PRODUCT PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT
Marketing Co-Op
PRODUCT PLANNING
Making decisions about features that
are needed to sell a business’s
products, services or ideas
Product Features

Packaging

Labeling

Branding

Services

Warranties
PRODUCT PLANNING
Allows a business to
 Coordinate existing products and features
 Add new products
 Delete products that are no longer
attracting customers
PRODUCT MIX
All the different products that
a company makes or sells
KRAFT Company:

Kraft

Kool-Aid

Nabisco

Maxwell House

Oscar Mayer

Post Cereal products
PRODUCT MIX
ANOTHER EXAMPLE
SC Johnson
PRODUCT MIX
ANOTHER EXAMPLE
Procter and Gamble
PRODUCT MIX
To determine a company’s product mix, a
business needs to identify:
Its target market
 Its competitors
 The image it wants to project

The product mix must be
periodically reviewed to determine
if products need to be expanded,
modified, decreased, or eliminated
PRODUCT LINES
Product line – a group of closely related
products sold by a business
PRODUCT ITEMS
Product item – a specific model, brand, or size
of a product within a product line
PRODUCT WIDTH
AND DEPTH
The width and depth of a
company’s product offerings
defines the product mix
PRODUCT WIDTH
The number of different product lines sold
by one manufacturer
Product Depth
The number of product items within
each specific product line
From
one brand name
GILLETTE PRODUCT MIX
WIDTH VS. DEPTH
Width
Depth
Oral Care
Blades &
Razors
Personal
Care
Batteries
Appliances
PRODUCT MIX STRATEGIES
Develop completely new products
for existing lines
Drop existing product to allow
room for new products
Expand or modify existing
product lines
DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS
7 Key Steps to New Product Development
1. Generate idea – focus groups, idea sessions
2. Screening ideas – evaluated for potential conflicts
and profitability
3. Developing a business proposal – production
requirements are considered
4. Developing the product – takes on a physical
shape, develop marketing strategy
DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS
7 Key Steps to New Product Development
5. Testing the product with consumers – test on
small groups
6. Introducing the product (commercialization) –
must introduce product to public ASAP
7. Evaluating customer acceptance – study sales
information
DEVELOPING EXISTING PRODUCTS
Companies constantly evaluate their product
mix to see if they can further expand their
product lines or modify existing products
Helps to reach new markets and
increase overall sales
Can be very expensive
Increased inventory
More promotion
Additional storage and distribution
LINE EXTENSIONS
Introducing new product items, or
services to meet customer needs
PRODUCT MODIFICATIONS
An alteration in a company’s existing products
DELETING A PRODUCT
There are several reasons why a
company may decide to
eliminate a product item or line






Obsolescence
Loss of Appeal
Change in company objective
Replacement with new products
Lack of profit
Conflict with other products in
the line
ASSIGNMENT
Get
the Orange Textbooks
Complete the questions from
Chapter 30.1
Questions 1-3 on page 641
 Questions 2,3,5,6 on page 649
 Question 17 on page 650

(Don’t use computers, just think of at least
5 you already know and create the chart)