Introduction

Panasonic was founded in 1918 by Kōnosuke Matsushita as a vendor of duplex lamp sockets.
In the 1920's Matsushita began regularly launching products. In 1927, he produced a line of
bicycle lamps that were the first to be marketed with the "National" brand name. During World
War II the company operated factories in Japan and other parts of Asia which produced
electrical components and appliances such as light fixtures, motors, electric irons, wireless
equipment and its first vacuum tubes. After the war, Panasonic regrouped as a Keiretsu and
began to supply the post-war boom in Japan with radios and appliances, as well as bicycles.

In 1961, Matsushita traveled to the United States and met American dealers. The company
began producing television sets for the U.S. market under the Panasonic brand name, and
expanded the use of the brand to Europe in 1979.

The company used the National brand outside North America from the 1950s to the 1970s
(the trademark could not be used in the United States because it was already in use). The
inability to use the National brand name led to the creation of the Panasonic brand in the United
States.Over the next several decades Panasonic released additional products, including black
and white TV's (1952), electrical blenders, fridges (1953), rice cookers (1959), color TV's and
microwave ovens (1966)

In 1927, the company founder adopted the brand name "National" for a new lamp product.
In 1955, the company began branding audio speakers and lamps for markets outside Japan as
"PanaSonic", which was the first time it used the "Panasonic" brand name. The company began
to use the brand name "Technics" (テクニクス Tekunikusu)" in 1965 for audio equipment.
The use of multiple brands lasted for some decades.
From 1935 to October 1, 2008, the company name was "Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.,
Ltd." On January 10, 2008, the company announced that it would change its name to
"Panasonic Corporation", in effect on October 1, 2008, to conform with its global brand name
"Panasonic". The name change was approved at a shareholders' meeting on June 26, 2008 after
consultation with the Matsushita family

Panasonic offers a wide range of products and services, including air conditioners,
refrigerators, washing machines, compressors, lighting, televisions, personal computers,
mobile phones, audio equipment, cameras, broadcasting equipment, projectors, automotive
electronics, aircraft in-flight entertainment systems, semiconductors, lithium batteries,
electrical components, optical devices, bicycles, electronic materials and photovoltaic modules.

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Ventilation appliances such as electric fans are manufactured under KDK and rebranded as
Panasonic.

After Panasonic was formed its has turned into a giant global business in more than 130
countries around the world such as North America, Europe, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and
many more.

The famous brand name ‘Panasonic‘ is easily recognised. But behind this popular household
name and the extensive range of consumer durables that carry its label stands its manufacturer,
the foundation of the brand’s success, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Berhad – PMMA.
The PMMA story in Malaysia is an inspirational one made remarkable and reflected in its string
of proud achievements that have successfully spanned two decades. Being the first plant to
manufacture household electrical appliances in Malaysia, the Company confidently took on its
parent company in Japan.

Today, the Panasonic brand name has emerged as one of the most welcome and trusted
brand names for electrical home appliances chosen by most Malaysian households. Panasonic
now aims to achieve “A Better Life, A Better World” in the four business areas which are
Consumer Electronics, Housing, Automotive, business to business (B2B). Panasonic also
manufacture, operate, deliver, and maintain a series of product range with globally competitive
models under the Panasonic brand name to the market, incorporating new features, enhanced
capability and improved quality, and equally important, with our excellent after-sales-services.

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2.1 Product Strategy

Ever since Panasonic Corporation was founded in 1918 as a producer of light bulb sockets,
the company’s product strategy has been clear. At present, Panasonic comes out with a new
high technology product Ultrabin. It is an automatic dustbin which is able to create a grocery
list based on the individual items that you’ve thrown away. It detects the product which has
been thrown into the dustbin by sensor detector and uses Amazon Dash buttons to
automatically order the item by itself.

