Introduction

 

Product:

 The product is the most tangible and important
single component of marketing programme. Also a product is what can be offered
to a market to satisfy a want or a need, including physical goods, services,
experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organisations, information
and ideas.

            Without a product, there is nothing
to distribute, promote and do pricing off. To a marketer product are the
building blocks of a marketing plan. Good products are key to market success.
Product is a vehicle by which a company provides consumer satisfaction. It is
the engine that pulls the rest of the manufacturing programme. These are what
fulfils the need of the society. These represent the bundle of expectations to
consumer and society.

 

 

 

“AT THE HEART
OF A GREAT BRAND IS A GREAT PRODUCT”

EXAMPLES:

 

1.   Himalaya: products of Himalaya company

 

 

 

2.   Lays: products by lays

 

 

 

 

Product hierarchy:

 

 

1.   
Need
family:  the core
need that underlies the existence of a product family.

 

2.   
Product
family: all the product classes that can satisfy a basic
need with reasonable effectivity.

 

 

3.   
Product
class: a group of products in a product family recognised to be
substitute of one another.

 

4.    Product line: A product line is a group of related
products under a single brand sold by the same company. Or it a group of
product offer by single seller ,to a single target customer ,to satisfy same
kind of need, through same supply chain at relatively same price.

5.    Product type: a group of a items In the a product line that share same
attributes

 

6.    Item: a distinct unit within the product line that is distinguished on
size, appearance and price etc.

 

Product mix

Product mix is the set of
or an entire range of the products and items a particular seller offers for
sale. It need not consist of related products. It consists of various product
lines. It is also known as product assortment. A product line and product mix
may vary from one company to another. The product mix
is a subset of the marketing
mix.

 

 

 

 

 

An organisation product mix
has 4 dimensions:

1.    Width

2.    Length

3.    Depth

4.    Consistency

 

 

Width:   width of any product refers to  “how many product lines the organisation
carries”. Hindustan Uni Lever provides
wide width of its products being the personal care, home care and beverages.
Width of HUL product mix also includes Laundry, Personal wash, Skin care, oral
care, hair care, Deodorants, coffee and tea.

 

           
Length: length of a
product mix refers to the total number of items, products in that mix.  Hindustan Uni Lever product mix,
there the length of product mix is 23.

           

             Depth: it refers to how many variants are offered in the
product line. It includes the distinct factors like the size, colour, flavour,
quality etc. or example,
Close-up, brand of HUL is available in three formations and in three sizes.
Hence, the depth of Close-up brand is 3*3 = 9.

            Consistency: it
describes how closely related the various product lines are in their end use.
It refer to ques whether or not the products have production affinity, marketing
affinity and research affinity.

 

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE:

Product life cycle is the time period of any product over which a
product is made or developed, introduced in the market, upto the time it is
withdrawal from the market. A product life cycle asserts 4 things. These being:

1.    Products have a limited life

2.    Product sale pass through distinct stages, each of them posing different
opportunities, challenges, and other problem to the sellers.

3.    Products rise and fall at different stages of life cycle.

4.    Products require different marketing, financial,manufacturing and
purchasing strategies in each life cycle.

 

 

STAGES OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE:

 

1.   
INTRODUCTION: a period of slow sales growth as the
products is introduced in the market. Profits are non-existent because of heavy
expenses of product introduction.

 

Features:

a.    Small market

b.    Creates a buzz

c.    High cost

d.    Less/ no profit   

 

2.   
GROWTH: a period of rapid market acceptance
and substantial profit improvement.

 

Features:

a.   
Consumers aware of brand

b.    Increased sale

c.    Low cost

d.    Increased competition

e.    More money spent on advertisement

 

3.   
MATURITY: a slowdown in sales growth because
the product has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits stabilize
or decline because of increasing profit.

 

Features:

a.    Most profitable

b.    Increased competition

c.    Product innovative

d.    Less market share

e.    Decrease in price

f.      Profits start to decrease

g.    Marketing strategies shift to direct selling

 

4.   
DECLINE: sales show a downward drift and
profits erode.

 

Features:

a.    Market declines

b.    Prices fall

 

Examples:

Cadbury
Dairy Milk is currently in the maturity stage of its product Life cycle. It
currently possess a market share of 70% in the chocolate market and is way
ahead of its competitors. There is a high degree of brand
awareness

 

 

 

Product mix decisions:

The decisions taken regarding the addition and elimination of any of the
existing product from the product mix, adding a new product line or lengthening
any existing product line. A product is what posses a want satisfying
attributes. A consumer is not necessarily to buy what the company thought it
was marketing. So marketers must be well aware of consumer attributes, values,
needs, and wants with respect to their products.

The major product decisions
are:

1.   
Which new product should be developed?

2.   
What changes are needed in current product?

3.   
What product should be added or dropped?

4.   
What positioning should the product occupy?

5.   
What should the branding strategy be?

 

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

the sales and profits of a product category tend to change
over time. The pattern a product category typically follows is called product
life cycle. it is defined to have the introductory, growth, maturity and
decline stages.. because most products reach the maturity and decline stages
eventually, a marketer must continually seek out a new products which can go
through a introductory and growth stages in order to maintain and increase
total profit of the firm.

New product is a kind of a journey.  It is that road which leads to the actual
product and then that actual product to the market. It all starts with an idea.

But what new products must be introduced?

To answer this question, a marketer must consider the objectives
of the firm, the resources available, the resources available, the target markets
the firm is trying to satisfy, and how the new product would fit in with other products
offered by the company and the new competition.