​

For years in college studying marketing, communications and business and for decades afterward in practice in marketing, sales and operations roles, everyone drilled on us about "The 4-P's of the Marketing Mix" (that is, Product, Price, Promotion & Place). And, our background in crafting product and service value proposition marketing & messaging to create action is well honed indeed. But as developers of great new things, we see things a bit differently; we see “5” P’s in marketing and every other process too. The 5th P, or, as we call it, The 5th Element, is PEOPLE. You see, one can have all the other P's locked down tight, but if the PEOPLE get in the way, regardless of where they may be hiding, you’re off the rails and probably just spent money to put yourself in that position. We address every project as change-agents and stewards and fully explore the impact of the project before we take our first step at execution of its plan. Our approach can leverage good outcomes to maximize them as well as prevent unfortunate ones from occurring. As the innovators of it, we call it "PEOPLE Focused Design™".

 

One can have the absolute one-of-a-kind Wow! product or service, the best message on the planet, have the perfect price with incredible promotional messaging all laid out in all the right places for customers to acquire your goods or services, but if it can negatively or materially impact (what we call) "a PEOPLE" somewhere along the line, internally or externally, it really should be known up front before that happens; and it can be done. In most cases, issues can be worked around, diminished or maximized if you’ve been clever enough to recognize them early. Unrecognized, negative impacts from an implemented effort or policy can be like a snake in the grass to the project or the company that can lie and wait, unnoticed until it’s too late to stem the damage.

 

The 5th P is all about the Stakeholders of the project– which includes ALL of the PEOPLE (whether they know it or not) that are or may be touched or impacted by it before, during and after its launch. In the project itself, the stakeholders are the inventors, the designers, the engineers, the writers & managers, graphic designers, web developers, business analysts, software engineers, clients, etc. that are all creating and bringing the campaign or project to life. And,outside of them, there are many of other stakeholders, like your product reps, key vendors, supply chain partners, dealers, distributors, other re-sellers, other employees, who are often a silent part of the mix, but, many times have no voice in the project’s impact on them or even know of its existence. Everyone touched by the project, directly or indirectly, really should be considered and this is an oversight (in our opinion) that can be easily remedied with healthy communication, listening, analysis and action. Including this is a core fundamental part of The 5th Element’s approach and service platform.

 

Keep in mind, The 5th P- is not just about the important people that make up your sales audience. Sure, it definitely includes all those wonderful People that you call your customers, BUT, the 5th P also includes all the PEOPLE impacted or possibly impacted by your marketing, sales or operations efforts; especially when you’re making changes to them. This means that it includes YOU (as the owner/exec/decision maker), too, and your partners and your senior executives and your employees and suppliers and vendors serving the enterprise and everyone between you and your sales audience. Implementing any plan can have seen and unseen ramifications to all stakeholders, including marketing, sales, operations, accounting, the supply chain, and many others that should be considered planned for and measured. Our approach adds an addition step (no charge) that we think hugely important. This step identifies and analyzes the internal and external impact that the new project, effort or change (the project) may have on everyone foreseeably affected by it, both positively and negatively. It’s not that hard to do if you have the right mentality, patience and take the time to fully research, analyze and understand it before launch and we do it automatically. We believe it’s worth the extra consideration and time to do it right the first time and in the long run, its a much more efficient path to take. We see this as a primary function of the marketing discipline that bleeds into every single other aspect of business by default.

 

This final 5th- P Step is built into an overall approach to change that gives serious credence, consideration and analysis to the questions: “If we do this, what does it mean to “All of your Stakeholders”, and, perhaps more importantly, who are those PEOPLE?

 

At the end of the day, all processes are truly “all about the PEOPLE” engaged in them. And, We GET IT.