2.1.1 Product Level - Core Benefit, Actual Product, Augmented Product

Customers often think that a product is simply the physical item that they buy. In order to
vigorously explore the nature of the product, we should consider the three levels of this
automatic trash bin, such as core benefits, actual product and augmented product of it. Core
product is the benefit of a product that makes it valuable to consumers and seeks a solution for
consumer’s problem. The core product of the Ultrabin is convenience. Consumers do not need
to go to the supermarket physically to buy groceries that are used up or needed. When the
consumers throw an item away, they simply just need to place the item in the scanner section
of the dustbin. In addition, consumers can also add an item to the shopping list by giving voice
command recognition to the machine. Also, there will be another column for unwanted waste
products. Thus, there will be two separate columns which are more functional and more
hygienic. Besides, one of the core benefits is that it can save our time. Instead of queueing up
in front of the shopping mall’s counter to make our purchases, we can simply order an item or
grocery by just a simple action at home. Therefore, it saves a lot of time when there is such an
innovative invention to solve consumers’ problems. In this product, we have adopted
renewable energy, which is solar energy, to operate the function of this automatic trash bin.
Despite of using non-renewable energy, this type of photovoltaic solar panels absorbs sunlight
as a source of energy to generate electricity. Therefore, it is more environmentally friendly to
the consumer. Other than that, the operation of the Ultrabin is generated by a nine-voltage
rechargeable battery when there is no sunlight as a source of energy supply. The product type
is a smart technology dustbin and its called Ultrabin. The model of this Ultrabin is U2000 max.
It is the first smart bin produced by Panasonic. It comes with a hexagon shape and the size of
this bin is just the same as the normal dustbin. It has two automatic lids which its opening and
closing is controlled by the sensor detector on the lids. In addition, the inner part of the bin is

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divided into two parts, one is for the ordered trash and another one is for the unwanted waste.
There is a scanner inside the bin so that it will scan the item that you have thrown and then
make the order automatically. There will also have a rechargeable nine-voltage battery along
with a solar panel in order to save the energy of the environment. Besides, there will have some
buttons on the bin so that the consumers can either choose the quantity of the ordered item that
they want to purchase or cancel the order when they accidentally put the unwanted item into
wrong columns. The augmented product of this Ultrabin is having a warranty for repair. A
warranty on the product is the way for the consumer to return the defective product or make a
claim against the warranty. Product’s warranty acts as a protection tool which provides
assurance to consumers against defective products that fail to perform satisfactorily over the
warranty period. For example, Panasonic offers a five-year warranty on this Ultrabin. Besides,
it has provided customer service through buying this Ultrabin. This allows the consumer to
contact the company immediately when there is any request, issue, or inquiry. Moreover, the
Panasonic Corporation is ever ready to provide online support via
https://www.panasonic.com/global/home.html. There is also have free home delivery once the
order was made. This induces the consumer to buy this product just to be entitled to free home
delivery. This not only increases sales but also keep the customers happy by entitling it to free
delivery. This satisfaction will make them use these services.

2.1.2 Product Type

After the Panasonic had evaluated different market segments, it now has decided to target
concentrated (niche) marketing for this new product, Ultrabin. Before introducing this product
to the market, Panasonic establishes a niche market which gives it the opportunity to provide
this automatic trash bin to a narrowly defined group of potential consumers which have specific
needs that other businesses have overlooked. For example, this Ultrabin targets the market
segment based on consumers’ levels of income. Hence, Panasonic is going to address a need
for a product that is not being addressed by mainstream providers such as Samsung, Midea and
Sharp. By focusing on a niche, Panasonic can markets more effectively and efficiently by fine-
tuning its product, price, and program to cater to more specific needs and enhancing consumer
relationships. It also helps Panasonic to reduce its resources by using this concentrated strategy.
For example, Panasonic can be avoided in spending too much of time and effort in product
service development and marketing if it tries to appeal a smaller spectrum of consumer. The
automatic trash bin is considered as a type of consumer product which final consumers bought
for personal consumption. Under the consumer product, the automatic trash bin is classified as

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the specialty products whereby the consumer usually will plan the purchase and actively seek
to purchase because of the unique characteristics and brand identification. For example, a
consumer may purchase this type of smart bin from Panasonic because of the unique functions
performed by it where the consumers cannot get from other brand’s products. Typically, these
consumers will spend time and effort to get it and not easily accept substitute products. This is
due to they are loyal to the uniqueness of the Panasonic brand. In addition, this kind of product
usually has a high price. As the Ultrabin is under the category of electronic device, therefore it
normally falls in the higher price range. Besides, the Ultrabin can only be purchased for the
Panasonic stores or outlets. Although the price of this Ultrabin is high but it is high in quality
and has high-performance consistency which deserve this high price.

