendly staff at hand to put customers at ease and answer questions, and helpful digital screens to direct customers to the right aisles or show helpful product usage videos. That’s not to say that customers aren’t cost-conscious; in fact, they have become even more so, and desire more from the transaction than just “money-for-goods”.
Exchange: They say nothing in life is free- not even free stuff! Customers understand that, yet there is a rush every year during the Christmas discount season. Product pricing is inevitable, but the modern customer demands more. Customers really value brands that respect them- those who value their time, respect their values, support their favorite causes, or even just acknowledge them with genuineness. When a branding succeeds, customers are willing to make an exchange: their commitment to the brand in exchange for the brand’s loyalty to them.
Everyplace: In modern trade, a brand’s distribution channels are many more, and much more fluids than in traditional business models. In the modern marketplace, there are still the old channels, but customers may now reach them over the phone, their websites, social media, or even through ERP-to-ERP ordering.
Evangelism: The dictionary defines promotion as “support or encouragement of a cause” and evangelism as “zealous advocacy”. That’s exactly what the last of the 4Es suggests brands attempt to do. The 4E concept isn’t totally new- it was first proposed by an Ogilvy executive over a decade ago. However, it is more relevant now than ever before, with faster connection speeds, better devices and new emerging technologies like augmented reality.
