Products, Services, & Branding

Chapter Seven

Product, Services, and Branding Strategy

Roadmap: Previewing the Concepts

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1. Define product and the major classifications of products and services.

2. Describe the decisions companies make regarding their individual products and services, product lines, and product mixes.

3. Discuss branding strategy – the decisions firms make in building and managing their brands.

4. Identify the four characteristics that affect the marketing of a service and the additional marketing considerations that services require.

5. Discuss two additional product issues: socially responsible product decisions and international product and services marketing.

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Product Brand name: FIJI Natural

Artesian Water. Product source: comes

from an underground location in Fiji islands.

Key benefits: ultra-clean taste, no impurities or pollutants.

Brand image: “The Taste of Paradise”

FIJI Water – “The Taste of Paradise”Case Study

Promotion It’s a brand experience! Name, packaging, label,

celebrity endorsers and places through which it is sold contributes to “Taste of Paradise” imagery.

Ads evoke exotic origins: tropical forest, volcanoes.

High price charged supports premium appeal.

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What Is a 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, places, organizations, ideas, or some combination thereof.

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What Is a Service?

A form of product that consists of activities, benefits, or satisfactions offered for sale that are essentially intangible and do not result in the ownership of anything.– Examples: banking, hotel, airline, retail, tax

preparation, home repairs.

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Market Offerings

Continuum ranges from pure tangible goods (with no services) to pure services (with no good component) with many combinations in between.– Pure good: Camay soap.– Pure service: Legal representation.– Combination: Restaurant meal.

Creating and managing customer experiences differentiates offers.

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Levels of a Product

Core benefit– What the consumer is really buying.

Actual product– Includes the brand name, features, design,

packaging, quality level. Augmented product

– Additional services and benefits such as delivery and credit, instructions, installation, warranty, service.

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Consumer Products

Products and services bought by final consumers for personal consumption.– Also includes other marketable entities.

Classified by how consumers buy them.

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Convenience Products

Purchased frequently and immediately Low priced Mass advertising Many purchase locations

– Examples: candy, soda, newspapers

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Shopping Products

Bought less frequently Higher price Fewer purchase locations Comparison shop

– Examples: furniture, clothing, cars, appliances

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Specialty Products

Special purchase efforts High price Unique characteristics Brand identification Few purchase locations

– Example: Lamborghini, Rolex Watch

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Unsought Products

New innovations Products consumers do not want to

think about Require much advertising and personal

selling– Examples: life insurance, cemetery plots,

blood donation

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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.

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Industrial Products

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, repair, and

maintenance items

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Other Market Offerings

Organizations: Profit (businesses) and nonprofit (schools and churches).– Includes corporate image advertising.

Persons: Politicians, entertainers, sports figures, doctors, and lawyers.

Places: Create, maintain, or change attitudes or behavior toward particular places (e.g., tourism).

Ideas (social marketing): Public health campaigns, environmental campaigns, family planning, or human rights.

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Individual Product Decisions

Product attributes Branding Packaging Labeling Product support services

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Product & Service Attributes

Product quality– Performance quality– Conformance quality

Features– Value to consumer– Cost to company

Style and design– Influences experience

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Branding

Creating, maintaining, protecting, and enhancing products and services.

A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of these, that identifies the maker or seller of a product or service.

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Branding

Advantages to buyers:– Product identification– Product quality

Advantages to sellers:– Basis for product’s quality story– Provides legal protection– Helps to segment markets

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Packaging

Designing and producing the container or wrapper for a product.

Developing a good package:– Market the brand– Protect the elements– Ensure product safety– Address environmental concerns

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Labeling

Printed information appearing on or with the package.

Performs several functions:– Identifies product or brand– Describes several things about the

product– Promotes the product through attractive

graphics

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Product Support Services

Assess the value of current services and obtain ideas for new services.

Assess the cost of providing the services.

Put together a package of services that delights the customers and yields profits for the company.

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Product Line Decisions

Product line length:– The number of items in a product line.

Adjust line length by:– Stretching

• Downward• Upward• Both directions

– Filling

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Product Mix Decisions

Product mix: – all of the product lines and items that a particular

seller offers for sale.

Product mix dimensions include:– Length: the number of items in a line.– Width: the number of different product lines the

company carries.– Depth: the number of versions offered of each

product in the line.– Consistency: how closely related various lines are.

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Brand Equity

The positive differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product or service.

Provides:– More brand awareness and loyalty– Basis for strong, profitable customer

relationships

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Major Brand Strategy Decisions

Brands are assets that must be carefully developed and managed via:– Brand positioning– Brand name selections– Brand sponsorship– Brand development

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Brand Positioning

Can position brands at any of three levels:– Product attributes– Product benefits– Beliefs and values

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Brand Name Selection

Desirable qualities for a brand name include:1. It should suggest product’s benefits and qualities.

2. It should be easy to pronounce, recognize, and remember.

3. It should be distinctive.

4. It should be extendable.

5. It should translate easily into foreign languages.

6. It should be capable of registration and legal protection.

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Brand Sponsorship

Manufacturer’s brands– Also called national brands

Private brands– Also called store or distributor brands

Licensed brands Co-branding

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Brand Development

Line extension: – introduction of additional items in a given

product category under the same brand name (e.g., new flavors, forms, colors, ingredients, or package sizes).

Brand extension: – using a successful brand name to launch a

new or modified product in a new category.

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Brand Development

Multibranding: – offers a way to establish different features

and appeal to different buying motives. 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 new product category.

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Nature and Characteristics of a Service

Intangibility:– Services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or

smelled before purchase. Inseparability:

– Services cannot be separated from their providers.

Variability:– Quality of services depends on who provides

them and when, where, and how they are delivered.

Perishability:– Services cannot be stored for later sale or use.

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The Service-Profit Chain

Internal service quality Satisfied and productive service

employees Great service value Satisfied and loyal customers Healthy service profits and growth.

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Services Marketing

External marketing:– Traditional marketing via the 4 “P’s”

Internal marketing:– Effective training and motivation of

customer contact employees Interactive marketing:

– Delivering interactions during the service encounter that are satisfying to the buyer

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Major Service Marketing Tasks

Managing service differentiation:– Develop a differentiated offer, delivery, and image.

Managing service quality:– Be customer obsessed, set high service quality

standards, have good service recovery, empower front-line employees.

Managing service productivity:– Train current employees or hire new ones, increase

quantity and sacrifice quality, harness technology.

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International Product and Services Marketing

Decide which products and services to introduce.

Decide how much to standardize or adapt.

Packaging presents new challenges. Services marketers face special

challenges. Trend toward global service companies

will continue.

Rest Stop: Reviewing the Concepts

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1. Define product and the major classifications of products and services.

2. Describe the decisions companies make regarding their individual products and services, product lines, and product mixes.

3. Discuss branding strategy – the decisions firms make in building and managing their brands.

4. Identify the four characteristics that affect the marketing of a service and the additional marketing considerations that services require.

5. Discuss two additional product issues: socially responsible product decisions and international product and services marketing.