DP - Product/Service Management [LESSON]

Product/Service Management

Introduction

Product Planning is the decisions made about what features should be used in selling a business's products.

These decisions relate to:

  • Packaging
  • Labeling
  • Branding
  • Product mix

Product positioning is a strategic management decision that determines the place a product should occupy in a given market - its market niche. Given this context, the word "positioning" includes several common meanings of position:

  • place (what place does the product occupy in its market?)
  • rank (how does the product fare against its competitors in various evaluative dimensions?)
  • mental attitude (what are consumer attitudes?)
  • strategic process (what activities must be attempted in order to create the optimal product position?)

 

Product Mix All the different products that a company makes or sells.

  • Product Line: A group of closely related products manufactured or sold by a business.
  • Product Item: A specific model, brand, or size of a product within a product line.
  • Product Width: The number of different product lines a business manufactures or sells.
  • Product Depth: The number of product items in a product line.

View this presentation for a more in-depth look at Product mix.

Product bundling is multiple products or components packaged together into one bundled solution.

Benefits for businesses: Introduce new products, acquire new customers, higher profits, increase product turnover. Benefits for customers: save money, perception of a greater value, low risk for trying new products.

Packaging

The role of packaging in marketing has become significant because it is one of the ways companies can get consumers to notice products. In a typical supermarket a shopper passes about 600 items per minute, or one item every tenth of a second. One of the ways to get consumers to notice the product is through effective packages.

Considering the importance placed on the package, it is not surprising that a great deal of research is spent on motivational research, color testing, psychological manipulation, and so forth, in order to ascertain how the majority of consumers will react to a new package.

Packaging is also used for convenience and information transmission. Packages and labels communicate how to use, transport, recycle, or dispose of the package or product.

 

Labeling

Labels serve to capture the attention of shoppers as well as provide useful information regarding the product.

In some countries, many products, including food and pharmaceuticals, are required by law to contain certain labels such as listing ingredients, nutritional information, or usage warning information.

Labels are attached on the product package to provide information such as manufacturer of the product, date of manufacture, date of expiry, its ingredients, how to use the product, and its handling.

Some labels include symbols to show product certifications, trademarks, or proof of purchase. These symbols exist to communicate aspects of consumer use and safety.

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION