Product mixing strategy according to various authors

MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS (WILLIAM S. STANTON): MIXTURE AND PRODUCT LINE

Carma labs incorportated sells only lip cream and the WD-4C company sells only spray lubricants, despite these two examples, there are few firms that rely on a single product; on the contrary, most of them sell various products. The set of goods that a company offers to the public is called a product mix.

The structure of a mixture has breadth and depth. The width is measured by the number of lines it sells and its depth by the diversity of sizes, colors and models included in each of the lines.

Product Line Eight is an extensive group of products that are designed for essentially similar uses that also have similar physical characteristics. The companies design a product line in several ways, for example: Robin company with its ROBITUSSIN product line that is pediatric syrup, cherry flavored drops in the same brand but with different functions but with different packaging. At a large supermarket all brands of cough medicine are not only ROBITUSSIN, it represents one of the many product lines it sells.

Relative strategies of product mix.

Here it is that if you want to be successful in marketing, both manufacturers and intermediaries need rigorously planned strategies to manage your product mix.

Product positioning:

The company's income and profits depend to a large extent on the ability of executives to attract attention to the product and differentiate it favorably from other similar products. There is a need for them to carry out the positioning, that is, they create the image that a product projects in relation to the products of the competition and those of the company .

Positioning in relation to a competitor:

Like some products, the most effective strategy is to position a product directly against the competition and it gives excellent results when it comes to a company that has a solid differential advantage or is trying to strengthen it.

For example: Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola compete directly, practically in all aspects of the marketing mix (even in the participation of celebrities who promote their soft drink)

In the case of other products, direct positioning is exactly what should not be done, especially when the competitor has a strong market position.

Positioning in relation to a class of products or an attribute:

Sometimes a company's positioning strategies require relating the product to a product class or attribute (or dissociating them from them).

This strategy is widely applied with example food products: vegetables, soups, cereals, and other foods with a common denominator.

Positioning by price and quality:

Some manufacturers and retailers are famous for the high quality of their products and for their high prices. In the field of the automotive industry, it is like a positioning for prices and quality, lately luxury cars have increased, which accentuate quality and are sold at relatively high prices.

Positioning in relation to a target market:

Regardless of the positioning strategy used, the needs of the target market must always be taken into account. This strategy does not suggest that others ignore it, it simply establishes that the target market, and not another factor such as competition, is the central point when positioning the product.

Product Mix Expansion: Product mix expansion is accomplished by increasing the depth of a line or the number offered to consumers. When a company adds a product similar to an existing line with the same brand name, this is called a line extension.

The strategies of the extension of the line are also applied by companies in the services, for example, North American universities today offer programs that attract older people and, for its part, the Catholic Church expanded its line of religious services by celebrating Masses on Saturdays and Sundays for the afternoon. Another way to expand the product mix, called the mix extension, is to add a new product line to the existing ones.

Related products, same brand: KLEENEX bath towels (certainly a complement to KLEENEX disposable tissues) Disconnected product, same brand: forshner group in, manufacturers of the original swhiss army knives. Related product, different brand: procter & gamble introduced in the lous market as a complement to their disposable diapers. Unconnected product, different brand: a Canadian supermarket chain called Lobiaws a new in-store banking service.

Increase of lines in high prices and low prices: these two kinds of strategies require a change in the positioning of the product and in the expansion of the line. Increasing the high price line means adding a higher priced product to attract a broader market, Increase in the line of low prices: it consists of incorporating a cheaper product into the line of a company. It hopes that people who cannot buy the product at its original price because they consider it too expensive will buy it at the new and cheaper price.

Modification of current products: to have an alternative to the development of an entirely new product, managers see the company's products with a different perspective (product modification) is a more profitable and less risky strategy than designing a completely new one.

Contraction of the product mix: this strategy is put into practice by eliminating an entire line or by simplifying its content by contracting the mixture, seeking to obtain higher profits with a smaller number of products.

Product life cycle : The cycle consists of four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline (aging). The concept of product life applies to a generic category of products. The life cycle of a product is the aggregate demand over a long period for all brands that comprise the generic category of products.

Characteristics of each stage:

Introduction: a product is launched to the market through a complete marketing program. Growth: it is also called the market acceptance stage. Sales and profits grow, often and very quickly. Maturity: sales continue to increase, but less rapidly. When sales stagnate, the profits of intermediary producers decline. Decline: in most products, a stage of delineation estimated by the sales volume of the total category.

The life cycle is related to a market: when we say that a product is at a stage in its cycle, we are implicitly referring to a particular market.

Life Cycle Management: Oddly enough, we can control the sales and profit curves of a product category. It is shaped by the collective actions of the firms that offer competitive products belonging to the same category.

Market entry strategy: A company entering a new market will have to say whether it does so during the introduction phase. Another option would be to wait and enter during the first part of the growth stage, after the pioneering companies have demonstrated that it is a viable market.

The strategy of entering during the introduction phase was based on the desire to obtain a dominant position in the market as soon as possible and with them attenuate the interest of potential competitors and the effectiveness of current competitors, this strategy gave good dividends to Sony with his walkma; aiwa, letton, with microwave ovens; the dog with the natural bottled water and Niké with the running shoes. It is certainly worth taking an initial advantage when marketing a new type of product.

Administration: During the growth stage when sales grow considerably and profits are important in a product category, it could be assumed that the sales director does nothing but calculate the bonus he will receive. Unfortunately it is not. During the growth stage, a company must design the supported strategies for its brand or brands that are in that category. It will have to design the promotion that makes the public want the company's brand. Expand the distribution and analyze the convenience of improving the product in several aspects. The decisions made in this influence:

As some competitors enter the market, the performance that a brand gives within a company in the following years as well as in the future.

Administration during maturity: various strategies contribute to conserving or considerably increasing the sales of a product during the maturity stage of its life cycle. Of course, the excellent results of one product with one product can be a real fiasco with another.

