BAA 120
6. Product, Services, Branding Strategy
Product: anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition,
use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need.
Service: Any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is
essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything.
Product is a key element in the overall market offering.
A company’s market offering often includes both tangible goods and services.
Company may offer a pure tangible good such as toothpaste, salt,
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where there is no service accompany to it.
Companies may offer pure services, such as financial services,
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doctor’s services.
And in between these, many goods-and-services combinations are
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possible, example: Batelco offering a phone and it’s network.
I.
Levels of products and services
There are three levels:
1. core benefits:
which address the question:
What is the buyer really
buying? It is the core, problem-solving benefits of services that consumer
seek.
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2: actual product: They need to develop product and service features,
design, a quality level, a brand name, and packaging.
3. augmented product: the greater benefits are added. The core benefit
and actual product are offered with consumer services and benefits such as
warranty, quick service, usage instruction.
Activity
Name at least one example for the levels of
products and services.
Core Benefit:
Actual Products:
Augmented Product:
II.
Product and Services classifications
Products and services are classified into two categories:
Consumer products: products bought by final consumers for personal
consumption.
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(Source: http://marketing-insider.eu/4-types-of-consumer-products/)
Industrial products: Products bought by individuals and organizations for
further processing or for use in conducting a business.
And includes materials and parts (cotton, wood, fruits, small motors, tires),
capital items (buildings, generators, large computers), and supplies and
services (papers, pencils, paint, brooms, cleaning services).
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III.
Product and service decisions
Marketers make product and service decisions at three levels:
1- Individual product and service decisions:
Product
Attributes
Branding
Packaging
Labeling
Product
Support
Services
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Product attributes: such as quality, features, and style and design.
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Branding: A brand is a name, term, sign,
symbol, or design, or a combination of these,
intended to identify the goods or services of a
seller or sellers, to differentiate them from
those of competitors.
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Packaging: The activities of designing
and producing the container or
wrapper for a product.
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Labeling: may range from simple tag attached to
products to complex graphics that are part of the
package. Label identifies the product or brand,
describe details about the product such as who
made it, and promote the product and support
positioning.
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Product support services: a company’s offer usually includes some
support services, which can be a minor or major part of the offering.
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2- Product Line Decisions:
Product line decision: 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 type of outlets, or fall
within given price ranges. Example: Nike sports products, Nokia
telecommunication products.
3- Product Mix Decisions:
An organization with several product lines has a product mix.
Product mix: the set of all product lines and items that a particular
seller offers for sale. Example: Toshiba
Branding Strategy
The brand name and image have a strong effect on the consumer behavior.
One study found that 72% of customers would pay a 20% premium (more) for
their preferred brand relative to the closest competing brand. This is called the
‘Brand Equity’.
Brand equity: the positive differential effect that knowing the brand
name has on customer response to the product or service.
Building strong brand:
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 Brand Positioning: Marketers need to position their brands clearly in
target customers’ minds. They can position brands at any of three levels:
Based on
Lowest level: Product
Attributes
Product Benefits
Strongest level: Belief
and Values
Focuses on
Example: Colgate
Ingredients
It has fluoride
Benefits
Beliefs and Values
Makes your teeth
whiter
Gives healthy,
beautiful smile.
 Brand Name Selection: A good name can add greatly to a product’s
success, and finding the best brand name is a difficult task.
It begins with careful study of the product and its benefits, the target
market, and proposed marketing strategies.
Desirable qualities for a brand name include the following:
1- It should suggest something about the product’s benefits and
qualities.
(Example: “Pif Paf” insect’s killer, LG “Flatron” flat screen TV).
2- It should be easy to pronounce, recognize, and remember.
(Example: Tide, “flying carpet” carpet cleaning)
3- The brand name should be distinctive. (Example: Lexus, Kodak)
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4- It should be extendable.(we might expand our business to other
product’s lines)
5- The name should translate easily into
foreign languages (for international
brands). A bad example is Chevrolet
Nova, in Spanish “Nova” Means “No Go”
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6- It should be capable of registration and
legal protection. (Does not contain unacceptable words, and not
registered to by other businesses.)
Examples of Bad Branding:
 Brand Sponsorship: a manufacturer has four sponsorship options.
1- Manufacturer’s brand (national brand) such as: IBM, Apple.
2- Manufacturer may sell to reseller who gives it Private Brand (store
brand or distributor brand.) (Carrefour network had many canned food
registered by their own private brand from the manufacturers.)
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3- Companies can join forces and
co-brand a product. Cobranding is the practice of using
the established brand names of
two different companies on the
same product.
(Source: http://www.missvinc.com/how-to-strenthen-your-brandvia-co-branding/)
 Brand Development:
1. Line extension: using a successful brand name to introduce
additional items in the same product category under the same
brand name. Such as a new flavor, forms, colors, added ingredients
or package size. (Coca-Cola diet, Coca-Cola zero, Vanilla coke…)
They are at the same category “soft drinks”.
2. Brand Extension: Using a successful brand name to launch a new
modified product in a new category. Such as Almarai dairy product,
juices, Tomato paste, desserts.
3. Multi-brands: adding additional brands in the same category.
Example: Dove, Sunsilk, Rexona, Lux, all owned by one company,
Unilever.
4. New Brands: if a company might believe that the power of its
existing brand is fading and a new brand is needed. Lumia phones
no longer have Nokia brand on them.
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