Product, Services,
and Branding
Strategies
Chapter 9
Objectives
Be able to define product and
know the major classifications of
products and services.
Understand the decisions
companies make regarding their
individual products and services,
product lines, and product mixes.
9- 1
Objectives
Understand how firms build and
manage their brands.
Know the four characteristics of
services and the additional
marketing considerations that
services require.
9- 2
Cosmeticsc Industry
Cosmetics
companies sell
billions of
dollars worth of
products
Consumers buy
more than just a
particular smell
The “promise”,
image, company,
name, package,
and ingredients
are all part of the
product, as are
the stores where
it is sold.
9- 3
What is a Product?
Anything that can be offered to a market for
attention, acquisition, use or consumption.
Satisfies a want or a need.
Includes:
 Physical Products
 Services
 Persons
 Places
 Organizations
 Ideas
 Combinations of the above
9- 4
What is a Product?
Product and service
classifications fall into
two broad classes based
on the types of buyers
who use them:
 Consumer products
 Industrial products
9- 5
Product Classifications
Consumer Products
Convenience Products
Shopping Products
> Buy frequently & immediately
> Low priced
> Many purchase locations
> Includes:
• Staple goods
• Impulse goods
• Emergency goods
> Buy less frequently
> Gather product information
> Fewer purchase locations
> Compare for:
• Suitability & Quality
• Price & Style
Specialty Products
Unsought Products
> Special purchase efforts
> Unique characteristics
> Brand identification
> Few purchase locations
> New innovations
> Products consumers don’t
want to think about
> Require much advertising &
personal selling
9- 6
Figure 9-1:
Three Levels of Product
9- 7
Discussion Question
Describe the core
benefit, actual
product, and
augmented product
aspects of an
automobile purchase.
9- 8
Product Classifications
Industrial Products
Materials
and
Parts
Capital
Items
Supplies
and
Business Services
9- 9
Industrial
products also
include
business
services, such
as landscaping,
technology, food
services, or
custodial.
9- 10
Product Classifications
Other Marketable Entities
Marketed to create, maintain, or change the
attitudes or behavior toward the following:
Organizations - Profit (businesses) and
nonprofit (schools and
churches).
Person - Political and sports figures,
entertainers, doctors and lawyers.
Place - Business sites and tourism.
Social - Reduce smoking, clean air,
conservation.
9- 11
Social marketing
promotes ideas or
causes for the
purpose of
improving an
individual’s wellbeing or the wellbeing of society.
9- 12
Product & Service Decisions
Key Decisions
Individual
Product
Product Line
Product Mix
Product attributes
 Quality, features,
style and design
Branding
Packaging
Labeling
Product support
services
9- 13
Individual Product Decisions
Product Attributes
Branding
Packaging
Labeling
Product Support Services
9- 14
Product & Service Decisions
Innovative product
design can help
revitalize a
company, such as
with the Apple iMac.
9- 15
Product & Service Decisions
Brand:
 A name, term, sign,
symbol, design, or a
combination of
these, that identifies
the maker or sellers
of a product or
service.
9- 16
Product & Service Decisions
Packaging involves designing a
container or wrapper for a product
9- 17
Product & Service Decisions
Many aspects of a food product’s
label are dictated by law
9- 18
Product & Service Decisions
Support services
via the web
include FAQ files,
email queries, live
chat with
customer service
personnel, and
software updates
1-800 Flowers
9- 19
Product Line Decisions
Product Line Length
Number of Items in the Product Line
Stretching
Filling
Lengthen beyond
current range
Lengthen within
current range
Downward
Upward
9- 20
Product Mix Decisions
Consistency
Width - number
of different
product lines
Length - total
number of items
within the lines
Product Mix all the product
lines offered
Depth - number
of versions of
each product
9- 21
Branding the Product
Brand
helps consumers identify the
product
includes:
 name, term, symbol, sign, mark
trademark -- legal protection
of name or sign
Brand Should Convey
Meaning
Attributes
 Polo Ralph Lauren = expensive
Benefits
 what will the product do for you?
Values
 what consumer values ? safety
(Volvo)
Personality
 Campbell’s Soup
Brand Equity
What is your good name worth?
 Would you let others use it?
Brands may evoke
 loyalty
 preference
Super Brands
 names that many people recognize
Coca Cola, Kodak, Sony,
What do you do to preserve your good
name?
Brand Strategy
Key Decisions
Brand Positioning
Brand Name
Selection
Brand
Sponsorship
Brand
Development
Three levels of
positioning:
 Product attributes