Among the most common, it is worth mentioning the modification of the product, the design of a new promotion and the idea of new applications. Such measures favor the increase in purchases by current users, and may even attract other buyers. As US cruise industry sales stagnated, some companies modified their services by incorporating fitness programs and offering special cruises (sometimes associated with some professional sports team) found a new market among people who had suffered a heart attack. the reason? Aspirin was found to greatly reduce the chances of another attack.

How to survive in the decline stage: It is probably in this phase when a company faces the greatest challenges of managing the life cycle of its products, for example: the advent of video camrecorders and filmless cameras perhaps herald the disappearance of photographic film as a product category.

Planned obsolescence and fashion: American consumers give the impression of being in search of the new, but not too new, they love the new, new products, new styles, new colors. But they want to be gradually removed from their usual patterns not suddenly and abruptly as a result, many manufacturers follow a strategy of obsolescence planned with it, making a product out of date and thus increasing the markets for substitute products. Often the public satisfies their taste for the new through fashion, and fashion producers rely heavily on planned obsolescence.

Nature of style and fashion: Although the words style and fashion are generally used synonymously, there are clear distinctions between the two. A style is a specific form of construction or presentation in any art, product or activity (song, game, behavior), so we have styles in automobiles (sedans, trucks) or in bathing suits (one-piece bathing suits and bikinis) in furniture (provencal, french, carly american) and in dances (waltz, lambada)

A fashion is any style that is widely accepted and purchased by successive groups of people over a fairly long period. Not all styles become fashionable, so that a style is classified as a fashion or is said to be fashionable. It must be accepted by many.

Fashion adoption process:

This process reflects the concepts of:

1. the influences exerted by large and small groups on the purchasing behavior of the consumer. the diffusion of innovation. The human being tries to emit those who are at the same socio-economic level or in other higher groups. One way to do this is to buy a product that enjoys the preference of the group you want to look like.

Marketing or fashion considerations.

When a company's products are subject to the fashion cycle, managers must know what stage they are in at a given time and they must also decide when to enter the cycle and when to leave the new product adventure team… 3M company, dow, westing house and general mills, usually assign the development work of important new products to adventure teams. An adventure team is a group made up of personnel from various operating departments who are in charge of developing a specific product or business. They are relieved of their other duties, given a budget, a deadline, and the framework for their maneuvers.

In companies where there is a bad record of the success of new products, the cause is often the lack of an organizational team. The traditional model of innovation requires the R&D department to acquire a brilliant idea and research it, after a team of engineers design it and pass it on to the production department to make it a product that they then sell to the sales department. But this model and serial of innovation create many problems. The production person usually elaborates the design to the engineers, deducing that they cannot produce it at the expected cost and the engineers spend time redesigning the product. When later the sales force shows the product to the teeth, they will realize that they cannot be sold at the target price.Since the needs and desires of the clients are not covered. Sales people desperately return with engineers and R&D people call the sales force incompetent and mutual blame dominates.

The solution is clear, effective product development requires teamwork and R&D, engineering, production, purchasing, marketing, and finance from the start. The idea of the product should be investigated from a commercial point of view and a marketing team advise on the idea during underdevelopment. Design engineers and production people must work together to move design smoothly into production. Japanese and company studies indicate that the success of their new products is largely due to the structuring of many more team works. It is also important that Japanese companies go to customers at an early stage to get their views on what is going on.

According to Booz, Hallen & Hamilton studies, the companies that have been most successful among innovations have consistently committed resources to new product development; They have designed a new product strategy that is linked to their strategic planning process, and have established complex and formal organizational measures to manage the new product development process.

the stages of the new product development process are eight

generation of ideas, screening, development and testing concept, marketing strategies, business analysis, product development, market testing and marketing.

Quality generation:

Sources of New Product Ideas: New product ideas can come from a variety of: scientific customers, competitors, company sales staff, channel member, and senior management.

The marketing concept holds that the needs and wants of customers are the ideal point to start the search for ideas for new products. The company can identify the needs and wants of customers through surveys and with customers, tests of projective group led discussions and written complaints and suggestions from customers.

Many of the best ideas come from asking customers to describe their problems and current products.

Companies also depend on their scientists, engineers, designers, and other employees to get ideas for new products.

Companies can find good ideas by examining competing products and services. They can find out what the competition is doing through distributors, suppliers and sales representatives. They can discover what customers like and dislike in new products from competitors.

The company's sales representatives and intermediaries are a particularly good source of new product video. They have first-hand information and customer needs and complaints, and are often the first to hear about competitive developments. Senior management can be another important source of new product ideas. New product ideas may also come from other sources including inventors, patent attorneys, laboratories, university and trade, industrial consultants, advertising agency, marketing research firms, and industrial publications.

techniques for generalizing ideas: really good ideas come from inspiration, perspiration from technicians. A good number of creativity technicians can help individuals and groups to generate better ideas.

Attribute Relationship: This technique requires that you first list the main attributes of an existing product and then modify it with attributes when searching for an improved product. They are consider a screwdriver. They are attributes: a round steel bar, a wooden handle, is manually operated and the action is provided by the propelling action to make it rotate.

Forced relationships: Several objects are listed here, and each project is considered a relationship to the rest. Various objects were installed. A desk, a television, a clock, a computer, a copier machine, a shelf etc.

Morphological analysis: mafology means structure and this method requires the identification of the structural dimensions of a problem and the examination of the relationship between them. Suppose the problem is like getting something from one place to another through a power vehicle.

Identification of needs / problems: the creativity techniques that precede do not require the consumer to generate ideas. Technicians are questioned and can be used in reverse. Consumers received a list of problems and say which products come to mind that have such problems.

Brainstorm: Group creativity can be stimulated through the technical brainstorm developed by Alex Osborn. Brainstorming sessions are held when a company needs to generate many ideas related to a need or object.

