PRODUCT MARKETING

1. PRODUCT MARKETING ANYTHING THAT CAN BE OFFERED TO THE MARKET THAT MIGHT SATISFY A WANT OR A NEED

2. PRODUCT LEVELS AUGMENTED ACTUAL CORE Adapted from Kotler, 1994

3. sales Product Life Cycle • Products have limited lives, so ______________ • Products pass through different stages--each with different appropriate marketing strategy implications and profitability, so _______________ • Shape varies! Sales & profits profits intro growth maturity decline

4. Why Is There a PLC? • Adoption Process • Diffusion Process • Product Characteristics

5. THE ADOPTION PROCESS AWARENESS INTEREST EVALUATION TRIAL ADOPTION

6. The Diffusion Process innovators early early late laggards adoptors majority majority What is missing? (non-adoptors) What are some of the problems with this? (not a time but attitude issue)

7. Product Characteristics that Impact Adoption • RELATIVE ADVANTAGE • COMPATIBILITY • DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY • TRIALABILITY • OBSERVABLE RESULTS

9. Two Mini-cases--Just Do Them! • What stage in the product life cycle is this product in? • Who do you think should be the target market (think about diffusion!) • Develop an appropriate marketing objective. • Outline an appropriate strategy.

10. Mini Case 1: Your R&D department has developed a completely revolutionary way to take notes in the classroom. The product is named “Wilbor”—a short name for “WILLingly takes BORing notes.” To use the product, an individual wears a headphone. Everything that s/he thinks that is addressed to the computer is recorded onto a 51/2 inch diskette. For instance, the EMBA students might think, “Oh dear, I better remember what the early majority is,” so the student thinks, “Wilbor record that the early majority is about 34% of adopters. Consumers in the early majority make deliberate decisions and have many social contacts. End Wilbor.” The electronic record is compatible with Microsoft Word. The student simply puts the diskette into a disk drive and prints out detailed, legible notes. To your knowledge, no other firm can offer this product.

11. Mini Case 2: Your R&D department has developed a better way to make banana bread from a mix. The new mix includes all dry ingredients and a special package of banana puree (that does NOT turned that brown disgusting color) mixed with vanilla extract. This package is to be added to the mix prior to baking and results in a more “bananay” taste and a moister bread. Secondary sources suggest that sales of banana bread mixes have been experiencing slow growth during the past few years. Competitors include Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Martha White and Jim-Dandy.

12. Definition Time! • Product mix-- • total assortment of product offerings • Product line • --group of individual products that is ________ related - designed to meet a single need • width--number of product lines • length-number of products in a line • consistency-how closely related the product lines are

13. Expansion is important to a firm! • How to Expand: • downward stretch • upward stretch • two-way stretch • line-filling • Cannibalization

14. SERVICES MARKETING INTANGIBLE PRODUCTS INVOLVING A DEED, A PERFORMANCE, OR AN EFFORT WHICH CANNOT BE PHYSICALLY POSSESSED

15. Important facts about services in the US • Demand for services is increasing: • consumers are VERY busy • consumers have discretionary income • companies are outsourcing • technologies make more services available • Services are making up a (larger or smaller) part of our GDP.

16. SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS • INTANGIBLE • can not be tested by any of the five senses • PERISHABLE • can not be stockpiled • INSEPARABILITY • simultaneous production and consumption • VARIABILITY • can not standardize service quality

17. Environmental Influences on Services • Economic • Political/legal • Social • Technological

18. Challenges to the Service Marketer: Pricing • What features are included in price. • Consumers use price as cue to quality What is the price-quality connection • Pricing to influence demand • Off-peak pricing; penalties

19. Challenges to the Service Marketer: Promotion • Consumers rely on personal sources for information. • Must communicate benefits. • Dealing with greater post-purchase evaluations

20. Challenges to the Service Marketer: Place • Facility location should be: a. Close to the customer. b. Close to the suppliers. c. It depends – Using location to deal with fluctuations in demand??

21. Challenges to the Service Marketer: Product (service) Perceptions • Tangibles -- Physical evidence of service • Price Cues • Responsiveness- willingness and readiness of employees to provide service • Empathy- efforts to understand needs and respond • Assurance- knowledge and competence

22. Think about: • Your really good service experience: • Your really bad service experience:

23. Good experiences include: Bad experiences include: What factors make a good/ bad service experience?

24. Pricing Preparation • Talk to a small business owner/manager or someone in your company who is responsible for determining prices. • Ask the following questions: • 1. How do you set your prices? What things do you consider? • 2. What causes you to change prices? When is the last time you changed a price(s)? • How do you know if the price is “right”? We’ll talk about this in the next class.