Marketing & Social Media

Set of marketing tools the firm uses to implement its marketing strategy, Product, Price, Place, Promotion Each tool should be blended into a comprehensive integrated marketing program.

• What are the characteristics of products and how can they be classified?
• How can companies use packaging, labeling, warranties and guarantees as marketing tools?
• How can companies differentiate products?
• How can companies build and manage its product mix and product lines?

Concept of the product life cycle, marketing strategies at each stage

• Know how companies find and develop new product ideas
• Know the main stages in developing new products and how to best set up the new product development process
• Concept of diffusion and consumer adoption process for newly launched products

• What is a brand and how does branding work?
• What is brand equity?
• What kind of branding strategies exist?

Marketing mix is derived from the company's objectives and marketing strategy

• Physical goods
• Services
• Experiences
• Events
• Persons
• Places
• Properties
• Organizations
• Information
• Ideas

Consumer products are bought by final consumers for personal consumption. Industrial products are bought by individuals and organizations for further processing or for use in conducting a business.

– Materials and parts, capital items, and supplies and services

Anything offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a need or want.

Core customer values

• Attractive Optic
• Sun protection

Actual product

• High quality materials
• Recognizable design
• Famous brand
• Exclusiveness

Augmented product

• Warranty: 2 years against crash
• Design / personalize / customize sunglasses (choose type, materials)
• Free shipping
• Easy returns

Packaging has been influenced by

• self-service
• Consumer affluence
• Company/brand image
• Innovation opportunity

• Identifies
• Grades
• Describes
• Promotes
• Protects
• Transports

The packed product. Packaging is a differentiation tool

• Individual product decisions
  • Product attributes
  • Branding
  • Packaging
  • Labeling
  • Product support services
• Product line decision
• Product mix decisions (product assortment)

• A product line is closely related products that:
  • Have similar functions and customer groups
  • Are sold through similar outlets or fall withing given price ranges
• Product line length is the number of items in the product line.
  • Product line filling
  • Product line stretching

Product mix decisions (product assortment)

• Product mix, portfolio, category, range, assortment = a group of diverse but related items that function in a compatible manner.
• A product mix has a certain:
  • Breadth or width: number of product lines (e.g. unclever producing cooking oil, toilet soap, cosmetic, ice cream etc. )
  • Length: total number of products in one product line
  • Depth: number of variants of each product offered (stock keeping units)
  • Consistency: relationship between different product lines regarding end use, production requirements, distribution channels, or some other

A product line extension is the use of an established product brand name for a new item in the same product category.

Line Extensions occur when a company introduces additional items in the same product category under the same brand name such as new flavors, forms, colors, added ingredients, package sizes.

The Product Portfolio:

• The complete collection of products marketed by a firm or business unit

Managing the Product Portfolio: The portfolio should be thought of and managed as an integrated whole, rather than as individual products.

The Firm must balance its portfolio across several dimensions:

• Old products versus new products
• Cash generation and cash use
• Growth and profit
• Short term and long term

Approaches to Portfolio Balancing:

• Financial analysis
• Portfolio analysis

Implications: To meet close performance gaps and attain performance objectives requires investment…and choices among investment alternatives

Choices: Which Products and Markets?

• Further market penetration
• New markets and segments
• New products
• New businesses

Key Question: Which opportunities do we target with which products? Key Problem: How to choose which opportunities to pursue and manage the product portfolio.

1. Idea generation - to capture new ideas
2. Idea distillation - to screen out those ideas not worth taking forward
3. Concept definition - to consider specifications such as technical feasibility and market potential
4. Strategic analysis - to ensure your ideas fit into your business' strategic plans
5. Concept development- to create a prototype product or pilot service
6. Test marketing- to ensure your product can be modified according to customer, manufacturer ad support organizations' feedback.
7. Product launch - determine how to sell, promote and support your product

A name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.

Role of brands is to:

• Identify the maker
• Offer legal protection
• Create barriers to entry
• Signify quality
• Provide competitive advantage
• Secure price premium

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

Brands embody a core promise of values and benefits consistently delivered. Brands provide clarity and guidance for choices made by companies, consumers, investors and other stakeholders.

1. Brand positioning
   1. Powerful brand positioning builds around strong consumer beliefs and values
2. Brand name
   1. Based on product benefits, target market, and marketing strategies
3. Brand sponsorship
   1. Launch a national brand (or manufacturer's brand)
   2. Sell to resellers that use a private brand (store brand)
   3. Licensing
   4. Co-branding
4. Brand development
   1. Line extensions
   2. Brand extensions
   3. Multibrands
   4. New brands