Products, Services, and Brands Bluefield College October 14, 2010

Product Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption and that might satisfy a want or need. Includes physical objects, services, events, persons, organizations, places, ideas, or a combination thereof. Services are intangible. Examples include banking, hotel accommodations, airline travel, tax preparation, legal services, cable and satellite service and others. Service Any activity, benefit, or satisfaction offered for sale that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything.

Products, Services and Experiences Marketing offerings: Includes both tangible goods and services, as well as combinations of both. Pure good: Camay soap. Pure service: Legal representation. Combination: Restaurant meal.

Three Levels of Product

Product and Service Classification Consumer products: Products and services bought by final consumers for personal consumption. Classified by how consumers buy them: Convenience, shopping, specialty, and unsought goods. Convenience goods: Purchased frequently with little comparison shopping. Low priced. Mass advertising and promotion. Widespread distribution with many convenient locations. Shopping products: Bought less frequently, more planning and effort, brand comparisons on basis of price, quality, style. Higher price. Selective distribution in fewer purchase locations.

Types of Consumer Goods Specialty products: Strong brand preference and loyalty, special purchasing effort, little comparison shopping. High price. Exclusive distribution in only one or a few outlets per market area. Carefully targeted promotion by both producer and reseller. Unsought products: Little product awareness or knowledge of the brand, sometimes negative interest. Pricing strategies vary. Distribution strategies vary. Require aggressive advertising and personal selling by both producer and resellers.

Product and Service Classification Industrial products: Those purchased for further processing or for use in conducting business. Distinction between consumer and industrial products is based on the purpose for which an item is bought. Types of Industrial Goods Materials and parts: Raw materials, manufactured materials, and parts. Capital items: Products that aid in buyer’s production or operations. Supplies and services: Operating supplies, maintenance, and repair items.

Other Market Offerings Organizations: Profit and nonprofit (schools and churches). Persons: Politicians, sports figures, doctors, etc. Places: Create, maintain, or change attitudes or behavior toward particular places. Ideas (social marketing): Public health campaigns, environmental campaigns, family planning, or human rights.

Individual Product Decisions Product quality dimensions: Performance quality. Conformance quality. Product feature considerations: Value to consumer. Cost to company. Product style and design: Shapes the buyer’s usage experience.

Brand Advantages to buyers: Advantages to sellers: A name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of these, that identifies the products or services of one seller or group of sellers and differentiates them from those of competitors. Advantages to buyers: Helps identify products. Cue to product quality and consistency. Advantages to sellers: Basis for product’s quality story. Provides legal protection. Helps to segment markets.

Packaging Packaging: Ideally, good packages should: Involves designing and producing the container or wrapper for a product. Ideally, good packages should: Help to market the brand. Protect the contents. Provide convenience and ease of use. Ensure product and user/child safety. Address environmental concerns.

Labeling Labeling refers to printed information appearing on or with the package, including the product name. Performs several functions: Identifies product or brand. Describes several things about the product. Promotes the product through attractive graphics. Labeling is regulated by the government.

Product Support Services Monitoring of support services is key: Talk with customers to assess the value and quality of current services and to obtain ideas for new services. Fix problems and put together a package of new services that delights the customers and yields profits for the company. New technologies can often enhance many support service offerings.

Product Line Product line length is a major decision. A group of products that are closely related because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges. Product line length is a major decision. Filling (adding more). Stretching (downward, upward or both ways). The set of all of the product lines and items that a particular seller offers for sale. Product mix dimensions include: Width: the number of different product lines the company carries. Length: the number of items in a line. Depth: the number of versions offered of each product in the line. Consistency: how closely related various lines are.

Four Service Characteristics

Brand Equity Brand equity: The differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product or its marketing. Brand equity: Measures the brand’s ability to capture consumer preference and loyalty. Is a valuable asset that offers many competitive advantages. Builds strong and profitable customer relationships that result in loyal customers (customer equity).

Brand Strategy Decisions Marketers can position brands clearly in customers’ minds at any of three levels: Product attributes Product benefits Beliefs and values Marketers should create a brand mission and vision of what the brand must be and do when positioning the brand.

Brand Name Selection Desirable qualities for a brand name: It should suggest the product’s benefits and qualities. It should be easy to pronounce, recognize, and remember. It should be distinctive. It should be extendable. It should translate easily into foreign languages. It should be capable of registration and legal protection.

Brand Sponsorship Brand sponsorship options include: National brands Also called manufacturer brands Store brands Also called private brands Licensed brands Name or character licensing Co-branding Creates broader appeal and brand equity

Brand Development Strategies

Brand Development Line extension: Brand extension: Multibranding: Extending an existing brand name to new forms, colors, sizes, ingredients, or flavors within a product category. Brand extension: Extending an existing brand name to new product categories. Multibranding: Offers a way to establish different features and appeal to different customer segments, lock up more reseller shelf space, and capture a larger market share. New brands: Developed based on belief that the power of its existing brand is waning and a new brand name is needed. Also used for products in a new product category.

Managing Brands Continuously communicate the brand’s positioning to consumers. Manage all brand touch points to maximize the brand experience. Live the brand – the firm must train employees to be customer centered. Implement internal branding campaign among employees. Audit brands strengths and weaknesses on a regular basis.