Chapter 5. Product Mix

Product

anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy and delight a need or want of the target clientele. It is a set of tangible and intangible attributes, including packaging, color, price, quality, and brand, plus the seller’s services and reputation.

Durable and Non Durable Goods

CLASSIFICATION OF PRODUCTS According to Durability:

Consumer goods and Industrial goods

CLASSIFICATION OF PRODUCTS According to Type of end-user or the purpose for which the product is to be used:

Core, Actual, Augmented

Three Levels of Product

Core Product

It is not the tangible physical product. You can't touch it, because this product is the benefit of the product that makes it valuable to you.

Actual Product

It is the tangible, physical product

Augmented Product

It is the non physical part of the product. It usually consists of lots of added value for which you may or may not pay a premium.

Physiological satisfactions

full stomach, quenched thirst, comfortable bed, warm and subdued environment

Economic satisfactions

good value for money, rapid service, convenient location, and credit facilities.

Social satisfactions

enjoyable company, attentive service, and sound advice on food and wines.

Psychological satisfactions

enhancement of self-esteem, status, and security.

Product line

is a group of products that are fairly closely related. It is a broad group of products, intended for essentially similar uses and having similar physical characteristics.

Product mix

The set of all product lines offered for sale by the company

Product positioning, Brand or Genetic name, Packaging, Other image building features

What are the four product mix strategies?

Product Positioning

It is a marketing strategy that helps place a product perceptually in the minds of consumers. Positioning typically requires creating differences between your products or services and your competitors' offerings but can be extended to your own products if they are marketed under different brands.

Brand

is a unique identifier for a product or service, helping distinguish it from competitors. It is the spoken part of the brand.

Brand mark

is a visual element of a brand, such as a symbol, design, or unique lettering, that can be recognized by sight but not spoken.

Trademark

is a legally protected brand name or brand mark, ensuring exclusive rights for the seller to use it. This protection prevents others from copying or misusing the brand.

Blanket Family Branding

It uses the same brand name for all products, reducing costs for name research and advertising while building strong brand recognition.

Package

It is a marketing activity of creativity designing and producing the appropriate container or wrapper for a product suitable to target markets relative to competitor’s products.

Primary package

the product’s immediate container

Secondary package

is the packaging material that protects the primary package and the is thrown away when the product is about to be used by the target consumer.

Shipping package

used primarily to store, identify, and ship the product to target markets

For safety and utilitarian purposes

For the company’s marketing program

For increased profit and sales volume

What are the three purposes of packaging?

Introductory stage, Growth stage, Maturity stage, Decline stage

What are the four product life cycle?

Introductory stage

At this stage, the product is launched full-scale into the market, is a period of very bow sales performance during the first few months to one year or more

Growth stage

the product earns market acceptance, it should at some point enter period of comparatively rapid growth.

Maturity stage

as the product approaches the end of its growth period, sales begin to decline. This is to be expected as competing firms try to operate within a slow-growth market

Decline stage

is characterized by falling sales and falling profits. Most competitors have withdrawn from the market. Survivor firms compete within even smaller market, driving profit margins lower still.

Hygiene

It comes next to the basic function of accommodation. Hygiene plays a very important role in the status of a hotel.

Room service

When people go to hotels, they would expect good and prompt room service. This means, when they order food or ask for any service, a hotel that provides it promptly will have a great edge over the other hotels.

Price

The price of the rooms should be such that both the rich and the middle-class people can afford them.

Etiquettes

The people who come in contact with the customers, that is, the reception people, room service people, and waiters, all have to be trained well to behave in a manner that pleases the customer.

Food and Wine

The food should be of good quality and should be prepared in hygienic conditions.