Ideas begin to flow from one idea to another and in an hour one hundred or more ideas can reach the recorder.

For a conference to be as effective as possible, osborn outlines four principles

The criticism is out of the rules. Negative comments on ideas should be left for later. Spontaneity is welcome. The more original an idea, the better it is easier to polish than to invent it. Stimulation of quantity, the more ideas, the greater probability of usable ideas. Stimulation of the combination and improvement of ideas. Participants must continue to become famous that the ideas of others can be integrated into ideas that are still new.

Sifting an idea:

Classification tools: Most companies require new product ideas to be written in a standard form that can be reviewed by a new product committee. The presentations describe the idea of the product, the target market and the competition, and it stimulates the size of the market, the price of the product, costs and development time and the rate of return.

If the executive committee reviews each idea the new product against the set of criteria. In the case of the KAO company in Japan, the committee considers questions such as is the product really useful to consumers and society? Is the cost of performance higher than competing products? Is it easy to advertise and distribute?

Development and testing concept:

The idea of a product is a possible product that the company could offer in the market. The concept of a product is an elaborate version of the idea, expressed in terms that can be understood by the consumer. The image of a product is a specific picture of the product that the consumer of a real or potential product formed.

Development concept: any product idea can be converted into several product concepts. First the question: who will use this product? What primary benefit should be created in the product? What is the primary occasion for this drink.?

MARKETING ADDRESS (PHILIP KOTLER)

What does new products mean?

For our purposes. New products will include original products, improved products, modified products and new brands developed by the firm through their own R&D efforts. Booz, Allen & Hamilton identified six categories of new products according to their degree of novelty for the company and for the market.

Categories:

1. new products to the world. New products that create an entirely new market.

2. new product lines. New products that allow a company to enter an established market for the first time.

3. additions to existing product lines. New products that supplement the established lines of a company product.

4. Improvements / revisions of existing products. New products that provide better performance or higher perceived value and replace existing products.

5. re positioning. Existing products targeting new markets and market segments.

6. cost reductions. New products that provide similar performance at a lower cost.

Usually a company is looking for a mix of these products. An important finding is that only 10% of all new products are truly innovative and new to the world. These products involve the highest cost and risk for being new, both for the company and for the market.

Dilemma of developing a new product:

Due to trying competition in most industries today, companies that do not develop new products are exposing themselves to great risk. Its existing products are vulnerable to changes in consumer needs and tastes, new technologies, a reduction in the life cycle of products, and increased domestic and foreign competition.

At the same time, redevelopment of a new product is risky.

Why do so many new products fail?

There are several factors. A senior executive could push a favorable idea despite the negative results of the market research. Or the idea is good, but the size of the market is overestimated. Or perhaps the actual product is not so well designed. Either it is not positioned correctly in the market, it is not effectively stated or its prices are above its value.

The successful development of new products is impeded by many factors:

1. shortage of ideas by some products in a certain area: perhaps there is little way to improve some basic products such as steel, detergents, and the like.

2. Fragmented markets: intense competition is increasingly leading to the fragmentation of markets. Companies have to target their new products to similar segments of the market, which means lower sales and profits for each product.

3. social and governmental restrictions: new products must satisfy public criteria, such as consumer safety and ecological compatibility. Government requirements have slowed innovations in the pharmaceutical industries and complicated product design and advertising decisions in industries such as industrial equipment, chemistry, automotive, and toys.

4. costs of the new product development process. Normally a company must generate many new product ideas in order to make only a few good ideas. The company also has to cope with rising R&D, production and marketing costs.

lack of capital: some companies with good ideas cannot raise the funds required to carry out the research of these ideas. shorter development time: it is likely that many competitors have the same idea simultaneously, the victory usually goes to the fastest. Businesses that are on the alert have to compress development time with the use of computer-aided design and production techniques, associate assembly, early proof of concept, and advanced marketing planning. Japanese companies see the challenge as achieving better quality at a lower cost and faster than the competition. Short product life cycle. When a new product is successful, rivals copy it so quickly that the product life cycle is shortened considerably.Sony used to enjoy a three-year period of leadership in its new products before competitors copied it widely. Now matsushista. And other competitors can copy the product in six months, barely giving sony time to recoup its investments.

Successful new products generally have the support and drive of a top company manager. And successful companies spend a lot to publicize the new product. Successful new product development requires the company to establish an effective organization for managing the new product development process. The company must apply the best analytical tools and concepts at each stage of its development in a new product.

Effective organizational arrangements:

Top management is ultimately responsible for the success of the new product, as they cannot simply ask the manager of a new product to come up with great ideas. The work of developing a new product requires senior management to define the business domains and the product categories that the company wants to highlight.

Top management must establish specific criteria for the acceptance of the idea of a new product that forms particularly in large multi-divisional companies. During all kinds of projects they go up as favorites of various managers. Criteria may vary with the specific strategic role the product is expected to play. Boaz, Allen & Hamilton. Identification of six main strategic roles that pretend the company to make new products:

Maintain the position as an innovative product. (46%) Defend a position of participation in the market. (44%) Establish a firm place in the future of a new market. (37%) Seize exclusively a market segment (33%) Exploit technology in a new way (27%) Capitalize the distribution of efforts. (24%)

The Could corporation established the following acceptance criteria for new products aimed at exploring a new technology in a different way:

The product can be introduced within 5 years. The product has a potential market of at least 50 million dollars and a growth rate of 15%. The product will provide at least 30% of the return on sales and 40% on investment..the product will achieve technical and / or market leadership.

An important decision that senior management faces is that of the budget for the development of the new product. R&D results are so uncertain that it is so uncertain that it is difficult to use normal investment criteria to set the budget. Some companies solve this problem by stimulating and financing as many projects as possible, hoping with them to obtain some successful projects. Other companies establish their R&D budget by applying a conventional percentage on sales figures or spending the same as the competition, other companies decide how many new successful products they need and work towards another to calculate the required R&D investment.

