WHAT IS PRODUCT If the goal of marketing is to find a need and fill it, the heart of marketing is finding what products people want and seeing that they get them. Product is one of the four P’s of the marketing mix. What is product? The question is more complex than it seems. Product is everything that one receives in an exchange, including all tangible and intangible attributes and expected benefits. The basic product may be a good, a service, or an idea or any combination of these three. When consumers purchase a product, they are buying the benefits and satisfaction that they think the product will provide. A good is a real, physical thing that we can touch. A service is the result of applying human or mechanical effort to a person or thing. Basically, a service is a change we pay others to make for us. A real estate agent’s services result is a change in the ownership of real property. An idea may take the form of philosophies, lessons, concepts, or advice. Often, ideas are included with a good or service. Thus we might buy a book (that is a good) that provides ideas on how to lose weight. Products can be grouped into two general categories: consumers and industrial. Products purchased to satisfy personal and family needs are consumer products. Those bought for use in firm’s operations or to make other products are industrial products. Consumer products can be subdivided into convenience goods (minimum shopping effort), shopping goods (where people compare price and quality), and specialty goods (where consumers will go out of their way to get them). Industrial products can be placed in six categories: raw materials, components, accessory equipment, installations, supplies, and services. Convenience goods are best promoted by location; shopping goods by some price quality appeal; and specialty goods by word-of-mouth. Industrial goods are usually sold by salespeople in the field. In other hand a product is much more than a physical object. A product also involves the price, the brand name, the quality, the satisfaction in use, and more. A product is what a buyer or potential buyer perceives it to be. This definition of the term product is based on the concept of an exchange. In a purchase, the thing that is exchanged for the product is money – an amount of money equal to the price of the product. When the product is a good, the price may include such services as delivery, installation, warranties, and training. A good with such services is not the same product as the good without such services. In other words, sellers set a price for a particular “package” of goods, services, and ideas. 1 A product item is a specific version of a product that can be designated as a distinct offering among an organization’s products. A product line is a group of closely related products items that are considered a unit because of marketing, technical or end use considerations. VOCABULARY 1. goal ціль 2. exchange обмін 3. tangible attributes видимі, матеріальні якості 4. intangible attributes невидимі якості 5. expected benefits очікувана вигода 6. goods and services товари та послуги 7. to apply застосовувати 8. human or mechanical efforts людські або механічні зусилля 9. real estate, real property нерухомість, нерухоме майно 10.ownership володіння, власність 11.to lose weight схуднути 12.consumer products споживчі товари 13.to purchase купувати 14.to satisfy задовольняти 15.convenience goods товари повсякденного попиту 16.shopping goods дорогі товари 17.specialty goods фірмові товари (спеціалізовані) 18.accessory equipment допоміжне обладнання 19.installation установка, спорудження 20.supplies допоміжні матеріали 21.brand name торгова марка 22.to promote сприяти продажу товару 23.definition визначення 24.amount кількість 25.to be equal бути рівним 26.delivery поставка 27.warranty гарантія 28.word-of-mouth усно, на словах 29.perceive розуміти, відчувати 30.product item одиниця продукції 31.product line група однакових товарів 32.designate зазначити 33.industrial products товари виробничого призначення 2 Task1. Suggest the Ukrainian for the following words and word combinations from the text: Concept of exchange; amount of money; potential buyer; satisfaction in use; the heart of marketing; tangible and intangible attributes; delivery installation; product item; involve; shopping effort; to compare price and quality; by word-ofmouth; purchaser real estate; touch; to satisfy personal and family needs; convenience goods; shopping goods; industrial goods; specialty goods; accessory equipment; brand name; perceive. Task2. Find in the text English equivalents to Ukrainian words and word combinations. Поставка; гарантія; людські або механічні зусилля; очікувані вигоди; товари повсякденного попиту; концепція обміну; споживчі товари; кількість грошей; порівнювати ціну і якість; усно; задовольняти особисті потреби; дорогі товари; фірмові товари; бути рівним; допоміжне обладнання; сприяти; одиниця продукції; група однакових товарів. Task3. Match the words in column one with their synonyms in column two: to satisfy trade name benefit supply goal advantage brand name barter amount safeguard warranty objective to promote to buy exchange expensive delivery encourage to purchase to meet shopping goods quantity Task4. Replace the Ukrainian words and phrases by appropriate English equivalents. 1. The same item can be both a (споживчий товар і товар виробничого призначення). 2. Marketers think in terms of how (покупці) generally behave when (купуючи) a specific item. 3. All products, whether they are goods or not, possess (нематеріальні) qualities. 4. Often manufacturers of (головного обладнання) build up long term relationships with their (клієнтами) so that they can better adapt to their needs. 3 5. Buyers actually plan (покупку) of a (фірмового товару). 6. Specific items in a (групі однакових товарів) reflect the desires of different target markets or the different needs of (споживачів). 7. Large sums of money are required to advertise (дорогі товари). Task5. Study the following vocabulary. To turn out – виробляти продукцію Innovative – новаторський Obsolete – застарілий Unique – унікальний In-house – в межах компанії To build up – нарощувати Disposable – одноразовий Task6. Complete the sentences with the words from the brackets below. 1. Consumers enjoy new and ______ products that make their lives easier. 2. ______ contact lenses are easy to take care of because you wear them once and then throw them away. 3. Our company prides itself on its ______, which allows us to perform a variety of services for our clients. 4. Once we ______ our cash reserves, we’ll be in a better position to hire additional staff. 5. We have the staff we need to produce the publications ______ instead of having to hire an outside vendor. 6. Handmade jewelry is ______ because no two pieces are exactly alike. 7. Computers become ______ when they can no longer meet our needs. 8. His ______ is in advertising; he’s very experienced in it. 9. We’ve going to ______ the packaging so it’s more appealing to consumers. 10.If we use the full capacity of the factory, we can ______ hundreds of pairs of sunglasses a day. ( redesign; in-house; flexibility; turn out; innovative; obsolete; build up; expertise; disposable; unique) Task7. Read the following passage. Then work in pairs arguing the necessity for the product to be innovated. Our product line needs to be diversified. We cannot depend on the past success of our disposable razors. We need to concentrate on developing kinds of razors for different purposes. If we don’t, we’ll find our razors obsolete and ourselves out of work. Recent improvements in manufacturing technology will allow us more flexibility in design. By subtly redesigning our existing razor we can turn out a disposable razor for all ages, both sexes, and for any body part. 4