Marketing and Product Management: Key Concepts and Strategies

Product

Anything of value offered through a marketing exchange, including goods, services, ideas, people, places, organizations, or communities.

Total product concept

A way to understand a product as having core, actual, and augmented layers.

Core product

The basic problem-solving benefit the customer is really buying.

Actual product

The physical product or service itself, including features, brand, styling, and packaging.

Augmented product

Extra benefits and services added to make the offer more attractive.

Convenience products

Low-cost, frequently purchased items that consumers buy with minimal effort.

Shopping products

Higher-involvement products that consumers compare across price, quality, and style before buying.

Specialty products

Unique products with strong brand preference that consumers will make a special effort to buy.

Unsought products

Products consumers do not usually think about or want to buy until a need arises.

Product mix

The complete set of product items a firm offers.

Product line

A group of closely related product items.

Product category

An assortment of items customers see as reasonable substitutes for one another.

Product mix breadth

The number of product lines a firm offers.

Product mix depth

The number of product items within a product line.

Brand

A name, term, sign, symbol, design, or combination used to identify and differentiate one seller's goods or services.

Brand element

Any brand component such as a name, logo, slogan, symbol, character, URL, or jingle.

Brand equity

The overall value and strength of a brand.

Brand awareness

How familiar consumers are with a brand and what it stands for.

Brand associations

Mental links consumers make between a brand and its attributes, image, or meaning.

Perceived value

The relationship between a product's benefits and its costs.

Brand loyalty

Consumers consistently prefer one brand and are less sensitive to price.

Manufacturer brands

Brands owned and managed by the producer.

Private-label brands

Brands owned and managed by retailers.

Generic brands

Low-cost brands with little or no branding.

Reposition in decline

Change how consumers see the product to revive demand.

Service

A performance or action offered to consumers rather than a physical good.

Goods-services continuum

A scale showing that many offerings contain both goods and services.

Intangible service

Services cannot be seen, touched, or stored before purchase.

Inconsistent service

Service quality can vary depending on who delivers it and when.

Inseparable service

Production and consumption often happen at the same time.

Inventory service

Service cannot usually be stored for later sale.

Knowledge gap

The gap between consumer expectations and what marketers think consumers expect.

Standards gap

The gap between what marketers think consumers expect and the service standards they set.

Delivery gap

The gap between service standards and the service actually delivered.

Communications gap

The gap between the actual service delivered and what is promised in promotion.

Reliability

Service quality measure based on dependable and accurate service.

Responsiveness

Service quality measure based on prompt help and service.

Assurance

Service quality measure based on employee knowledge, courtesy, and trust.

Empathy

Service quality measure based on caring, individualized attention.

Tangibles

Service quality measure based on physical facilities, equipment, and appearance.

Empowering employees

A service strategy that gives staff authority to solve customer problems.

Using technology

A service strategy that improves speed, consistency, and convenience.

Providing support and incentives

A service strategy that helps employees deliver better service.

Price

The amount of money exchanged for a product; marketers use it as a key signal of value.

Company objectives

One of the five Cs of pricing; pricing should match the firm's goals.

Profit orientation

A pricing objective focused on earning a target or maximum profit.

Sales orientation

A pricing objective focused on increasing sales volume.

Competitor orientation

A pricing objective focused on matching competitors, often through competitive parity.

Drugstore

A retailer focused on pharmacy items and related convenience goods.

Off-price retailer

A retailer that sells brand-name merchandise at reduced prices.

Extreme-value retailer

A retailer that emphasizes very low prices and a limited assortment.

Services retailer

A retailer whose main offering is a service rather than goods.

Retail mix

The combination of product, price, place, promotion, presentation, and personnel.

Presentation

Store design, layout, and displays.

Personnel

The employees who serve customers and shape the retail experience.

Omnichannel retailing

An approach that integrates multiple shopping channels into one seamless experience.

Integrated marketing communications

The coordination of all promotion tools to send a consistent message.

Communication process

The flow from source to encoding, message, channel, decoding, receiver, and feedback.

Source

The sender of the message.

Encoding

Converting an idea into a message.

Channel

The medium used to carry the message.

Decoding

How the receiver interprets the message.

Feedback

Consumer response that helps the sender evaluate communication effectiveness.

AIDA model

A framework that moves consumers through awareness, interest, desire, and action.

Aided recall

Measures whether consumers recognize a brand or message when prompted.

Top-of-mind awareness

The brand that comes first to mind in a product category.

Lagged effect

Advertising impact that happens after a delay.

Advertising

Any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an organization, product, or idea.

Print advertising

Advertising in newspapers, magazines, or similar printed media.

Television advertising

Advertising that combines sound and sight for broad reach.

Radio advertising

A relatively inexpensive audio medium with targeted reach.

Outdoor advertising

Billboards and other out-of-home media.