The latest study by Booz Allen & Hamilton indicates that companies can now find a successful new product out of every 7 new product ideas. Booz Allen & Hamilton concluded that many companies have learned how to handle pre-screening and plan more effectively and budget for the best ideas, rather than using the shot technique.

A key factor in the work of developing new products is the establishment of effective organizational structures. Companies handle the development of new products in different ways.

Product manager. Many companies assign responsibility for new product ideas to their product managers. In practice this system has some flaws, generally the product managers are so busy managing their product line that they put few extensions to the new product, other than the brand modifications to the extensions; They also lack the specific skills and knowledge necessary to critique and develop new products. New product managers. General Foods and Johnson & Johnson. They have new product managers who report to product managers. This position turns the function of new products into a professional and,On the other hand, the managers of new products have despite in terms of modifications to the product and extensions of the lines limited to the market of their products. Most companies have a high-level management committee tasked with reviewing and approving the new product proposal New Product Department. Large companies are establishing a new products department headed by a manager with substantial authority and access to top management. The main responsibilities of this department include generating and screening new ideas, and works with the R&D department and conducts field and marketing tests.Most companies have a high-level management committee tasked with reviewing and approving the new product proposal New Product Department. Large companies are establishing a new products department headed by a manager with substantial authority and access to top management. The main responsibilities of this department include generating and screening new ideas, and works with the R&D department and conducts field and marketing tests.Most companies have a high-level management committee tasked with reviewing and approving the new product proposal New Product Department. Large companies are establishing a new products department headed by a manager with substantial authority and access to top management. The main responsibilities of this department include generating and screening new ideas, and works with the R&D department and conducts field and marketing tests.The main responsibilities of this department include generating and screening new ideas, and works with the R&D department and conducts field and marketing tests.The main responsibilities of this department include generating and screening new ideas, and works with the R&D department and conducts field and marketing tests.

Generation of the idea:

sources of new products. New product ideas can come from a variety of customers, scientists, competitors, sales staff from channel member companies, and senior management.

The marketing concept holds that the needs and wants of customers are the ideal point to start the search for new product leads. Businesses can identify customer needs and wants through customer surveys, projective group led discussion tests, and written customer complaints and suggestions. Many of the best ideas come from asking customers to describe their problems with current products.

Companies also depend on their scientists, engineers, designers, and other employees to get ideas for new products.

Sales representatives and business intermediaries are a particularly good source of new product ideas. Having first-hand information on customer needs and complaints, they are often the first to hear about competitive developments.

Senior management can be another important source of new product ideas. New product ideas may also come from other sources including inventors, patent attorneys, laboratories, university and trade, industrial consultants, an advertising agency, market research firms, and industrial publications.

Techniques to generate ideas:

the really good trips come from the aspiration, the perspiration of the technicians. Or a good number of creativity technicians can help individuals and groups generate better ideas.

Attribute relationship: This technique requires that, first, a list of the main attributes of the product exist and then it is modified.

Each search attribute of an improved product consider in a screwdriver, its attributes are: a steel bar where, a wooden handle, is manually operated and the action is provided by the action of propelling it by turning it.

Forced Relationships: Several objects are listed here and each project is considered relative to the rest. Various objects were listed, a desk, a television, a clock, a computer, a copying machine, a shelf, etc.

MAREOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: mafology means structure and this method requires the identification of the structural dimensions and this method requires the identification of the structural dimensions of a problem and the examination of the relationship between them. Suppose the problem is like “getting something from one place to another through a power vehicle.

IDENTIFICATION OF NEEDS / PROBLEMS: the preceding creativity techniques do not require the consumer to generate ideas. Technicians are questioned can be used in reverse. Consumers received a list of problems and say which products are on their minds that have these problems.

STORM OF IDEAS: techniques developed by alex osborn. Brainstorming sessions are held when a company needs to generate many ideas related to a need or object.

Ideas start to flow with one idea following another and in an hour a hundred or more ideas can get to the recorder. For a conference to be as effective as possible. Osborn outlines four principles.

The criticism is outside the rules. Negative comments on ideas should be left for later. Spontaneity is welcome. The more original an idea, the better it is to polish it rather than invent it. I encourage quantity. The more ideas, the greater probability of usable ideas. I encourage the combination and improvement of ideas. Beginners should suggest the fame that someone else's ideas can be integrated into even newer ideas.

SCREENING FOR AN IDEA:

Classification instruments: Most companies require new product ideas to be written in a standard form that can be reviewed by a new product committee. The presentation describes the idea of the product, the target market and the competition, and makes an estimate of the size of the market, the price of the product, costs and development time, and the rate of return.

Whether the executive committee reviews each new product idea against the set of criteria. In the case of the KAO company in Japan and the committee considers questions such as, is the product really useful to consumers in society? Is the product really useful for consumers and society? Is the cost of performance superior to competing products? Is it easy to advertise and distribute?

DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING CONCEPT:

The idea of a product is a possible product that the company could offer in the market. The concept of a product is an elaborate version of the idea expressed in terms understandable to the consumer. The image of a product is the specific picture of the product that was formed in the consumer of a real or potential product.

DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT: any product idea can be converted into several product concepts. First the question: who will use this product? What primary benefits should be created in the product? What is the primary occasion for this drink?

PROOF OF CONCEPT: Proofs of concept require proof of these concepts of competition with an appropriate group of target consumers. Concepts can be presented symbolically or physically.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRATEGY: The manager of new products must now develop a marketing strategy plan for the introduction of this product in the market. The marketing strategy will undergo subsequent hobbies, in subsequent stages.

