Chapter Eight

Products, Services, and Brands

Building Customer Value

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 8 - slide 1

Publishing as Prentice Hall
 Product, Services, and Branding
Strategy
Topic Outline

• What Is a Product?
• Product and Services Decisions
• Branding Strategy: Building
Strong Brands
• Services Marketing

Chapter 8 - slide 2
 What Is a Product?
Products, Services, and Experiences

Product is anything that can be offered in

a market for attention, acquisition, use,
or consumption that might satisfy a
need or want
Experiences represent what buying the
product or service will do for the
customer
Chapter 8 - slide 3
 What Is a Product?
Levels of product and services
 What Is a Product?
Product and Service Classifications

Chapter 8 - slide 5
 What Is a Product?
Product and Service Classifications

• Consumer products are products and

services for personal consumption
• Classified by how consumers buy
them
– Convenience products
– Shopping products
– Specialty products
– Unsought products
Chapter 8 - slide 6
 What Is a Product?
Product and Service Classifications

Convenience products are consumer products

and services that the customer usually buys
frequently, immediately, and with a minimum
comparison and buying effort
• Newspapers
• Candy
• Fast food

Chapter 8 - slide 7
 What Is a Product?
Product and Service Classifications

Shopping products are consumer products

and services that the customer compares
carefully on suitability, quality, price, and style
• Furniture
• Cars
• Appliances

Chapter 8 - slide 8
 What Is a Product?
Product and Service Classifications

Specialty products are consumer products

and services with unique characteristics or
brand identification for which a significant
group of buyers is willing to make a special
purchase effort
• Medical services
• Designer clothes
• High-end electronics

Chapter 8 - slide 9
 What Is a Product?
Product and Service Classifications

Unsought products are consumer products

that the consumer does not know about or
knows about but does not normally think of
buying
• Life insurance
• Funeral services
• Blood donations

Chapter 8 - slide 10
 What Is a Product?
Product and Service Classifications

Industrial products are products purchased for

further processing or for use in conducting a
business
• Classified by the purpose for which the
product is purchased
– Materials and parts
– Capital
– Raw materials

Chapter 8 - slide 11
 What Is a Product?
Product and Service Classifications

• Capital items are industrial products that

aid in the buyer’s production or operations
• Materials and parts include raw materials
and manufactured materials and parts
usually sold directly to industrial users
• Supplies and services include operating
supplies, repair and maintenance
items, and business services
Chapter 8 - slide 12
 What Is a Product?
Organizations, Persons, Places, and Ideas

Organization marketing consists of

activities undertaken to create, maintain,
or change attitudes and behavior of
target consumers toward an organization

Chapter 8 - slide 13
 What Is a Product?
Organizations, Persons, Places, and
Ideas

Person marketing consists of activities

undertaken to create, maintain, or change
attitudes and behavior of target consumers
toward particular people

Chapter 8 - slide 14
 What Is a Product?
Organizations, Persons, Places, and Ideas

Place marketing consists of activities

undertaken to create, maintain, or change
attitudes and behavior of target consumers
toward particular places
Social marketing is the use of commercial
marketing concepts and tools in programs
designed to influence individuals’
behavior to improve their well-being and
that of society

Chapter 8 - slide 15
 Product and Services Decisions
Marketers make product and service decisions at three
levels:
1. individual product decisions,
2. product line decisions, and
3. product mix decisions.
1. Individual Product and Service Decisions

•
•
•
Figure . Individual product decision
Chapter 8 - slide 16
Product and Services Decisions

1. Individual Product and Service

Decisions
i. Product attributes are the benefits of
the product or service
• Quality
• Features
• Style and design
 Product and Services Decisions
1. Individual Product and Service Decisions
• Product quality
The characteristics of a product or service
that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or
implied customer needs
• Product features are a competitive tool
for differentiating a product from
competitors’ products
• Style describes the appearance of the
product
• Design contributes to a product’s
usefulness as well as to its looks
Chapter 8 - slide 18
 Product and Services Decisions
1. Individual Product and Service Decisions

ii. Brand is the name, term, sign, or design—

or a combination of these—that identifies
the maker or seller of a product or service

