Product mix and Product line

Product mix – is the setoff all products offered for sale by a company.

Breadth – the number of product lines carried.

Depth – the variety of sizes, colors, and models offered within each line.

Product line – broad group of products, intended for essentially similar uses and having
similar characteristics.

Product mix Strategies

Positioning – developing image that the product projects in relation to competitive
products and to the firms offering.

Positioning strategies

 Positioning in relation o a competitor

 Positioning in relation to a product class or attribute
 Positioning by price and quality

Product mix expansion

Product mix expansion – accomplish by increasing the depth within a particular line
and/or the number of lines a firm offers to customer.

Line extension – adding a similar item to an existing product line with the same
brand name.

Product alteration – improving an establish product, this can be more profitable and
less risky than developing a completely new one.

Product-mix alteration – carried out by either by eliminating an entire line or by

simplifying the assortment within the line.

Trading up and Trading down

Trading up – is adding a higher price product to a line to attract a broader market.

Trading down – is adding a lower price product to company’s product line.

The product life cycle
Product life cycle – consists of the aggregate demand over an extended period of time
for all brands comprising a product.

Stages and characteristics

Introduction – launching product in to the market in a full scale marketing

program. Also called pioneering stage.

Growth – sales and profit rise, frequently at a rapid rate. Also called market
acceptance stage.

Maturity – sales continue to increase but at a decreasing rate.

Decline – sales falling down due to saturated market.

Planned obsolescence and fashion

Planned obsolescence is used to refer either two developments:

 Technological obsolescence – technical improvement results in a more effective

product.
 Style obsolescence – people feel that fashion is out dated. Also called
psychological or fashion obsolescence.
Nature of style and fashion
 Style – is a distinctive manner of construction or presentation in any art, product, or
endeavor.
 Fashion – is any style that is popularly accepted and purchased by successive groups
of people over a reasonably long period of time.

Fashion adoption process

Fashion adoption process – is a series of buying waves that arise as a particular style is
popularly accepted in one group.

 Trickle down – where a given fashion cycle flows downward through several
socioeconomic levels.
 Trickle across – where the cycle moves horizontally and simultaneously within
several socioeconomic levels.
 Trickle up – where a style first becomes popular at lower socioeconomic levels
and then flows upward to become popular among higher levels.

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