Replacing the Four P's with Design

The four P's of marketing are the cornerstone of any marketing class. They are the primary decisions you need to make when starting a business: Product, Price, Placement (distribution), and Promotion. Tom Peters suggests these be replaced with his model given a more innovation driven business environment. His idea is presented in D squared MP. It stands for Dramatically Different, Money, and People.

What I like about this concept is its inferred focus on design in the Dramatically Different part of his model. This is his definition:

"D-squared, or Dramatic Difference: Too many people risk their life savings on a not very original idea. No, I don't mean that you have to start a Google, but I do mean that you must be clear, very very clear, about how your new Italian restaurant or real estate agency will be "dramatically different" from the current offerings in your locale-market. Far too many folks "bet the farm" on, in effect, a "me too" proposition—too sad."

This description screams for strong impacting design decisions from upper echelons of management.

Click here to read his full article.