MARKETING MANAGEMENT

PRODUCT DECISONS
 PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION
1. Consumer Products
Industrial Products

2. Consumer Products
(Classification by tangibility & durability)

Goods Services

Durable Non Durable

3. Classification of Consumer Products by Buying Behaviour

a) Convenience Products

b) Shopping Products
c) Speciality Products

d) Unsought Products
 What is a product ?
A product can be defined as any
good, service or idea that satisfies a
need or a want and can be offered in
an exchange.

A PRODUCT IS A BUNDLE OF
BENEFITS
TOTAL PRODUCT:
The wide range of tangible & intangible
benefits that a buyer may gain from a product
after purchasing it..
PRIMARY CHARACTERISTIC:
A basic feature or essential aspect of a
product.
AUXILLARY DIMENSIONS:
An aspect of a product that provides
supplementary benefits such as aesthetics,
packaging warranty, repair service contract,
brand name etc..
THE PRODUCT

CORE
BENEFIT
THE TOTAL PRODUCT: HOTEL SERVICES

POTENTIAL
PRODUCT

AUGMENTED
PRODUCT Shelter & Rest

EXPECTED
PRODUCT A bed in the hotel
room for the night
BASIC
PRODUCT
Clean rooms, Clean lines,
CORE Comfortable furniture,
BENEFIT temperature control meals

Flowers in room
Complementary fruit basket
Channeled music; cable tv

Baby sitting services for

Executive mothers (?)
 THE TOTAL PRODUCT
PLESANT TASTE
EAST TO USE
REUSE
FRESH BREATH

PACKAGE
WITH FLIP FLAVOUR MONEY
CAP SAVED
ON DENTAL
BILLS
SOCIAL
CONFIDENCE FLOURIDE
CORE
CORE ATTACK ON
BRAND NAME PRODUCT TARTAR-CONTROL
PRODUCT TARTAR
(CLOSE-UP) FORMULA
ROMANCE
TOOTHPASTE
TOOTHPASTE BUILDUP

ESSENTIAL
A TOLL FREE BENEFIT
MFGR’S
TELEPHONE CLEANS TEETH,
NAME & COUNTRY
HOTLINE PREVENTS TOOTH
OF ORIGIN DECAY
NUMBER

SAFETY
o PRODUCT STRATEGY: The planning &
development of a mix of the primary &
auxiliary dimensions of a product.
o THE PRODUCT CONCEPT: Also called
the product positioning concept defines
the essence, or core idea, underlying the
product features & benefits that appeal to
the target market.
o PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION: A
strategy that calls buyer’s attention to
aspects of a product that set it apart from
its competitors.
 DIFFERENTIATION TOOLS
Product Differentiation: A strategy that calls
buyers attention to aspects of a product that
set it apart from its competition.

DIFFERENTIATION TOOLS
I PRODUCT
 Form
(i) Table phone
(ii) Wall phone
 Features
(i) Music on hold/hands free
(ii) Cars: Power Windows /Central Locking/Child
proof locks/Heating Bands/Safety
Ballooning.
 Performance
(i) Fuel consumption/Pick-up
(ii) Refrigerators/AC’s-cooling capacity
(iii) Dove/Vim Bar
 Conformance Quality
Degree to which all product units are identical &
meet promised specification.
 Durability
Products expected operating life.
 Reliability
Probability that product will not manufacture or
fail within specified time.
 Reparability
Availability of parts.
 Style
Products look & feel to buyers.
 Design
Totality of feature that affects how as product
looks & functions in terms of customer requests
II. SERVICES
 Ordering ease
(i) Internet/Phone/Mail order catalogs
( Dell)
 Delivery
(i) Home delivery (Magazine subscription)
(ii) Speed/Accuracy
 Installation
Making product operational in planned locations.
 Customer Training
SPSS/Library software/Testing Equipment
 Customer Consulting
Advisory Services
 Maintenance & Repair
(Water Purifiers
Otis Elevators)
 Miscellaneous Services
III. PERSONNEL DIFFERENTIATION
Service Quality
IV. CHANNEL DIFFERENTIATION
(i) Multilevel Marketing
(ii) Dell

V. IMAGE DIFFERENTIATION
Public’s perception of co. & its image; Use of
symbols, Media, Atmosphere, Events.
 MAJOR PRODUCT DECISIONS
 Product Mix Decisions.