2.1.3 Differentiation

Ultrabin 2000max is a unique high technology trash bin which has the design of hexagon
shape.The size of the bin is standard. This Ultrabin has two columns, one column is for the
ordered trash, the item consumers need to order is thrown in this column and another part is
for the unwanted trash. It has water prove scanner inside the bin so that it is not easy to spoil
when it comes in contact with liquid trash. It has a automatic scanner and lid to make the
ordering process faster. Its electrical energy is from a rechargeable nine-volt battery and a solar
battery which conserve the environment energy. Either way can be used to function the bin. At
the back of the bin, there is a small door allowing the consumer to take out the trash. This bin
has a simple feature and can function easily. Compared with other bin, it is convenient and
save the time of the consumers because they do not need to go grocery shopping. The item that
have thrown will be scanned by the scanner and it will automatically add the item into the
shopping list which is sync to the consumer’s phone. We also provide unbeatable customer
service for the consumer and 1-year warranty. Consumers can get the updated details and
information through our website.

2.1.4 Branding

For the brand name, “Ultrabin” was selected as it is easily recognized and remembered by
consumers. A clear brand name can help the Panasonic and its consumers to differentiate the
product with other competitors. Besides, Ultrabin is also easy to pronounce which make it
easier when introducing this new product to the market. In order to build a strong brand image
of Panasonic, a simple explanation about the design of Ultrabin should be made to target
consumers. Hence, this will make the consumers have a deep understanding of the product

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concept. Besides, there are few hazard logo on the Ultrabin to warn the consumers when using
the product such as flammable, keep away from children and keep hand away during operation.

This aims to keep the consumer’s safety. In building strong brands, brand positioning is one of
the major brand strategy decisions. Marketers can position brands at any of three levels.
Desirable benefit is one of the levels of brand positioning. For example, the design and
performance of the Ultrabin are aims to satisfy the target consumers needs and wants. For brand
sponsorship, Panasonic has chosen manufacturer’s brand. For instance, Panasonic is the one
who created, used and owned the brand.

It has been proved that Panasonic sells their output under their own manufacturer’s brand name,
thereby the Panasonic is responsible for marketing the brand as it is owned by itself. For
instance, Panasonic sells its product under its manufacturer’s brand, which is Panasonic
Manufacturing Malaysia Berhad to create customer equity.

Furthermore, Panasonic has used the brand extension when it comes to developing brands.
Brand extension is a strategy to extend the current brand name which is Panasonic to new
products in a new category. For example, the Ultrabin is the very first smart bin produced by
Panasonic.

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2.2 Pricing Strategy

Price, narrowly defined, is the amount of money need to pay for a certain product or
service; if broadly defined, price is the total of all the values that consumers trade in for the
benefits of owning or using a certain product or service. Price is the most flexible element of
the 4P’s: Price, Product, Promotion, and Place. In short, price is the value or the benefits of
using a product or service.

There are two different factors that will affect price decisions, the first one is cost-based
pricing, and the second one is value-based pricing. Cost-based pricing is setting the prices
based on the cost needed for producing, distributing, and selling the product, as well as
including a fair amount in return for its effort and risks taken. Value-based pricing, which is
the main factor that affects our product’s price decision, is setting the price based on the buyer’s
perceptions of value, instead of basing on the seller’s cost. The value identifies as the
willingness of the consumer to pay for a certain product or service and also the maximum price
that the company is able to charge for the product or service.

To the factor of value-based pricing, there are two methods to it, which are good-value
pricing and value-added pricing. Good-value pricing is offering just the right combination of
quality and service at a fair price, whereas value-added pricing is attaching value-added
features and services to differentiate a market offering to support higher prices, instead of
cutting prices to match with competitors. Our product used the value-added pricing method, as
the Ultrabin has many new features that are capable of differentiating itself from the market,
and with these new features, our company is able to set the pricing at a higher value.

Next, the internal considerations that affects our company’s pricing decision to promote
our new product, the Ultrabin, is the marketing strategy, objectives and mix. The general
pricing objective for our new product is product quality leadership. Product quality leadership
is where a company strives to provide the best and highest quality product possible in the
market, thus is able to charge a higher price compared to its competitors. The new and modern
high-tech features in our new product, the Ultrabin will encourage consumers to want to
purchase it.

Besides internal consideration, the external considerations that affects our company’s
pricing decision is the market and demand. Our company can be categorized as oligopolistic

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competition as the companies in this market are highly sensitive of each other’s prices, and are
also extremely alert to their competitors’ strategies and moves. In this competition, the
competing companies usually will offer a variety of differentiated products to their consumers
with a range of different pricing. Due to the product differentiation, competing companies can
differentiate different offers to their consumers. At the same time, companies are not able to
set certain products at a higher price as there is an inverse relationship between the price of the
product and the demand of the consumers. This is because, a higher price will create a lower
demand for a product.

