Letstalk Strategy

Are the 7Ps still relevent for marketers? 🤔

It’s a framework that’s been around for decades, and yet it still shows up in marketing plans today. So the question is: does it still have a place in modern strategy?

The answer isn’t a simple yes or no.

The 7 Ps were never designed to be your strategy. They’re there to make sure your strategy actually works in practice.

Too often, we see marketers start with the mix:
Product. Price. Place. Promotion…

But that’s the wrong way around.

Strategy should always start with:
→ your audience
→ your insight
→ your objectives

Only then should you use the 7 Ps to shape how that strategy shows up in the real world.

Because when used well, the 7 Ps do something incredibly valuable:
They force you to think holistically.

Not just about promotion, but about:
– the experience you’re delivering
– the people behind it
– the processes supporting it
– the proof points your audience sees

It becomes less about “what are we doing?”
And more about “does this all join up?”

So, is it still relevant?

Yes! But only as a supporting framework.

Use it to pressure-test your plan. Use it to spot gaps. Use it to ensure consistency.

Just don’t mistake it for the strategy itself!

Here's an example taken from Jenna's book 'Marketing Strategy' of how it can be done well...

Five takeaways from the 2nd edition of 'Marketing Strategy' that might surprise you 👇

1. Strategy isn’t about doing more
It’s about making clearer choices on what NOT to do. Focus is often the missing piece.

2. Your internal environment matters just as much as the market
Capabilities, processes, and resource all shape what’s realistically achievable.

3. Personas aren’t enough on their own
Understanding behaviours, motivations, and context is where real insight comes from.

4. Frameworks are only useful if you apply them properly
Tools like PESTLE or SWOT aren’t tick-box exercise. They’re there to guide better thinking.

5. Strategy should be iterative, not fixed
It’s not something you set once and revisit annually. It should evolve as your environment changes.

Let us know which one you've found most useful in the comments!

This diagram is a great way to determine your organisation's positioning ⬇️

It's called a 'perceptual map' and it's a super easy way to see how you compare against your competitors and allows you to identify any opportunities in the marketplace.

In order to understand where a consumer might place you and your competitors on their own version of this map, you need to understand the consumer themselves.

This is another reason why building carefully thought-out customer personas is so important.

You might have gotten away with not having a strategy previously...but with AI making things even more competitive, that's no longer the case!

If you're starting from scratch, Jenna's revised version of 'Marketing Strategy' walks you through the whole process.

Check it out on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marketing-Strategy-Implementing-Measuring-Successful/dp/1398621722

Are you confident in your marketing strategy, or just winging it? 👀

Our Marketing Strategy Workshops are designed to help you build clarity, confidence and a strategy that actually works. Tap to find out more: https://letstalkstrategy.co.uk/digital-marketing-services/marketing-strategy-workshops/

If you're not using AI for this in your strategy, you're missing a trick 😉

Thank you to Paige Hookway from Startups Magazine, who has kindly published Jenna's contribution about how to use AI personas to truly understand your audience.

Tap to read the full article 👇

Five AI trends business leaders can’t afford to ignore in 2026 | Startups Magazine AI has undeniably been the headline of 2025. Every day has seemed to bring a new tool, startup or product launch, promising transformation and innovation at levels never seen before. With so many new developments, often accompanied by both excitement and caution, how can business leaders know how to...

These are the four key email marketing stages you need to know about 👇

With inboxes more cluttered than ever, it's super important that your campaigns stand out (and that they get delivered in the first place!).

Here's a handy checklist to ensure you're maximising your content in 2026, taken from the latest edition of 'Marketing Strategy'.

Let us know in the comments if you've found this helpful!

A quick reintroduction from us, as it's been a little while! 👋

Let’sTalk Strategy exists for one simple reason:
too many marketing decisions are made without enough thinking behind them.

Led by experienced marketer, Jenna Tiffany, we help businesses step back, zoom out, and get clear on what really matters. We cover brand positioning and proposition to go-to-market strategy and growth planning.

Our work isn’t about chasing trends or adding noise. It’s about asking the right questions, challenging assumptions, and creating strategies that teams can actually use.

If 2026 is the year you want clearer thinking behind your marketing, let’s talk!