Leslie Gaines-Ross has an interesting article on the HBR blog network today, dealing with business models in general (In a New Era for Marketing, Parental Discretion Advised — note link may expire). An excerpt from her post appears below:

Every well-trained manager knows about the “four P’s” of marketing. To make a sale, a company must offer the right product to meet customers’ needs, and at the right price. It has to be offered in a place they find convenient and, in order for them to know about it and how it can help them, it has to be promoted well. New research by my colleagues and me, however, suggests that another “P” is growing in importance. Customers also care who the parent of the product is.

For those who are interested, the article goes on to discuss basically how people are looking for who the parent company is, their corporate brand so to speak, and whether its someone with whom they want to do business. In fact, I would go one step further — not only do people want to know who your “parent” is (if your company has one) but also who your partners are, what they’re like, and if they reflect positively on your brand.… Read the rest