Marketing

Lecture 9
 Individual Product Decisions
Individual product decisions involve the
development of a product and related decisions
regarding marketing a product. The below things
are related in individual product decisions. 
• Product Attributes Decision 
• Branding 
• Packaging 
• Labelling
• Product Service Support
 Product
Product Support
Support Services
Services
Labeling
Labeling
Packaging
Packaging
Branding
Branding
Product
Product Attributes
Attributes
Individual Product Decisions
 Individual Product Decisions
Product Attributes Decisions: It is the first task to define the product's
benefits for developing a product. These benefits are communicated and
delivered by product attributed such as quality, features, style and
design. Below factors are related with the product attributes decision.
• Product Quality: Product quality is the ability of a product to perform its
functions, it includes the product's overall durability, reliability, accuracy,
case of operation and repair and other value attributes. 
• Product Features: A product can be offered with varying features. A
company can create higher models by adding more features. Features are a
competitive tool for differentiating the company's product from
competitor's products. 
• Product Style and Design: Another way to add customer value is through
distinctive product style and design. Product is design is an indefinable blend
of form and function, quality and style, art and engineering. 
 Individual Product Decisions
 Branding: Perhaps the most distinctive skill of professional marketers
is their ability to create, maintain, protect and enhance their
products and service as a brand.
 Packaging: Packaging is the activities of designing and producing the
container or wrapper for a product. 
 Labelling: Labels may range from simple tags attached to products to
complex graphics that are part of the package. At the very least, the
label identifies the product or brand. It might also describe several
things about the product that made it, where it was made, when it
was made, its contents, how it is to be used and how to use it safety.
 Product Service Support: Customer service is another element of
product strategy. A company's offer to the marketplace usually
includes some services, which can be a minor or a major part of the
total offer.
 Product Line Decisions
• 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
• A company can expand its product line in two ways:
• Product line Filling involves adding more items
within the present range of the line.
• Product Line Stretching adding products that are
higher or lower priced than the existing line.
 Product Mix Decisions
• Product mix consists of all the product lines and
items that a particular seller offer for sale.
• It has three important dimensions:
• Product mix width refers to the number of different
product lines the company carries.
• Product mix length refers to the number of items
the company carries within product line.
• Product mix depth refers to the number of versions
offered of each product in the line.
 Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands

• Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a

combination of these that identifies the maker or seller
of a product or service. 
• It 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 equity is the differential effect that the brand
name has on customer response to the product and its
marketing
Building Strong Brands
 Building Strong Brands
• Brand Positioning: Marketers needs to place their brand
clearly in target customer’s mind. They can position brands at
three levels, first is product attributes, to look what product
can or will do for them, the basic purpose of existence. Second
is product benefits to looks at what benefits their product can
provide to customers. Lastly belief and values at this stage the
company attach customers emotionally with different slogans.
• Brand Name Selection: A brand name should suggest
benefits and qualities of the product not only this it should
be easily pronounce, recognize, and remember and it should
also be distinctive and capable of registration and legal
protection.
 Building Strong Brands
• Brand Sponsorship: A manufacturer has four sponsorship options. The
product may be launched as manufacturer’s brand, to give it their own
name. Second is the private/store brand, big retailers create their own
brands and give them their name. Thirdly it can be done through
licensing, the manufacture just buy the name for their product. Lastly
it can through co-branding, it is done when two established brand
names of different companies on the same product. E.g Nike + iPod.
• Brand Development: A company has four choices to develop brands.
First is line extensions occurs when company makes minor changes to
existing products. Secondly it can be done through brand extensions, to
extend the current brand name to new and modified products. Thirdly it
can be done through multibrands, companies often introduce additional
brands in same category . Lastly it is done through new brands, a
company introduce totally new brand into the market.
Building Strong Brands