The 4 Ps of Marketing: Rewritten for the AI Age

In 2024, Notion reached a $10B valuation. Their success offers a fresh lens on McCarthy's classic 4 Ps of marketing in the AI age. The 4 Ps—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion—remain as relevant as ever. Originally introduced by E. Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s, this framework distills marketing down to its essentials. But in the fast-paced world of startups, where innovation reigns and traditional playbooks are constantly rewritten, how do these pillars apply? Let’s dive into the 4 Ps and explore their modern applications for founders navigating the frontier of tech.

1. Product: Build Obsession, Not Just Utility

In the 1960s, the product was king: make something people need, and you’ll sell. Today, “need” isn’t enough. The most successful tech products create obsession.

Notion didn’t become a $10B company because people needed another productivity tool. They succeeded because they became the default thought space for millions. Their product blends functionality (databases, templates) with delight (customization, aesthetics). In the AI era, personalization becomes the frontier for innovation.

Founders should ask:

• Does your product evolve with the user’s behavior?
• How does your product surprise and delight your audience in ways competitors can’t?

Great products today don’t just solve problems—they build ecosystems that users can’t imagine leaving.

2. Price: The Psychology of Free

Price was once about cost-plus margin. Now, it’s a dance of psychology and scalability. While freemium is common in 2C SaaS, Notion perfected the model. By making their core product free, they turned users into evangelists, then charged enterprises for features they couldn’t refuse.

The lesson? Pricing isn’t about dollars; it’s about entry points. Your users need to feel they’re getting immense value before they even think of paying. AI products amplify this dynamic because the amortized cost of adding new users is nearly zero, while perceived value skyrockets with network effects.

Founders should ask:

• Are you lowering the barrier to entry while raising long-term value?
• Does your pricing strategy encourage viral growth?

3. Place: Everywhere and Nowhere

In McCarthy’s day, “place” was about physical distribution—getting products into stores. In 2023, place is digital. It’s about being omnipresent without being intrusive.

Notion didn’t rely much on ads. Instead, they mastered organic discovery. Templates and websites created by power users spread like wildfire across social media. The product itself became its own distribution engine.

AI accelerates this trend. With APIs and integrations, place now includes where your product can live in someone else’s ecosystem. Think Slack bots, Shopify plugins, or Zapier automations.

Founders should ask:

• Are you meeting users where they are, or forcing them to come to you?
• How does your product seamlessly integrate into other platforms?

4. Promotion: Community Is the New Advertising

Promotion used to mean ad buys and aggressive marketing campaigns. Today, it means community. Notion built a cult following by empowering creators—YouTubers, educators, and small businesses—to showcase the product in their own ways.

In the AI world, promotion shifts from shouting to listening. Community-building means enabling users to shape the narrative. OpenAI’s success with ChatGPT wasn’t just about building a great product—it was about letting users discover use cases the creators hadn’t even imagined.

Founders should ask:

• Are your users your best promoters?
• How does your community contribute to your product’s evolution?

Bringing the 4 Ps Together: The AI Playbook

The 4 Ps aren't obsolete relics, but timeless guideposts: they are both the entirety of marketing and marketing in its entirety. Notion's rise demonstrates that while marketing's fundamental principles endure, they can be reinterpreted and reimagined for the AI-driven age.

As AI continues to reshape technology, the 4 Ps will evolve further:

• Products will self-improve based on usage patterns
• Pricing will become increasingly dynamic and personalized
• Place will expand to include AI-native environments
• Promotion will leverage AI to create personalized community experiences

For startups, the challenge is not just preserving core principles, but evolving them for the modern age. Ultimately, successful marketing isn't merely about attracting users—it's about building an ecosystem that resonates with users and grows sustainably over time. This is the key insight modern tech founders must grasp, and the core message we hope to convey through this piece.