“The customer never buys a product but only a

bundle of satisfaction.”

PRODUCTS
Introduction
 product represents anticipated and even
unanticipated solutions to customer’s
problems
 Product is the first and most important element
of the marketing mix.
 Consumers do not just buy the physical product.
 They buy the benefits the product offers and its
packaging, quality, brand name, styling,
warranty, after- sale service, and more.
 the marketer need to understand what benefit
consumers seek from this product.
 Definition
 A product may be defined as everything, both
favorable and unfavorable, that one receives in an
exchange.
 It can be a tangible good, a service, an idea,
people, places, organizations, and ideas. or a
combination of these things.
 A product is anything that can be offered to a
market for attention, acquisition, use, or
consumption and that might satisfy a want or need.
 Product means the need satisfying offering of a
firm.
Product Levels
 A product can be considered on five levels.
 The core benefit is the essential use-benefit,
problem-solving service that the buyer
primarily buys when purchasing a product.
 The generic product is the basic version of
the product.
 The expected product is the set of attributes
and conditions that the buyer normally expects
in buying the product.
 The augmented product is additional services
and benefits that the seller adds to distinguish
the offer from competitors.
 The potential product is the set of possible
new features and services that might eventually
be added to the offer.
Product Classification
 All products can be classified according to their
durability (nondurable goods, durable goods, and
services)
 Products and services fall into two broad classes:
consumer products and industrial products.
 Consumer products are purchased by
consumers for their personal (i.e., nonbusiness)
use.
 Marketers classify these products and services
further based on how consumers go about buying
them.
 Convenience products are consumer products and
services that customers usually buy frequently,
immediately, and with a minimum of comparison and
buying effort.
 Convenience products are usually low priced, and
marketers place them in many locations to make them
readily available when customers need them.
 Shopping products are less frequently purchased
consumer products and services that shoppers
compare carefully on suitability, quality, price, and
style
 Shopping-products marketers usually distribute their
products through fewer outlets but provide deeper
sales support to help customers in their comparison
efforts.
 Specialty products are consumer products and
services with unique characteristics or brand
identification for which a significant group of
buyers is willing to make a special purchase
effort.
 Unsought products are consumer products that
the consumer either does not know about or
knows about but does not normally think of
buying.
 Industrial products are those purchased for
further processing or for use in conducting a
business.
 The distinction between a consumer product and
an industrial product is based on the purpose for
which the product is bought.
 The three groups of industrial products and
services are materials and parts, capital items, and
supplies and services.
 Materials and parts include raw materials and
manufactured materials and parts.
 Capital items are industrial products that aid in the
buyer’s production or operations, including
installations and accessory equipment.
 Supplies are the convenience products of the
industrial field because they are usually
purchased with a minimum of effort or
comparison.
 Supplies include operating supplies (lubricants,
coal, paper, pencils) and repair and maintenance
items (paint,nails, brooms).
 Business servicesinclude maintenance and
repair services (window cleaning, computer
repair) and business advisory services (legal,
management consulting, advertising).
 Such services are usually supplied under
contract.
Product Mix
 A product mix is the set of all product lines and
individual products that a firm sells
 A product line is a set of individual products
that are closely related.
 They may be related because they are
produced or operate in a similar way.
 . Product lines can be organized by product
function, customer group targeted, retail outlets
used, and price range.
 A product item is a specific version of a product
that can be designated as a distinct offering
among an organization’s products.
 An individual product is a particular product
within a product line.
 Most companies handle more than one product,
and so product mix can be described as
possessing a certain width, length, depth, and
consistency.
 These four dimensions are the tools for
developing the company’s product strategy.
 Product Adoption Stage
 Adoption process is a series of stages by which a
consumer might adopt a NEW product or service.
 There are numerous stages of adoption which a
consumer goes through. These stages may happen
before or even after the actual adoption.
 Awareness –Simply speaking, if you are not AWARE of
the product, you are never going to BUY the product.
Individual consumer becomes aware of the innovation.
He is exposed to innovation but knows very little
regarding the innovation. He has only limited
information about it. He is aware of either by discussion
with friends, relatives, salesmen, or dealers. 
 Interest and Information Search – Once you are
aware, you start searching for information.
 Evaluation - accumulated information is used to
evaluate the innovation. The consumer considers all
the significant aspects to judge the worth of
innovation with the existing products to arrive at the
decision whether the innovation should be tried out. 
 Trial – It is wherein you test or have a trial of the
product. This is pretty difficult in services as services
are generally intangible in nature. However service 
marketing managers do find ways of offering Trial
packs to users. Comparatively, it is pretty easier in
Product marketing and finds a major usage sales
promotion.
 Adoption – The actual adoption of the product.
Wherein the consumer finally decides to adopt
the product.
 Although this is  a well scripted adoption
process, however consumers might tend to skip
over the whole process.
  the consumer tends to directly adopt the product
rather than going through stages. This is one of
the primary reason word of mouth is so much in 
demand.
 On the other hand, The process might end in
Rejection. Any of the stages can result in
rejection of the product.
Product Life Cycle
 The product life cycle, or PLC, is the course
that a product’s sales and profits take over its
lifetime.
 The typical product life cycle sees the product
move through five stages: product
development, introduction, growth, maturity,
and decline.
 Introduction stage : The product life-cycle
stage in which the new product is first
distributed and made available for purchase.
 Growth stage : The product life-cycle stage in
which a product’s sales start climbing quickly.
 The early adopters will continue to buy, and later
buyers will start following their lead
 Maturity stage : The product life-cycle stage in
which sales growth slows or levels off.
 normally lasts longer than the previous stages
 Decline stage : The product life-cycle stage in
which a product’s sales decline.
 Many mature products that continue to be useful,
such as brands of laundry detergent and
shampoo, can stay in the maturity stage
indefinitely
New Product Development
 By new products, we mean original or “new to the
world” products, product improvements, product
modifications, and new brands that companies
develop through their own research and
development (R&D) efforts.
 A firm can obtain new products in two ways.
 One is through acquisition—by buying a whole
company, a patent, or a licence to produce
someone else’s product.
 The other is through the firm’s own new-product
development efforts.
 Company must carry out strong new-product
planning and set up a systematic, customer-driven
new-product development process for finding and
growing new products.
 This process consists of eight major stages
 Idea generation : The systematic search for new
product ideas.
 Idea screening : Screening new-product ideas to
spot good ideas and drop poor ones as soon as
possible.
 Concept Development and Testing: Involves
Product concept, i.e, A detailed version of the
new-product idea stated in meaningful consumer
terms.
 Marketing strategy development : Designing an initial
marketing strategy for a new product based on the
product concept.
 Business analysis: A review of the sales, costs, and
profit projections for a new product to find out whether
these factors satisfy the company’s objectives.
 Product development: Developing the product concept
into a physical product to ensure that the product idea
can be turned into a workable market offering.
 Test marketing: The stage of new-product development
in which the product and marketing program are tested
in realistic market settings.
 Commercialization: The full-scale introduction of the
new product into the market.