The marketing strategy plan is made up of three parts:

describes the size, structure and behavior of the target market; the planned positioning for the product and the sales: the market share and the target profits that are intended in the first years. Part of the marketing strategy plan, describes the price that is proposed for the product, the distribution strategy and the marketing budget for the first year. Part of the marketing strategy plan describes the long-term sales and target profits, as well as the marketing mix strategy over time.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS:

Sales stimulation: Management needs to calculate if sales will be high enough to yield satisfactory activities. Frequently purchased products, such as automobiles, toasters, and industrial equipment, show dictator replenishment cycles, whether due to physical use or obsolescence. Related to the change of styles, characteristics and tastes.

Repeated purchases soon take place on the condition that the product satisfies some parts of the people who will become a constant customer.

Estimate first-time sales: The first step is to calculate first-time purchases of the new product in each period.

Estimate of replacement sales: to calculate replacement sales the administration has to investigate the survival age of the distribution of its product

Repeated Sales Estimate: For a new frequently purchased product, the seller must calculate both repeat sales and first-time sales. This is because the unit value of frequently purchased products is low and repeated acquisitions take place shortly after introduction.

Estimate of costs and profits: after calculating the forecast of sales. Management can calculate the costs and profits of this adventure. Costs are calculated by the R&D, production, marketing and finance departments.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:

If the concept of the product poses the proof of the business, it is moved to R&D and / or engineering for its evolution into a physical product.

This stage will answer if the product idea can be translated into a technical and commercially feasible product. Otherwise, the accumulated projected costs of the company will be lost except for some useful information obtained in the process.

The R&D department will develop one or more physical versions of the product concept hoping to find a prototype that meets the following criteria:

Consumers are shaping the key attributes outlined in the product concept status. The prototype works safely, under normal use and conditions. The prototype can be produced at budgeted production costs.

MARKET PROOF:

High investment / risk products require market testing to avoid mistakes; The cost of market tests means a minimum percentage of the total cost of projects. High-risk products - those that create many product categories and have many characteristics - warrant more market testing than modified products.

Market testing methods differ for consumer products and market testing methods differ for consumer products and industrial products.

PROOF OF CONSUMER GOODS MARKET:

By testing consumer products, companies seek to estimate four variables: test, first repeat, adoption, and frequency of purchase.

And I hope you expect to find high levels in these variables. In some cases you will find that many consumers try the product, but few buy it again which indicates that the product is not satisfactory.

SALES CYCLE INVESTIGATION: Sales cycle investigation allows companies to calculate the rate of repeat purchase under conditions where the consumer pays with their own money and chooses between competing frameworks, it can also measure the impact of concepts advertising alternatives in the production of repeat purchases.

SIMULATED STORE TECHNIQUES: The simulated store technique requires that you find thirty to forty buyers who are going to a very well known brief screening or some new ones covering a wide range of products.

This method has several advantages including. Measuring advertising effectiveness and test rates, fast results, and competitive security

CONTROLLED MARKETING TEST: Controlled testing allows the company to test the impact of in-store factors and limited advertising on consumer purchasing behavior without directly involving consumers.

Controlled Marketing Test does not challenge the company to sell on the basis of new product stocks. That technique also exposes the product to competitors.

TEST MARKET: Test markets with the latest way to test a new consumer product in situations similar to what you would face in a large-scale product launch. The marketing test can cost the company several hundred thousand dollars depending on the number of cities populated, the length of the test, and the amount of information the company wants to gather.

PROOF OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY.

New industrial assets are generally laboratory tested for the product to measure its performance, reliability, design, and cost of operation. The market test can indicate the performance of the product under real operating conditions, the key buying influences, the potential market and the best market segments.

The market test is generally not used for industrial products. Industrial buyers do not purchase durable goods without ensuring that services and parts exist for them.

The most common method is a product use test, similar to a home test for consumer products. The manufacturer selects some potential consumers who agree to use the product for a limited time.

A second method of market testing that is common in introducing new industrial products is trade inhibitions, the downside is that trade shows uncover the product to competitors. So the manufacturer must be prepared to launch it at that time. The new industrial product can also be tested in dealer and dealer showrooms where it can be close to other manufacturers' products and possibly also competitive products. This method provides information on represents and pricing in the normal sales atmosphere of the product.

MARKETING: The market test is likely to provide management with sufficient information to decide on the launch of new products. If the company goes ahead with commercialization, it will face higher costs than it does today, it will have to control production or build or rent large-scale production facilities.

An important cost is that of marketing. In order to produce a relevant consumer packaged product in the domestic market, the company may have to spend between $ 10 and $ 50 million on advertising and promotion. During the first year. In the introduction of new food products, marketing expenses generally represent 57 percent of sales in the first year.

When programming.

In the marketing of a new product, the scheduling of the market entry can be decisive. Suppose a company has almost completed its development work on its new product and has news that a competitor is nearing the end of its development work. The company then has three alternatives.

first entry: the first firm entry into a market, you often enjoy the “first-pull advantages”, which is to secure a few key distributors and customers and gain prestige leadership. On the other hand, if the product is launched on the market in a rush, before being carefully tuned, the image of the company may deteriorate. Parallel entry: the company could schedule its entry with the competitor taking its time, the company could also do it using this extra time to fine-tune the product. Late entry: The firm could delay its launch until after the competitor has entered. There are three potential advantages: the competitor will have absorbed the cost of education from the market. The product may reveal flaws that can prevent subsequent incoming;and the company can know the size of the market.

The scheduling decision involves other considerations. If the new product replaces an older product from the company. This could delay its introduction until the stocks of the old product go down. If the product is very seasonal, it may stop until the appropriate season. For all that said, the programming of the market entry deserves careful attention.

Where (GEOGRAPHIC STRATEGY).

