Does it matter if CMOs don’t own the 4Ps?
As data shows less than half of marketing leaders have any control over pricing and distribution, what can CMOs do to expand their influence?
All good marketing and business students will take copious notes on how the 4Ps – product, price, place and promotion – are equally essential ingredients to a successful marketing strategy.
Fast forward to real life, however, and they discover their ability to have control or even influence over anything other than the promotional element of this mix is far from guaranteed.
Marketing Week’s 2025 Career & Salary Survey found the proportion of marketing leaders with any clout when it comes to pricing and place/distribution strategies is less than half, with just 46.2% reporting influence over price and less than four in 10 (38.9%) reporting any control over the placement or distribution of their brand.
Why is there such a big gap between marketing theory and practice even for senior leaders?
