In the late 70’s it was widely acknowledged by Marketers that the Marketing Mix should be updated. This led to the creation of modifying the core elements and Extending the Marketing Mix in 1981 by Booms & Bitner which added 3 new elements to the 4 P’s Principle. This now allowed the extended Marketing Mix to include products that are services and not just physical things.
Dibb et al., (2016) describe the people variable to be "the aspect of the marketing mix that reflects the level of customer service, advice, sales support and after-sales back-up required, involving recruitment policies, training, retention and motivation of key personnel."
For many products and services customers and consumers are constantly involved by interacting with people, therefore it is extremely important to provide excellent service to the customers because it will definitely influence them in regards to their purchase.
The "People" element of the Marketing Mix is very important. A way this can be shown is through personal selling. This is especially important in many business markets, especially "those in which the purchase is deemed risky because of its size, value or complexity" (Dibb et al., 2016)
The importance of maintaining a long-term relationship with customers and consumers is vital in any business. By keeping this contact the business or company have to keep in touch regularly and on an ongoing basis, they have to interact with their consumers and make sure that they are satisfied or see if anything can be improved.
One brand that really focuses on its consumers and customers is Evian.
Evian, established in 1789, is a brand of mineral water and is a French multinational corporation and is portrayed as a luxury product and expensive bottled water. It focuses on providing healthy mineral water for its consumers. (Evian, 2016)
Evian's slogan "Live Young"
Evian carried out market research and found that people would rather drink from environmental friendly water bottles and glass bottles. Therefore without a doubt, they changed to 100% recyclable containers as well as to preserve the inner qualities of the natural mineral water which is collected from the province Evian-les-Bains in France on the south shore of Lake Geneva (Evian, 2010). Evian makes more than 300 microbiological tests on its water, this is to make sure that no pollution appears on the assembly line. (Evian, 2016)
The premium price that Evian has all come down to the fact that their high-quality water comes from the French Alps and is environmentally friendly. Therefore the price tends to be more than other brands of bottled water. They target all people, however with a higher discretionary income, multi-ethnic people, people who have a healthy and authentic lifestyle, well informed, and people who have concerns over the environmental issues.
It is also known that people like to pay for goods and services of which have a great quality and benefit to them.
Evian's slogan "Live Young" is the genius in my opinion, and in fact, in everyone's opinion. I mean, who doesn't enjoy seeing baby's dance, surf and roller blade?
The point of this slogan is that no matter what age, gender or nationality you are, by drinking Evian's water will make you feel rejuvenated, young, refreshed and the best thing... C'est tout natural (It's all natural).
Evian Roller Babies Ad - 2009
Evian Baby & Me Ad - 2013
Evian Baby Bay Ad - 2016
Evian wanted to reach out to the people on a hot summers day in NYC. By doing this, they promoted that all the people had to do was Tweet their location and write #EVIANBOTTLESERVICE, and no matter where, the Evian employees brought them the bottles by bike, served on a metal plate and even held an umbrella over the consumers for the ultimate luxury treatment.
The employees would then inform the people drinking the water what Evian is, where it comes from, what makes it so special and why people should buy it!
By promoting Evian on a personal selling basis makes the interaction between the salesperson and the individuals themselves very special. This facilitates a one on one communication, less wasteful communication, persuasion, and creates less miscommunication about the product, good or service.
The video below shows the salespeople giving out Evian all day long: