Introduction

What is a product?
Story of a king? What is a brand?

Is every product a brand?

Is branding necessary? What is the role of a product manager? Planning activities related to the product line Coordinating with other departments Marketing plan

Objectives of product management

Spot marketing opportunities
New product development Generate new ideas

Plan strategies for each stage of PLC

Consolidate existing product profile. Modify and

improve existing products

Difference between product vs general marketing management

Product management
Scope is narrow : single

Marketing management
Broad scope: portfolio of

product or product line Decision making is mainly tactical Time horizon is short run

products Mainly strategic Long run

Marketing plan
It is a written document containing the guidelines for

the business centers marketing programs and allocations over the planning period.

Objectives of a marketing plan

To define the current situation facing the product Define the problems and opportunities facing the

business To establish objectives Define strategies and programs necessary to achieve these objectives To pinpoint responsibility for achieving product objectives To encourage careful and disciplined thinking To establish a customer-competitor orientation

Mistakes in the planning process

the speed of the process Amount of data collected Who does the planning. The structure Length of the plan Frequency of planning Number of courses of actions considered Who sees the plan Not using the plan as a sales document Insufficient senior mgt leadership Not tying compensation to successful planning efforts

Steps in the planning process

Update the facts about the past
Collect ground data Analyze historical and background data

Develop objectives, strategies and action programs

Develop pro forma financial statements Negotiate Measure progress Audit

Components of the marketing plan

Executive summary
Situation analysis Objectives

Product/brand strategy
Supporting marketing programs Financial documents Monitors and controls Contingency plans

Defining the competition

Product form(level 1)
Product category(level2) Generic competition(level 3)

Budget competition (level 4)

 Overlapping market segments

Impact of metamediaries

Methods for determining competitors

Managerial judgment(Ansoffs matrix)
Technology substitution Customer based measures (actual purchase and

judgements)
Judged overall similarity Similarity within consideration sets Product deletion

Category attractive analysis

Category size
Market growth Product life cycle

Sales cyclicity
Seasonality Profits

Category factors
Threat of new entrants (barriers) Economies of scale Product differentiation Capital requirements Switching costs Distribution Bargaining power of buyers Product is large % of buyers cost Product is undifferentiated Buyer earns low profit Buyer threatens to integrate backward Buyer has full information

 Bargaining power of sellers Suppliers are highly concentrated There is no substitute for the product Supply is limited Supplier has differentiated its product Amount of inter category rivalry Many balanced competitors Slow growth High fixed costs Lack of product differentiation Personal rivalries Threat of substitute products