Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 4th Edition

The marketing and logistics interface

Even though the textbooks describe marketing as the management of the ‘Four Ps’

– product, price, promotion and place – it is probably true to say that, in practice,

most of the emphasis has always been placed on the first three. ‘Place’, which might

better be described in the words of the old cliché, ‘the right product in the right place

at the right time’, was rarely considered part of mainstream marketing.

There are signs that this view is rapidly changing, however, as the power of cus-

tomer service as a potential means of differentiation is increasingly recognised. In

more and more markets the power of the brand has declined and customers are

more willing to accept substitutes; even technology differences ...