For the Panasonic product Ultrabin, the new product pricing strategy chosen is market
skimming pricing. While market skimming pricing strategy is to initially set a high price for a
new product, this strategy is used to “skim” the amount of income layers by layers from the
market. Though it will make fewer sales, but the sales will be more profitable. Since Ultrabin
is a newly introduced type of product, which is an automatic smart dustbin, there are less
competitors in this market and the high price will not able to be undercut easily. The product’s
high quality and the well-known brand image brings the value of Ultrabin into a higher level,
which is more convincing for the customers to buy the product at high price. In order to gain
more profit, market skimming pricing is suitable to be used for the product Ultrabin.

In order to adapt to the situation changes and also the customer differences, company
practices price-adjustment strategies. The price-adjustment strategy that can practiced for
Ultrabin is psychological pricing. Consumer usually perceived that price is related to the
product’s quality, and higher-priced products usually have higher quality. So, the company not
only can consider about economics but also the price psychology. Since Ultrabin is a new
product, the price will become a signal to show how the quality of the product is. While
customers do not have the experience to judge the quality of this product, the price is important
for customers to perceive the quality of the product. Thus, higher price should be set for
Ultrabin to make the customers believe that it also have higher quality, and to attract more
customers to buy the product. Based on the analysis and strategies above, the pricing
strategy of Panasonic Ultrabin is value-based, and in order to make profitable sales and show
the high quality of the product, a higher price will be offered. However, as higher price may
lower the demand for the product, the price must be within an affordable range, while
customers can still perceive a high value of the product at the same time. Hence, the price of
Panasonic Ultrabin will be offered at RM489.00 based on the value that the product will deliver
to the customers.

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2.3 Place Strategy

In the marketing mix, the process of moving products from the producer to the intended user
is called place. Place strategy plays a fundamental role in the marketing mix of a product or
service. Place strategy outlines how and where a company will place its products and services
in an attempt to gain market share and consumer purchases.Through the use of the right place,
a company can increase sales and maintain these over a longer period of time. This component
of the 4Ps is sometimes referred to as the distribution strategy and may include stores, both
physical and online, and any other means by which the company can reach customers.

There are 4 main types of distribution channels. There are

Direct Channel

In this channel, the manufacturer directly provides the product to the consumer. In this instance,
the business may own all elements of its distribution channel or sell through a specific retail
location. Internet sales and one on one meetings are also ways to sell directly to the consumer.
One benefit of this method is that the company has complete control over the product, its image
at all stages and the user experience.

Producer Consumer

Indirect Channel

In this channel, a company will use an intermediary to sell a product to the consumer. The
company may sell to a wholesaler who further distributes to retail outlets. This may raise
product costs since each intermediary will get their percentage of the profits. This channel may
become necessary for large producers who sell through hundreds of small retailers.

Producer Wholesalers Retailers Consumers

Dual Distribution

In this type of channel, a company may use a combination of direct and indirect selling. The
product may be sold directly to a consumer, while in other cases it may be sold through
intermediaries. This type of channel may help reach more consumers but there may be the
danger of channel conflict. The user experience may vary and an inconsistent image for the
product and a related service may begin to take hold.

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Reverse Channels

The last, most non tradition channel allows for the consumer to send a product to the producer.
This channel is the moving of broken, unwanted, or excess products returned by consumers or
re-sellers. This reverse flow is what distinguishes this method from the others. For example, a
consumer recycles and makes money from this activity.

Company : Panasonic

Product : Ultrabin

Panasonic started its journey from Japan and during the times of World War II started operating
in Asia. Asia has become a very important market for Panasonic where its business operates in
India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and more countries. Its
home country Japan is also an important market where the demand for high value added
products has kept increasing. Besides, United States(US), Turkey and other advanced
economies are also important markets for Panasonic brand. In Europe, it has alliances with
other important CE brands like Phillips which have helped it conduct business efficiently in
this area and US . In addition, Panasonic also operates through a chain of outlets in Ireland and
United Kingdom which sell products exclusively belonging to the brand. Presently, Panasonic
has approximately 580 subsidiary companies around the globe. Thus, this brand new product -
Ultrabin can be launched and sell in all these countries.

