Products are Complex

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Augmentations

Product LinesGroups of associated items, such as those that consumers use

together or think of as part of a group of similar products

Product CategoryAn assortment of items that the customer sees as reasonable

substitutes for one another

Product FormsDifferent approaches to solving customer problems within a

category

Product AssortmentsThe complete set of all products offered by a firm; also

called the product mix

Product Issues

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Types of Products

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• Strong customer preference

• Will expend considerable effort

Customers will spend time comparing alternatives

Customer not willing to spend any effort to evaluate prior to the purchase

Products customers do not think of buying or do not know about

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• Corporate or family brand– The Gap

• Corporate and product line brands– Kellogg’s Corn

Flakes

• Individual lines– Mr. Clean (Proctor &

Gamble)

Naming Brands and Product Lines

Product Assortment and Product Line Decisions

10-5

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Product Assortment and Product Line Decisions

10-6

Category DepthNumber of stock keeping

units (SKUs) within a category

BrandThe name, term, design, symbol, or any other features that identify one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of

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What Makes a Brand?

10-7

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Frito-lay: Doritos Branding

Value of Branding for the Customer and the Marketer

10-8

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Brand Equity: Brand LoyaltyCombined customer attitudes toward a brand

• Consumers are often less sensitive to price

• Marketing costs are much lower

• Firm insulated from the competition

10-9

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Brand ExtensionThe use of the same brand name for new products being

introduced to the same or new markets

10-10

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Co-BrandingMarketing two or more brands together

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Brand DilutionOccurs when a brand extension adversely affects customer

perceptions about the attributes the core brand is believed to hold

Brand RepositioningA strategy in which marketers change a brand’s focus to target new markets

or realign the brand’s core emphasis with changing market preferences

• How is this repositioning?

10-13

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