 Product Positioning Decisions.

 Product Attribute Decisions.

 Branding Decisions.

 Packaging & Labeling Decisions.

1. PRODUCT MIX:
The set of all the products offered for sale by a company.
2. PRODUCT LINE:
A group of products that are closely related because they ,
intended for essentially similar use & having similar
physical characteristics.
3. PRODUCT MIX WIDTH:
Refers to how may different product lines the company
carries.
4. PRODUCT LINE LENGTH:
Refers to the no. of items in a product line.
5. PRODUCT LINE DEPTH:
Refers to no. of variants of each product offered in the line.
6. PRODUCT MIX CONSISTENCY:
Refers to how closely related the various products are in
end use, production requirements, distribution channels or
some other way.
 HINDUSTAN UNILEVERS LTD: PRODUCT MIX
(partial)
SHAMPOOS HAIR OIL
 SUNSILK  NIHAR
 CLINIC PLUS  COCOCARE
 CLINIC ALL CLEAR
 LUX FOOD & BEVERAGES
PERSONAL WASH SOAPS  KISSAN
 PEARS  KNORR
 LUX  CAPTAIN COOK
 BREEZE TEA (F & B)
 JAI
 TAJMAHAL
 LIFEBOY
 TAZZA
 HAMAM
 REXONA  RED LABEL
 FAIR & LOVELY  LIPTON TIGER TEA
ORAL CARE
 PEPSODENT
 CLOSEUP
 AIM
HINDUSTAN UNILEVERS LTD (partial)
DETERGENTS POWER
 SURF
 SUNLIGHT
 WHEEL
 CAKES
 RIN
 SUNLIGHT
 WHEEL
 501
SCOURING AIDS
 VIM
 VIM BAR
COSMETICS
 LAKME
 ELLE 18
PRODUCT MIX CONSISTENCY:
COLGATE PALMOLIVE

Palmolive
Others 19% Soaps
Shaving-
Cream
Household
surface Body care 18%
Cleaning 19%
Ajax
Oral Care 21%
Colgate
23% Fabric care Toothpaste
Tooth brushes
Mouth washes
 PRODUCT LINE DECISIONS

• Product Line Length

Line Stretching
Line Filling

• Line Modernization
Line Featuring
Line Pruning
 LINE STRETCHING
• Increased costs often associated with line stretching:
 Design & eng. Costs
 Inventory carrying costs
 Mfg. Change over costs
 Order processing costs
 Transportation costs
 New _items promotion costs
 Issue of cannibalization
 Customer confusion

• Motivation for line stretching:

 Spotting a mew opportunity in the market
 Excess mfg. Capacity
 Pressure from distributors/sales force for a more full line
 Competitors products
 DOWN MARKET STRETCH (Trading Down)
* Reasons
 Co. identifies a strong growth opportunity in down market;
Attracting consumers who want value priced goods.
 Co. feels threat form lower-end customers so counter
attacks by entering lower-end of market.
 Co. finds upper markets stagnating.
* Risks
 May diminish Co’s premium quality image.
 Channel intermediaries may not support because of lower
margins.
 Cannibalization.
* An Imp. Issue
 use same brand as as existing offering.
 Sub-brand name.
 New brand.
 UP MARKET STRETCH (Trading Up)
* Reasons
 Growth opportunities.
 Higher margins.
 Full Range Mfgr.
* Reasons
 Consumers may not believe co. can produce high quality
product.
 Sales force and oculus may not lie quipped to handle
more complicated products.
 Retaliation from comp. who may o cud's to down-
market.
PRODUCT LINE APPRAISAL
a) sales & profits
b) market profile
DECISIONS ON
a) product line length
b) line modernization
c) line featuring
d) line pruning
 PACKAGING
Packaging: An auxiliary product dimension that
includes labels, inserts, instructions, graphic
designs, shipping cartons & size & types of
containers.
FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
o Containment & Protection
o Convenience
Storage
Use
o Information
o Promotion