The company’s operations are organized broadly into 3 business fields - Consumer, Solutions
and Components & Devices with the help of its 9 domain companies like Eco Solutions, AVC
Networks, Systems & Communications, Energy, Industrial devices, Automotive systems,
Appliances, Health care and Manufacturing Solutions. The Automotive Systems acts as a
subcontractor by supplying the audio equipment to various auto manufacturers. These are the
inbound distribution of Panasonic company.

For the outbound distribution of Panasonic company, this new Panasonic product - Ultrabin
can be purchased from the intermediaries like official outlets, shopping malls, franchised
outlets, retailers and through Panasonic website or other online shopping sites such as Amazon,
Shopee and Lazada which has become the major selling outlets for the company. This will help
to complete the transactions and fulfill the complete transactions.

Panasonic has provided this product in the electronic shops of the city and the clients can
visit the big shops to find this brand new product - Ultrabin. The clients also can get the other

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products in excellent designs and they can get the location of the big stores, from where they
will get the original products of this company. The company has maintained the franchises,
where they provide their products.

Therefore, Panasonic company can use the dual distribution (direct and indirect channels) of
place strategy to sell this brand new product -Ultrabin to help the company in reaching the
customers with its unique offerings. The functions performed by Ultrabin is accessible in all
countries which have solar energy and electricity supply. It brings the utmost functional
performance for the consumers and leads the consumers to a more convenient and modern life.

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2.4 Promotion

Promotion is a form of communication often used in marketing to raise customer

awareness of a brand or a product. It is done to produce sales as well as to create value for
customers. Promotion is necessary for a company to differentiate its products, persuade buyers
to purchase its products and educate customers about its products. Among the several
promotion strategies, we have decided to use advertising, online and social media marketing,
and personal selling to promote our new product, Ultrabin.

Firstly, the main promotion strategies for PANASONIC Ultrabin are advertising and
public relations. Advertising is a form of communication that happens through mass media
which the firm will normally pay for. We will advertise our product in social media platforms
such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and many other major social websites. Advertising in
these sites are relatively inexpensive. Paid social media ads are the kind of advertisement that
focuses on reaching the target audience with how much is paid adjusted to how many see it and
engage with it. Organic social media ads are the kind of advertisement that produces lots of
people talking about it. Products that are posted on Facebook and Instagram are free, and word
about it will quickly get around due to hundreds of people sharing it to others. This will make
people aware of the product. We can save the cost to use on other promotional methods. We
will also publicize the Ultrabin via newspapers and magazines. Although these are traditional
ways of advertising, they are still effective as people still reach for their morning newspaper or
love to settle down with a hard copy of a magazine. Besides, we will also do outdoor advertising
like posting about our product on billboards and public transportation such as MRT, LRT and
taxis. Furthermore, to further engage our target customers on a digital level, we will create a
short video about Ultrabin to post it on sites like YouTube and Hulu to gain public recognition.
Another advertising method that is increasing becoming famous these days is product
placement in movies or television shows. The actors or television hosts can enlighten the wide
audience about our product to make them aware about the Ultrabin.

Moreover, we have decided to promote the Ultrabin through personal selling at

authorised showrooms. Personal selling is where businesses use people, otherwise known as
the sales force, to sell the product after meeting face-to-face with the customer. This is an
effective method as we can to encourage the customer on a personal level to purchase the
product or at least try it out as a trial. Even if they ended up not buying, customers will surely

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talk about the product that they tried out to others. Word about the product will spread around,
and more people will come to visit the showroom. Even though this method is costly and time
consuming, it is highly effective as personal selling can gain high customer attention, provide
interactivity with customers and have more persuasive impact. Also, during product
introduction, the content can be customized to attract attention and the interactivity can
potentially develop customer relationship.

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Conclusion

Panasonic Corporation is one of the largest electronic product manufactures in the world,
comprised of over 556 companies. So the product Ultrabin which is newly dicovered by
Panasonic fulfills the company’s mission which is to achieve total customer satisfaction
through excellent service and innovative engineering solutions with environmentally friendly
products so Ultrabin fulfills the requirements and it has smart-home features in it . Thus, it also
compliments the company’s new brand slogan which is "A Better Life, A Better World". “A
Better Life, A Better World” encapsulates Panasonic’s vision of expanding and pursuing a
better life for each individual customer with its various partners in various spaces and fields,
such as the home, the community, in business, in travel and in technology, and realizing a better
world globally through its contribution to the environment and other factors. As a result,
Ultrabin is one one the best product which fulfill all those aspects as it has unique features yet
save time for people and also Ultrabin is environmental friendly.

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