 One of the major tasks of business is to provide utility.  Utility means usefulness.  In a business context, utility means the ability of a product to satisfy human wants and needs.

 Is added when a business changes the form or something to make it more useful.  Enhancing the marketability of a product by changing its physical characteristics  Example: An auto manufacturer takes steel, plastic, fabric, and glass and turns them into an automobile.  Example: Making boxed detergent available in liquid form.  In a service business, the production of the service itself provides the utility.

 Is added when a business makes a product available at convenient places.  Example: A car dealer adds place utility by building a show room near where you live.  Example: Vending machines

 Is added when a business makes products available at the times that customers want them.

 Is added when a business provides information about a product to a customer.  Advertising provides information utility by describing products and telling customers where to buy them.

 Is added when a business makes it easer for a customer to acquire a product.  Various time payment, leasing, and credit purchase strategies can be important in making a product more attractive to a consumer

 Marketers often refer to the process of adding utility as adding value.  Adding value means adding a feature or service that makes a product meet more customer wants and needs.  Example: A furniture store offers free delivery

 Goal: Design a “Utility Book” that illustrates the five utilities for one consumer product.

 Types of Trees Used: Spruce, Fir, Aspen, Maple and Eucalyptus

 Production Process: 1. Bales of pulp are put into a hydrapulper, which resembles a giant electric mixer. The pulp is mixed with water. 2. As the stock moves to the machine, more water is added to make a thinner mixture which is more than 99 percent water. 3. A felt belt carries the sheet from the forming section to the drying section. 4. The large rolls are transferred to a rewinder, where two sheets of wadding are plied together before being further processed by calender rollers for additional softness and smoothness. 5. In the converting department, numerous rolls are put on the multifolder, where in one continuous process, the tissue is interfolded, cut and put into Kleenex® tissue cartons which are inserted into shipping containers.

 Kleenex are conveniently sold in nearly every grocery store, convenience store and gas station in the United States.  You cannot purchase Kleenex on the official website.  On the Kleenex website, you can search for hard to find items

 At any hour of the day, you would be able to go to a store (such as Wal-Mart) and purchase a box of Kleenex.

 You can find information regarding Kleenex products on the official website (

 Kleenex products are affordable and relatively easy to find.  If you register for the Newsletter online, you will receive s regarding promotions and coupons.

 The marketing functions are the activities that marketers perform to carry out marketing mix decisions and add utility to products.  In a small company, all functions may be performed by one or two people.  In a large corporation, each function might have its own department.

 Involves managing the money for marketing activities  Gathering information on costs of marketing activities and preparing budgets  Helping customers with possession utility  Provide customer credit

 Marketing information management (MIM) is also called marketing research  MIM gathers, analyzes, and distributes information about markets, competition, and customers  Includes developing surveys, analyzing the results of surveys, and meeting with customers

 Getting products from producers to customers  Activities include transporting goods, storing goods, making sure products get where they are needed on time, and transferring ownership of products

 Specializes in developing products  Improving an old product  In retail, product management includes deciding which products to carry in a store.

 All activities involved in setting prices for products  Includes:  Using financial information to determine price  Setting prices to cover costs and include reasonable profit  Adjusting prices when conditions change

 Refers to the nonpersonal communication with customers  The same message is conveyed to all customers  Includes:  Advertising  Public Relations  Sales Promotion  Visual Merchandising

 Consists of personal communications with customers  Includes:  Helping customers in a store  Making sales presentations  Answering questions on the phone  Demonstrating how a complex product works