The company must decide whether to launch the product in a single locality, a region, several regions, in the national market or in the international market. Few companies have the confidence, capital, and capacity to launch new products for national distribution, and over time will develop the planned expansion of the market. Small businesses, in particular, will select an attractive city and mount an intense campaign to enter the market. They will enter other cities, one by one. Large companies will introduce their product across an entire region and then move on to the next. Companies with national distribution networks, such as automotive companies, will launch their new models on the national market.

In extension marketing, the company has to evaluate alternative markets for their attractiveness. Candidate markets can be listed in columns, and attractiveness criteria can also be listed in columns. The main evaluation criteria are: market potential, local prestige of the influence of the area in other areas and competitive penetration. In this way, the company classifies the best markets and develops a geographic extension plan.

The presence of the competitive factor is very important. Suppose that Mc Donald's wants to launch a new chain of pizzerias, suppose, likewise, that Shakey's, a formidable competitor, is heavily entrenched on the east coast, where this other chain of pizzerias is also but weak. The Midwest is the battlefield between two other chains. The south is open but Shakey´s plans to move to it we can then see that Mc Donald´s faces a very complex decision for the choice of the extension strategy.

TO WHOM (TARGET MARKET LEAFLETS)

The market extension, the company should direct its distribution and its promotion to the best prospect groups. The company probably already has a profile of its main prospects based on previous market tests. The ideal characteristics of the primary prospects for a new consumer product would be the following: that they be early adopters, intensive users of the product, opinion leaders who speak favorably of the product and that they can reach them at a reduced cost, few groups gather All of these features, the company can classify the different strong prospect groups as soon as possible to motivate the sales force and attract prospects.

HOW (INTRODUCTORY MARKET STRATEGY)

The company must develop an action plan to introduce the new product in the extension markets. You must distribute the marketing budget, including the marketing mix tools and the sequence of various activities.

To carry out the sequence and coordinate the multiple activities involved in the launch of each product, the administration can use real planning techniques such as programming a critical path.

MARKETING ADDRESS (PHILIP KOTLER)

HOW BUYERS DEFINE VALUE

Our hypothesis is that buyers make their purchases with the company that offers the highest added value. It is the difference between the total value for the customer and the total price for the customer.

IDENTIFICATION OF POSSIBLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES THROUGH THE ANALYSIS.

The entire company is a collection of activity that you carry out to design, produce, distribute, deliver and support your product.

The value chain divides into it strategic activities in order to understand the behavior of costs in a certain business or industry and in the present and future source of differentiation

Primary: it is elaborated, dispatched, distributed and receives services. The infrastructure of the company covers the general expenses of administration, planning, finances, accounting and legal and official matters that involve the primary and support activities.

And the type of industry based on competitive sales and its size.

Volume industry: the one in which the company can only obtain few advantages, although quite considerable Stagnant industry: the one in which there are few advantages and all are small. Fragmented industry: in which the company has a lot of opportunity for differentiation, although they are all small. Specialized industry: one in which your companies have many opportunities for differentiation, each of which can be highly profitable.

PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION.

We will now identify the bases to differentiate a physical product. Chicken meat, steel, and aspirin. Even in these cases some real differences can be marked.

Frank Perdue affirms that his brand of chicken is better, that the meat is softer and because of this he gets the extra profits. Steel can vary and claims that your aspirin reaches the bloodstream sooner

FEATURES:

Product presentation Competitive element Introduce valuable new elements

FUNCTIONALITY.

It refers to the operation levels of the primary characteristic of the product. Almost all the products almost all the products are located in one of the four levels of functionality: low, average, high and superior. Strategic Planning studied the impact of quality relative to the product, discovered a positive and important relationship between the relative quality of the product and the return on investment. Three strategies are presented

First: in that the manufacturer continually improves the product: it usually produces the recovery and the highest market share. Second: it consists of preserving the initial quality unless it finds a highly visible defect or exceptional opportunities arise. Third: it consists of reducing the quality of the product over time. Some companies alter the quality to counter recent scars hoping that buyers won't notice the difference.

COMPLIANCE WITH THE SPECIFICATIONS:

It is the degree to which the design and operating characteristics of a product are close to the desired standards. Suppose a patch is designed to accelerate to 100 km / h in ten seconds, if all cars leaving the assembly line succeed, the car is said to have high specification compliance.

DURABILITY.

It is a measure of the time it takes for the example product to work: volvo announces that its cars have the longest lifespan and this justifies their high price. Although buyers pay more for a product that lasts a long time, this has its limitations.

SAFETY OF USE.

It is the degree of probability that a product works well or without failures in a given period of time. Thus a cadillac offers more security than a chevrolet if the possibility that it does not fail in some important aspect for a month is 90% compared to 60% of the second brand, people pay an extra amount for products known for their safety, You want to avoid the cost of failure and repair time.

Mitsubishi acquired the Motorola division, which made televisions. Motorola had detected its defect for every 100 devices; Mitsubishi reduced it to 6 per cent. Public complaints fell 10% from the previous level and the guarantee also fell to 10%.

REPAIRABILITY

It is a measure of how easily a product is repaired when it malfunctions or breaks down.

DISTINTIVE MARK

It is the way in which the buyer appreciates the product as he feels with it. In this line we must invest in the wrappings that are part of the distinctive seal, especially food and cosmetic products, bathroom articles and small appliances. The wrapper constitutes the buyer's first contact with the product and can attract or slow it down. The envelope is analyzed in detail.

THE DESIGN, INTEGRATING FOOD.

All of the above features are design elements and identifies how difficult it is to design a product, given all the modifications that can be made to it. The design must calculate how much the development of the characteristics, the functionality, the fulfillment of the specifications are intervened; safety, responsibility and style and other factors may want from the company's point of view, a well-designed product is one that is manufactured and distributed without issue. From a customer point of view, a well-designed product should be easy to open, install, learn to use, repair, and dispose of.Some confuse it with the seal and think that it consists of making a product and putting a nice wrapper on it, or they think that security is something that is warned when reviewing the product and not something inscribed that security is something that is acquired from manufacturing.

