Welcome to TopDeck Blog Site. I am General Flood and this first post will provide guidance on one of the fundamental concepts of marketing called the “4 P’s of marketing”. “Throw it out. It’s a useless concept!”

But let me first explain myself. According to the classical 4 P’s of marketing, every product is offered properly when the seller has considered and optimized the 4 P’s; namely, Product, Price, Promotion and Place. The Product can be a tangible product or a service. The price is straightforward and will have an impact on volume and margin. Promotion is the way we provide information about the product or service and may involve advertising and merchandising, public relations, social media, SEM and so on. Place involves distribution channels and where the product is available for purchase. It may be the shelf of a supermarket, in-person selling or web based. Now I was a Private long before i was a General and even back then, I found this 4 P’s thing misleading and inadequate. You can get the 4 P’s right and the brand can fail completely. Brands fail because of Positioning. This missing fifth P is the only important one. Your offering must be “unique and compelling” in its positioning or stay home. Brand Positioning is not just part of the mix, it is everything and the other 4 P’s can only play a supporting role to Positioning.
The Story:There was once a brand that was positioned as a treatment for heart disease but showed little effect. Testing did show and unexpected side effect and the brand was repositioned as a cure for sexual disfunction. Viagra has grown to be one of the biggest brands in history with sales over $ 2 billion; one example of a unique and compelling benefit.

You can follow my advice on how to maximize Positioning, complete with a single page format to get it right. “Positioning for Success” is available online in our web store for a modest price. It is offered with an hour of my personal consulting and support to walk you through the format and get it right.

Yours Truly,

G.F.