Least effective
 Benefits
 Beliefs and values

Taps into
emotions
9- 25
Brand Strategy
Key Decisions
Brand Positioning
Brand Name
Selection
Brand
Sponsorship
Brand
Development
Good Brand Names:
 Suggest something
about the product or its
benefits
 Are easy to say,
recognize and
remember
 Are distinctive
 Are extendable
 Translate well into
other languages
 Can be registered and
legally protected
9- 26
Brand Strategy
Key Decisions
Manufacturer brands
Brand Positioning
Brand Name
Selection
Brand
Sponsorship
Brand
Development
9- 27
Brand Strategy
Key Decisions
Brand Positioning
Brand Name
Selection
Brand
Sponsorship
Brand
Development
Private (store) brands
 Costly to establish and
promote
 Higher profit margins
9- 28
Brand Strategy
Key Decisions
Brand Positioning
Brand Name
Selection
Brand
Sponsorship
Brand
Development
Licensed brands
 Name and character
licensing has grown
9- 29
Brand Strategy
Key Decisions
Brand Positioning
Brand Name
Selection
Brand
Sponsorship
Brand
Development
Co-branding
 Advantages
 Broader consumer
appeal
 Greater brand equity
 Efficient means of
expansion into new
product categories
 Limitations
 Complex legal contracts
 Requires careful
coordination of IMC
 Requires that partners
trust one another
9- 30
Four Brand Development
Strategies
Product Category
Brand Name
Existing
New
Existing
Line Extension
Dannon Yogurt Flavors
Brand Extension
Barbie Electronics
New
Multibrands
Seiko Lasalle & Pulsar
New Brands
Windex (by acquisition)
9- 31
Services Marketing
Services
 Account for 74% of
U.S. gross domestic
product.
 Service industries
include business
organizations,
government, and
private not-for-profit
organizations.
9- 32
The Goods - Service Continuum
Clothing
Furniture
Houses Automobiles
Restaurant Meals
Vacations
Hair Cuts
TV Repair
Legal Services
Medical Diagnosis
“Pure” Goods
easier to evaluate
“Pure” Services
difficult to evaluate
Continuum of Evaluation for
Different Types of Products
Most Goods
High in Search
Qualities
Most Services
High in Experience
Qualities
High in Credence
Qualities
9- 34
Figure 9-5:
Four Services
Characteristics
9- 35
BusinessNow
Site59 Video Clip
The perishability of
services such as
airline seats creates
special challenges
for marketers
Click the picture above to play video
9- 36
Figure 9-6:
Three Types of Marketing
in Services Industries
9- 37
Service Buying
Behavior
Consumer Decision Making
Process for Services
- Information Search
- Evaluation Criteria for
Alternatives
- Perceived Risk
- Brand Loyalty
9- 38
Services Marketing
Service Firm Marketing Strategies
 The Service-Profit Chain
Internal Marketing: service firms
train and effectively motivate their
employees to work as a team to
satisfy the customer
 Interactive Marketing: recognizes that
service quality depends heavily on the
quality of buyer-seller interaction

9- 39
Services Marketing
Service Firm Marketing Strategies
 Managing Service Differentiation
British Airways
differentiates its
service by offering
first-class world
travelers private
“demi-cabins”
9- 40
Service Quality
Elements of Service Quality
- Tangibles
- Reliability
- Responsiveness
- Assurance
- Empathy
9- 41
Services Marketing
Service Firm Marketing Strategies
 Managing Service Quality




One method of differentiation
Customer retention is often the best measure
Top service firms are “customer obsessed”
Service recovery and employment
empowerment are key
 Managing Service Productivity


Many methods of enhancing productivity
Key is to avoid reducing quality
9- 42