DIFFERENTIATION OF SERVICES.

The company in addition to differentiating its physical products can also differentiate the services it provides when it is not easy to differentiate the physical product. The key to competing successfully tends to lie in the increase and the quality of the services. The main variables in the services are described below.

DELIVERY

It includes / understands the way in which the client receives the product and includes the speed, the care and the attention with which the shipment is made.

INSTALLATION

It includes the work that must be done for a product to work in a certain place. Those who buy heavy equipment expect the seller to provide them with a good installation service. The quality of this service may vary.

CLIENT TRAINING

It involves training the customer's employees to properly and effectively use the purchased equipment.

ADVISORY SERVICE

It includes the data, information and advertising that the seller offers for free or for a price.

REPAIR SERVICE

The product composing service that the company offers to customers refers to quality.

MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES

Businesses can find many other ways to add value through differentiated services: they can improve the warranty or competition maintenance contract and can set discount rewards, such as airlines in frequent flyer programs. In fact, services are limited and advantages that the company can offer to differentiate itself from the competition.

STAFF DIFFERENTIATION

Companies can gain a strong competitive advantage by hiring better staff than the competition and training them more. Well-trained staff has six characteristics:

Competence: Employees possess the necessary skills and knowledge. Courtesy: Employees are friendly, respectful, and considerate. Credibility: Employees provide the service with accuracy and care. Sympathy: Employees promptly address customer requests and issues. Good communication: employees try to understand the customer by clearly communicating with him.

IMAGE DIFFERENTIATION

Even when the respective products and services seem the same to the buyers, the public may notice some difference in the company or in the image of the brand

One tries to convey certain characteristics with an image. It must contain a unitary message that establishes the positioning of the product and its main quality, it must transmit the message clearly so that it is not confused with other messages. If the unitary message is "IBM IS SERVICE" it must be expressed through symbols, through the visual and auditory means, in meetings and fairs, through treatment and staff. Below we review the main means to communicate the image

SYMBOLS

A strong image consists of one or more symbols that identify the company or the brand. The brand and company achievement design must make identification instantly. In the case of PASSION (Elizabeth Taylor) and UNENBIBITED (Cher) perfumes, another tactic is to choose the color that identifies the brand or company.

VISUAL MEANS

The chosen symbols must be included in the advertisement that express the personality of the company or brand. The ads express something distinctive: an anecdote, a state of mind.

AMBIENT

The physical space in which the organization manufactures or distributes its products and services is another important source of image.

ACTIVITIES

A company can create its image through the type of activities in which it participates.

POSITIONING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

We have seen that any company or brand can differentiate merchandise if it does not exist. A company, instead of thinking that it sells a "merchandise", must think that it has a "differentiated offer" product. It is worth making a difference in the mean that it meets the following criteria.

Importance: the difference includes a highly valued benefit for an appreciable number of customers. Distinction: no one else must offer the difference, or the company must offer distinctively. Superiority: the difference is superior to other ways of achieving the same advantages. Communicability: the buyer can afford the new difference Profitability: the company finds it profitable to introduce the difference.

DIFFERENCE

it consists of establishing a series of meaningful differences to distinguish the offer from the shared offer from the competitive offer.

POSITIONING

It consists of shaping the company's offer so that it occupies a clear and appreciated place in the consciousness of the target consumers. For this location, the company must decide how many and what differences stand out among the target customers.

WHAT DIFFERENCE TO PROMOTE?

We indicate that a company must promote its strengths whenever the target market values them. To themselves, the company must recognize that the differentiation process is continuous, it would seem that the company should improve costs or services to increase its attractiveness in the market compared to the competitor.

HOW TO SPREAD THE POSITIONING OF LAC OMPAÑIA.

The company must not only establish a clear positioning strategy, it must also establish a clear positioning strategy; it must also be communicated effectively to the public. Suppose a company chooses the “best quality” positioning strategy then it must ensure that it expresses this statement convincingly. To report on quality, physical signs and keys that people normally use to judge this clarity are chosen.

What are the "number one" positions that should be highlighted?

The main ones are "more quality", "better service", "more value" and "technology" more "advanced". If a company always advertises one of these positions and strongly supports them, it is likely to be known and remembered for that characteristic.

The company may try to announce a double positioning when two or more companies affirm that they are the best in offering the same attribute.

There are cases of triple positioning that have been successful.

For example: Beecham promotes its paste identifies AQUAFRESH based on three advantages: "anti-caries protection", "better breath", and "whiter teeth".

Sub-positioning: Some companies find that customers hardly have a vague idea of the brand and in fact don't know anything special about it. Overlapping: the public may have too small an image of the brand. If a client can think that the Steuben company only makes crystals from $ 10,000 upwards, when in fact they produce well crystal from $ 50. Inaccurate positioning: the public may have a blurred image of the brand. This impression may result from the announcement of too many qualities or the frequent change in the brand positioning. Doubtful positioning: It may be difficult for the public to believe in advertising when confronted with the characteristics, price and manufacturing of the product.

The advantage of solving the positioning problem is that it allows the company to solve the problem of the marketing mix. This combination essentially consists of specifying the tactical details of the positioning strategy. In this way, a company that relies on the "high quality position" knows that it must produce high quality articles, that is the only way to project a consistent high quality image.

MARKETING (SCHELL AND GRUILHINAN)

PRODUCT à We refer to both tangible goods and intangible services.

PRODUCT à It is a bundle of perceived physical, chemical and / or tangible attributes that have the potential to satisfy the needs of present and potential customers.

The product has a meaning for the seller, for the target customers and for society.

The organization of products see a product from the perspective of the organization: as a manifestation of the resources used to produce it. Marketing organizations see a product from the perspective of the target customer. As they perceive, their target customers the product is a greater interest; not the resources used to achieve the product. These organizations discover that the product is a primary vehicle for organizations to deliver customer satisfaction and that there is no need to distribute, promote, and price a product that does not offer benefits to the customer, because the product will not be sold.

