Marketing-mix coherence: measure interactions that expose value.
Answer:
Coherence is not measured by adding four good scores. It appears at interfaces: does product justify price, does the channel deliver the promised service level, does communication prepare the expected price, and does capacity follow demand created? A weak interaction becomes a priority when it carries high economic exposure.
Method and decision:
Document benefit, net price, service level, availability, message, promotion policy and actual capacity on one unit. Evaluate at least product-price, price-channel, channel-service, communication-price, communication-capacity and product-target interactions, each with observable evidence and threshold. Multiply relative defect by contribution or revenue at risk, using a range where the economic effect is not causally identified. Compare changes to product, price, channel and promise; retain the correction that minimises cost, delay and risk of moving the problem elsewhere. Correct the interface first according to incoherence severity, exposure and reversibility.
Worked example:
The four mix families score between 78 and 88, but product-price scores only 42 out of 100 and affects €400k annual contribution. Prioritised exposure is (100 − 42) ÷ 100 × €400k = €232k. A channel-service interaction scoring 35 but limited to €70k exposes only €45.5k under the same rule. Correct product-price first despite its less severe raw score, subject to verifying that exposure is attributable to the incoherence.
Limits:
The score structures a diagnosis; it does not prove incoherence causes observed loss. Weights represent decision priorities and must be revised as economics change. Coherence can lock in an unattractive positioning, so coherence and relevance are different questions.