Pressure groups and the marketing mix

Pressure groups can influence the marketing mix — the four Ps of product, price, promotion and place. A group may target a business because its product, methods or supplier arrangements are seen as harmful. A business that ignores a well-supported campaign can lose sales and reputation, so it often changes parts of its mix in response.

Product, price, promotion and place

• Product: a campaign may force a business to change product design, materials, ingredients, production methods or the range it sells. A confectionery firm under fire over palm oil, for example, might reformulate its bars and drop the ingredient.
• Price: pressure from a group can change the firm's costs (for example, if it switches to a more costly material), change demand, or change what customers are willing to pay. If a brand is tarnished, customers may refuse to pay a premium.
• Promotion: a group can create negative publicity that damages brand image. This pushes a business to promote its ethical credentials more heavily, and to spend more on marketing to repair trust.
• Place: groups may object to where inputs come from or how products are transported, so a business changes its sourcing, its supply chain (e.g. dropping a supplier) or its distribution — how its products reach customers.

Effects on profit

Responding to a campaign can raise costs, reduce sales if customers reject the changes, or require extra marketing spending, all of which can lower profit. But pressure group activity also creates opportunities: it raises awareness of an issue and can increase demand for ethical or environmentally friendly products, letting the business that responds first stand out.

It is not always a threat. For example, a pressure group criticising a clothing retailer for the amount of unsold stock it throws away could lead it to launch a take-back scheme for old clothes; it then promotes the scheme and attracts shoppers who care about waste.