Five Product Levels:

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Product Levels Example:

1. Communicate
2. Mobile Phone
3. Robust & Durable
4. Long Battery Life
5. Introduce New Features

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 Product Hierarchy:
 Need Family: To pass time while on move
 Product Family: Entertainment
 Product Class: Portable Entertainment
Instruments
 Product Line/Category: Portable DVD
players, CD players, MP3 players
 Product Type/Form: Audio ipods
 Brand: Apple
 Item/SKU: Apple ipod nano 4GB
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Other Product Hierarchy Concepts:
 Product System:  Product Mix

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 Product Classifications:
 On Basis of Durability & Tangibility:
 Non Durable Goods
Eg: FMCG products
 Durable Goods
Eg: TV, Mobiles
 Services
Eg: Aviation Industry

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 Consumer Goods Classification:
 Convenience Goods: Purchased Frequently
with min. effort.
 Staples: Eg: Food items, soaps etc.
 Impulse Goods: Eg: Chocolates, Magazines etc.
 Emergency Goods: Eg: Some pharma products
 Shopping Goods: Selection & Comparison
Process before purchase Eg: Apparel, Furniture
 Specialty Goods: Unique Characteristics/Brand
Eg: Mercedes Benz, Bose Speakers
 Unsought Goods: Consumer normally doesn’t
buy them till persisted Eg: Helmets, Reflectors 6
 Industrial Goods Classification:
 Materials & Parts:
 Raw Material: Eg: Milk for Ice Cream etc.
 Manufactured Material: Eg: Cement
 Capital Items:
 Installations:
Eg: Factories, power plants
 Equipment: Eg: Tools, Lift trucks
 Supplies & Business Service
 Eg: Office Stationary, cleaning services

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Product Mix:
 Width of Product Mix (Product Categories):
Eg: For HUL it is Detergents, Deodorants,
Soap, Shampoo, Tea, Ice Cream etc.
 Length of Product Mix (Brands): Eg: For HUL
it is Surf, Rin, Lux, Axe, Sun Silk, Brooke
Bond, Lipton, Kwality-Walls etc.
 Depth of Product Mix (SKUs): Variants of
each brand.
 Consistency of Product Mix: Close relation
among product categories
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 Product Line Strategies:
 Line Stretching: Taking product line to new
segment
 Down Market Stretching/Trading Down: Eg:
Tata’s 1 lakh car
 Up Market Stretching/Trading Up: Eg: Hyundai’s
Verna, Elantra, Sonata, Tuscon
 Two-Way Stretching:
Eg: Nokia Mobile Models

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Product Line Strategies (Cont.):
 Line Filling: Adding More Variants/Filling
Product Depth
 Maruti’s Strategy
 Line Modernization: Eg: Onida’s new
technologically advanced products
 Line Featuring: Eg: Tata Indica & Indigo
 Line Pruning: Eg: HUL concentrating on 30
power brands out of its 110 brands.

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