Brand equity is the differential effect that the

brand name has on customer response to
the product and its marketing

Chapter 8 - slide 19
 Product and Services Decisions
1. Individual Product and Service Decisions

iii. Packaging involves designing and producing

the container or wrapper for a product
iv. Labels identify the product or brand, describe
attributes, and provide promotion
v. Product support services Customer service
is another element of product strategy. A
company’s offer usually includes some
support services, which can be a minor part or
a major part of the total offering

Chapter 8 - slide 20
 Product and Services Decisions

2. 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

Chapter 8 - slide 21
 Product and Services Decisions
2. Product Line Decisions

Product line length is the number of items in

the product line
• Product line filling involves adding more items
within the present range of the line.
• Product line stretching occurs when a company
lengthens its product line beyond its current range.

Chapter 8 - slide 22
 Product and Services Decisions
3. Product Mix Decisions

Product mix consists of all the products and

items that a particular seller offers for sale
• Width refers to the number of different product lines the
company carries.
• Length refers to the total number of items a company carries
within its product lines.
• Depth refers to the number of versions offered of each product in
the line
• Consistency of the product mix refers to how closely related the
various product lines are in end use, production requirements,
distribution channels, or some other way.

Chapter 8 - slide 23
Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands

Brand 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

Chapter 8 - slide 24
 Branding Strategy: Building Strong
Brands
Brand Positioning

Brand strategy decisions include:

• Product attributes
• Product benefits
• Product beliefs
and values

Chapter 8 - slide 25
Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands
Brand Name Selection

Desirable qualities
1. Suggest benefits and qualities
2. Easy to pronounce, recognize, and
remember
3. Distinctive
4. Extendable
5. Translatable for the global
economy
6. Capable of registration and legal
protection Chapter 8 - slide 26
 Branding Strategy: Building Strong
Brands
Brand Sponsorship

• Manufacturer’s brand
• Private brand
• Licensed brand
• Co-brand

Chapter 8 - slide 27
 Services Marketing
Types of Service Industries

• Government
• Private not-for-profit organizations
• Business services

Chapter 8 - slide 28
 Services Marketing
Marketing Strategies for Service Firms
• In addition to traditional marketing
strategies, service firms often require
additional strategies
• Service-profit chain
• Internal marketing
• Interactive marketing

Chapter 8 - slide 29
 Services Marketing
Marketing Strategies for Service Firms
• Service-profit chain links service firm
profits with employee and customer
satisfaction
• Internal service quality
• Satisfied and productive service
employees
• Greater service value
• Satisfied and loyal customers
• Healthy service profits and
growth
Chapter 8 - slide 30
 Services Marketing
Marketing Strategies for Service Firms

Internal marketing means that the service firm must

orient and motivate its customer contact employees
and supporting service people to work as a team to
provide customer satisfaction

Internal marketing must precede external marketing

Chapter 8 - slide 31
 Services Marketing
Marketing Strategies for Service Firms

Interactive marketing means that service quality

depends heavily on the quality of the buyer-seller
interaction during the service encounter

• Service differentiation
• Service quality
• Service productivity

Chapter 8 - slide 32
 Services Marketing
Marketing Strategies for Service Firms

Managing service differentiation creates a

competitive advantage from the offer, delivery, and
image of the service
• Offer can include distinctive features
• Delivery can include more able and reliable
customer contact people, environment, or process
• Image can include symbols and branding

Chapter 8 - slide 33
 Services Marketing
Marketing Strategies for Service Firms
Managing service quality provides a
competitive advantage by delivering
consistently higher quality than its
competitors

Service quality always varies depending on

interactions between employees and
customers

Chapter 8 - slide 34
 Services Marketing
Marketing Strategies for Service Firms

Managing service productivity refers to the cost

side of marketing strategies for service
firms
• Employee recruiting, hiring, and training
strategies
• Service quantity and quality strategies

Chapter 8 - slide 35