1/25/2022

Topic Seven

Products, Services, and Brands:

Building Customer Value

Topic Outline

• Definitions
• Product and
Services
Decisions
• Branding
Strategy: Building
Strong Brands

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1. Definitions
Product is anything that can be offered in a market for
attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that
might satisfy a need or want

Services are a form of product that consists of

activities, benefits, or satisfactions offered for sale
that are essentially intangible and do not result in
the ownership of anything.

Experiences represent what buying the product or

service will do for the customer

2.Three Levels of Product and Services

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• Consumers see products as

complex bundles of benefits
that satisfy their needs.
• When developing products,
marketers first must identify the
core customer value that
consumers seek from the
product. They must then design
the actual product and find
ways to augment it in order to
create this customer value and
the most satisfying customer
experience.
Note: To augment is to make
(something already developed
or well under way) greater, as in
size, extent, quantity or quality.

3.Product and Service Classifications (1/4)

Classes based on types of consumers that use them
(There are consumer products and industrial
products)
(a) Consumer products
Are products and services for personal
consumption and by how consumers buy them
– Convenience products
– Shopping products
– Specialty products
– Unsought products

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3.Product and Service Classifications (2/4)

Convenience products are consumer products
and services that the customer usually buys
frequently, immediately, and with a minimum
comparison and buying effort e.g.
Newspapers, Candy, Fast food etc
Shopping products are consumer products and
services that the customer compares carefully
on suitability, quality, price, and style e.g.
Furniture, Cars, Appliances etc

3.Product and Service Classifications (3/4)

Specialty products are consumer products and
services with unique characteristics or brand
identification for which a significant group of
buyers is willing to make a special purchase effort
e.g. Medical services, Designer clothes, High-end
electronics etc
Unsought products are consumer products that the
consumer does not know about or knows about
but does not normally think of buying e.g. Life
insurance, Funeral services, Blood donations etc

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3.Product and Service Classifications (4/4)

(b) Industrial products are products purchased for further
processing or for use in conducting a business and
classified by the purpose for which the product is
purchased i.e.
– Materials and parts
– Capital items
– Supplies and services
• Materials and parts include raw materials and
manufactured materials and parts.
• Capital items are industrial products that aid in
the buyer’s production or operations, including
installations and accessory equipment.
• Supplies and services include operating supplies
and maintenance and repair services.

4. Other market offerings

In addition to tangible products and services,
marketers have broadened the concept of a
product to include activities to sell
Organizations e.g. “visible success”
Persons e.g. “Jenerali on Monday”, “Ronaldo”
Places e.g. “Discover Tanzania”
Ideas (social marketing) e.g. “malaria
haikubaliki”, “making life better”

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5. Product and Service Decisions (1/7)

5.1 Individual Product and Service Decisions

Product and Service Decisions (2/7)

Product attributes
Are the benefits of the product or service
• Quality (level and consistency)
-Total quality management (TQM) is an approach in
which all the company’s people are involved in
constantly improving the quality of products,
services, and business processes.
• Features(competitive tool for differentiating a
product )
• Style (describes the appearance) and
Design(contributes to a product’s usefulness as well
as to its looks)

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Product and Service Decisions (3/7)

Brand
Is the name, term, sign, or design—or a
combination of these—that identifies
the maker or seller of a product or
service
Brand equity is the differential effect that
the brand name has on customer
response to the product and its
marketing

Product and Service Decisions (4/7)

Packaging involves
designing and
producing the
container or wrapper
for a product

Labels identify the

product or brand,
describe attributes,
and provide
promotion

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Product and Service Decisions (5/7)

Product Support Services
A company’s offer usually includes some
support services, which can be a minor
or a major part of the total offering
Primary responsibility for responding to
end-user and partner requests for
assistance with the company's products
and services

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Product and Service Decisions (6/7)

5.2 Product line decisions
A product line is a group of products that are closely related
because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the
same customer groups, are marketed through the same
types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges.
• Product line length is the number of items in the product
line.
• Product line filling involves adding more items within the
present range of the line.
• Product line stretching occurs when a company lengthens
its product line beyond its current range.
 located at the upper end of the market can stretch their
lines downward.
 located at the lower end of the market can stretch their
product lines upward.
 located in the middle range of the market can stretch their
lines in both directions.

Product and Service Decisions (7/7)

5.3 Product Mix Decisions
Product mix (or product portfolio) consists of all the products
and items that a particular seller offers for sale.
A company’s product mix has four dimensions:
 width refers to the number of different product lines the
company carries.
 length refers to the total number of items the company
carries within its product lines.
 depth refers to the number of versions offered of each
product in the line.
 consistency refers to how closely related the various
product lines are in end use, production requirements,
distribution channels, or some other way.

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6. Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands (1/6)

Brand represents the consumer’s perceptions and
feelings about a product and its performance. It is
the company’s promise to deliver a specific set of
features, benefits, services, and experiences
consistently to the buyers
Brand strength can be measured along four
consumer perception dimensions:
• differentiation (what makes the brand stand out),
• relevance (how consumers feel it meets their
needs),
• knowledge (how much consumers know about the
brand), and
• Esteem (how highly consumers regard and respect
the brand).

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Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands (2/6)

Brand valuation is the process of estimating the total
financial value of a brand. High brand equity provides a
company with many competitive advantages.
• High level of consumer brand awareness and loyalty.
• More leverage in bargaining with resellers.
• More easily launch line and brand extensions.
• Defense against price competition.
• Builds strong and profitable customer relationships.

Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands (3/6)

6.1 Brand Positioning

Marketers can position

brands at any of
three levels:
• Product attributes
• Product benefits
• Product beliefs and
values

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Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands (4/6)

6.2 Brand Name Selection
Desirable qualities
1. Suggest benefits and qualities
2. Easy to pronounce, recognize, and remember
3. Distinctive
4. Extendable
5. Translatable for the global economy
6. Capable of registration and legal protection

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Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands (5/6)

6.3 Brand Sponsorship

 National brand (or Manufacturer’s brand)
 Private brand (or store brand or reseller
brand)
 Licensed brand
 Co-brand

Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands (6/6)

6.4 Brand Development

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