plots i indie Thiele + water 2010 tolal product concept A view ofthe product that describes the core product, expected priut, Augmented preduct and potential producti order to analyse how Ihe product creates value for the customer Marketing The total product concept Products have many different features that can provide value for customers, clients, partners and society at large. In chapter 1, we described the features of a product ag a ‘bundle of attributes’. At the most basic level, marketers must ensure that the product attributes satisfy the needs and wants of potential buyers. It is this ability to satisfy a need or want that makes the product of value to potential customers. To make a product of more value than competing offerings, the marketer must take a more comprehensive view of the product. To understand how the product's value is perceived by potential customers, it is useful to describe the product in terms of its four levels: core product, expected product, augmented product, and potential product. This view of the product is known as the total product concept and is illus- trated in figure 7.1. Figure 7.2 shows how a product (a oredit card) can be analysed using this model. It is crucial for marketers to understand that when customers choose a product, they do not purchase some ‘thing’; rather they buy a solution to a problem. To revisit an example ftom chapter 1: A company that operates vending machines that serve hot drinks should view its business as one that quenches people's thirst, warms: them when out on chilly winter nights and gives them a caffeine boost when they are feeting tired; not as a business that places machines on train station platforms and mixes lukewarm water with powdered flavouring in a cardboard cup. ‘The total product concept is a way of viewing a product as the totality of value and benefits it provides to the customer. Products are offered to the market to be an answer to the customer's problem of an unsatisfied need or want, The core product ‘The core product comprises the fundamental benefit that responds to the custom ex's problem of an unsatisfied need or want. So what is it that will satisfy a ous: tomer’s noed? What is the key benefit they want from a product? For a marketer, understanding these questions will greatly assist in providing the right product to the market, and make sure customers purchase from you and not a competitor, For a mobile phone, the core benefit is reliable, accessible communications; for a credit card, itis the ongoing provision of credit; for a hamburger, itis satisfaction of shumger. Regardless of other changes made to a product, the core product generally remains the same. ‘The expected product ‘The expected product describes those attributes that actually deliver the benofit that forms the core product. They are the attributes that fulfil the customer's most basic expectations of the product. Marketers generally try to differentiate their offering using fundamental characteristics such as branding, packaging and quality standards at the expected product level. ‘The augmented product ‘At the augmented product level, the product delivers a bundle of benefits that the buyer may not require as part of the basic fulfilment of their needs. The augmented product level enables marketers to significantly differentiate their offerings from those of competitors. It is often the augmented product features that form the main xeason for choosing a particular brand, This can include support services, such 2 guarantees. For some mobile phone companies, augmented product features include access to music downloads. For a credit card, product augmentation may extend (0 loyalty programs and prestige (c.g. Amorican Express has carefully eneured that #8 platinum card is considered highly prestigions). Over time, features that form partof the augmented product level can become so widely incorporated into the product that they become part ofthe expected product layer. Years ago, a loyalty program tied (oa credit card was an augmented product feature, but as time passed and all com Potitors offered loyalty programs, the feature became part of the expected product The potential product The potential product comprises all possibilities that could become part of the expected or augmented product. This includes features that are being developed, planned or prototyped, as well as features that have not yet been conceived. For example, in the early days of mobile phones, SMS was an idea for a potential product feature. Within a few years, SMS capability became an augmented product feature and, ultimately, an expected product feature, Today, potential product features of @ mobile phone could include digital television reception. A potential product for credit cards could be their use as a swipe card on public transport, Potential product, features aze attractive to marketers as they offor new ways to differentiate their product and increase the value for customers. Over time, many potential product features become part of the augmented product or even tho expected product. Core product Expected product ‘Augmented product Potential product : routes} cm Plasto card Card numer Signature pane! Verification code Expected Credit nit Acospied by most merchants PIN ‘Aceses to savings eesounis Loyalty cits) echeme Foo waivrs/discounts Discounts to prefered vendors > Augmented re-sale overt tckat purchase Prastiga \Micro-chip secur featuro Mathpanpos koyord Inorensad ec ea (04. totina recogor) ve ? rea Chopter7 Product REE