PRODUCTS AND

SERVICE
ATTRIBUTES
Product attributes include
quality, features, and style
and design
 PRODUCT QUALITY

- One of the marketer’s

In developing a product, the
marketer must first choose a
quality level that will support
the product’s positioning
major positioning tools
- The characteristics of a
product or service that bear
on its ability to satisfy stated
or implied customer needs
 Performance quality — the product’s
ability to perform its functions

A Rolls-Royce provides higher performance quality

than a Chevrolet: It has a smoother ride, lasts longer, and
provides more handcraftsmanship, custom design, luxury,
and “creature comforts.”
 TOTAL QUALITY
MANAGEMENT (TQM)

An approach in which all of the company’s

people are involved in constantly
improving the quality of products,
services, and business processes. For
most top companies, customer-driven
quality has become a way of doing
business.
PRODUCT FEATURES
AND BENEFITS
FEATURES
VS
BENEFITS
How can a company identify new features and decide which ones to
add to its product?  CUSTOMER SURVEY

- How do you like the product?

- Which specific features of the product do you like most?
- Which features could we add to improve the product?

 The answers to these questions provide the company with a rich list
of feature ideas.
 PRODUCT STYLE
AND DESIGN
Another way to add
customer value is through
distinctive product style and
design
A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or
design or a combination of these that
identifies the maker or seller of a product
or service.
Customers attach meanings to
brands and develop brand
relationships.

Brands have meaning well beyond

a product’s physical attributes.

Brands also say something about

product quality and consistency

Branding also gives the seller the

seller’s brand name and trademark
 provide legal protection for
unique product features that
otherwise might be copied by
competitor.
Packaging involves designing
and producing the container or
wrapper for a product

Labels and logos range from

simple tags attached to
products to complex graphics
that are part of the packaging.

At the very least, the label

identifies the product or brand
Customer service is another element of product strategy.
A product line is a group
of products that are
closely related be- cause
they function in a similar
manner

The major product line

decision involves product
line length—the number
of items in the product
line

A company can expand its

product line in two ways:
by line filling or line
stretching.

Product line filling

involves adding more
items within the present
range of the line
 THE NEW
PRODUCT
DEVELOPMEN
T PROCESS
Product Life Cycle (PLC)
PLC is the course of a
product’s sales and
profits over its lifetime.
INTRODUCTORY GROWTH STAGE
STAGE
• Starts when a new product is first • Sales will start climbing quickly.

launched • New competitors will enter the market  introduce

new product features, and the market will expand.
• Profits are negative or low because of the
• Profits increase during the growth stage as promotion
low sales and high distribution and costs are spread over a large volume and as unit

promotion expenses manufacturing costs decrease.

• It improves product quality and adds new product

• Promotion spending is relatively high to
features and models.
inform consumers of the new product
• It enters new market segments and new distribution
channels.
MATURITY STAGE DECLINE STAGE
• Most products are in the maturity stage of the • Sales decline due to shifts in consumer tastes,
life cycle  poses strong challenges to and increased competition.
marketing management.
• Management may decide to maintain its
• Slowdown in sales growth
brand, repositioning it in hopes of moving it
• Tries to increase consumption by finding new
back into the growth stage.
users and new market segments or increase
usage among present customers  • Or harvest the product by reducing various
modifying the market. costs (plant and equipment, maintenance, R&D,

• Or modifying the product—changing advertising, sales force), hoping that sales hold
characteristics such as quality, features, up.
style, packaging, or technology platforms to
• Or drop the product from its line.
retain current users or attract new ones.