The key to understanding the concept is to see it from the perspective of the target customer: as a bundle of satisfactions.

Society's opinion of the product sometimes collides with that of the target customer or the technology market, or both. For example: The safety equipment required in cars is sometimes criticized by customers and vendors.

Social considerations are becoming more important in product decisions, especially in the areas of security and packaging.

Product design à

The first step in product design is to identify the target marketing and gather information about its characteristics and expectations of the product.

The benefits that potential customers want are a critical consideration with product design.

In general, the products are multiple functions and have a broader market than those of a single function. But if a potential buyer believes that a product is capable of doing too many functions, they may suspect that none of them does them well. A product is a set of satisfactions due to its characteristics: quality, style, execution and materials.

Each influences the image of the product. More quality than the target customer expects can make the price of the product out of reach.

Style (color, aroma, size, etc.) is important for products from toilet paper to office furniture. Product designers are putting more and more emphasis on the human side of product design: human factors engineering, or ergonomics.

Customers also expect a certain level of product performance, in the 1950s and 1960s automakers participated in a horsepower race when they realized that people wanted superior performance cars.

The materials used to make a product can be very important. Decisions in material selection may affect the sales attractiveness of your product and should not be made solely by production managers, shortages of materials in some industries, and issues of safety and health may lead companies to seek alternatives.. Cost considerations can also be a factor.

Product design must also include the benefits that intermediaries expect. Although end customers come first, they should not be overlooked as intermediaries.

Scientists classify similar plants and animals into groups to study them. Merchants classify goods and services into groups to develop generalizations about desirable marketing mixes for different groups. For examples, we can divide the product into three classes based on durability.

non-durable goods durable goods services

a non-durable good is consumed in one or in a very limited number of uses.

A durable good lasts for many uses.

Tangible goods, are activities, benefits or intangible satisfactions that are offered for sale due to the growing importance of services in our economy, it was decided to divide the products (tangible goods and intangible services) into two main classes: consumer and industrial. Consumer products are purchased to meet personal and household needs. Industrial products are purchased to be used in the production of other consumer or industrial products to be used in the production of other consumer or industrial products or to be used in the conduct of an organization's operations.

Consumer product classifications

There are many bases to classify consumer goods, the most used is buyer behavior.

This classification system is based on the differences in the purchasing behavior of the people who purchase the products in st. Therefore, any product can be classified differently depending on the behavior of the buyer. This system obtain results for the behavior of consumers, since their behavior is similar to buy a certain product. There are four classes of consumer products and they are

convenience products comparison products specialty products unsolicited product

Convenience products: are all those low-priced attributes or services that consumers buy with a minimum of purchasing effort. With the effort to obtain these products is minimal, we find them within the reach of many markets.

These products are sub-classified as follows:

main products impulse products urgency product

Among the main product examples for many consumers are bread, milk and transportation by bus or subway. These products are purchased regularly and routinely.

Impulse product purchases are not planned in absolute. The exhibition of the product incites to want it. The desire to buy major products can force you to go shopping. The desire to buy products on impulse is a result of your purchase. That's why impulse products are located where you can see it.

Purchases of emergency products are a result of urgent and precise needs. An example of emergency products are ambulance and first aid services.

Comparison product: they involve price and quality confrontations. Comparison products can be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Consumers consider homogeneous comparison products to be similar.

Consumers consider heterogeneous comparison products to be different or not governed by the same standard. They buy for the best price and quality comparison. Price is usually secondary to style and quality when price comparisons are difficult to make. Other examples of heterogeneous comparison products for many consumers are babysitters and nurses.

Specialty Product: The goods or services for which the buyer has enormous convictions, such as brand, style, or type. Also a special effort to buy them.

Shoppers strayed from a path to locate and purchase these specialty products due to their known quality and other benefits.

Most consumer services that involve a high degree of experience are considered a specialty product and their products through advertising phrases such as "don't take imitations," "demand the real thing, and" are worth the trip from anywhere. " They create consumer loyalty when they consider their brands to be specialty products.

Unsolicited product: these are the products that buyers do not know exist or do not want to think about their purchase. There are two types, common unsolicited products and new unsolicited products. These are existing products that consumers do not want to think about buying, although over time they can buy it.

Products that are brand new and unknown to consumers are new unsolicited products

CLASSIFICATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS.

It can be classified into two categories, depending on the use they are given. the first category, leftover products, includes those that will be part of the product for whose elaboration they will be used.

raw material parts components materials

The second category, support products includes those needed to conduct the organization's operations:

facilities equipment accessories supplies commercial services

Raw material: products that have only undergone a process to allow convenient and economical handling. There are two subclasses that are farm products (such as tobacco, wheat, and soy) and natural products (such as mining, forestry, and marine products).

The raw material is an item of expenses because its cost is paid in the year it is purchased. The purchasing procedures depend on the current and anticipated supply of the market, price and percentage of the total cost of production of the finished product that is due to the raw material.

Supply problems also often lead to or users seeking new sources and substitute materials.

The raw material is sometimes bulky, low in value and found in places far from where it is needed.

That is why the cost of transportation is very important in your effort to keep these costs low, some companies have their own transportation equipment.

Component parts and materials: these are the products that are already ready for direct assembly into the finished product, or that require only a minor subsequent process.

Component materials require a subsequent process before becoming part of the finished product.

The component parts and materials become part of the finished product and are expense items.

Facilities: are subclasses of facilities, are the land, land rights, plants and buildings.

The following discussions focus on product considerations in multiple product company. Such companies sell more than one product to satisfy the desires of their target customers.

A company's product mix includes all the products it offers.

A product mix has the structural dimensions of extension (or amplitude) and depth. The extension refers to the number of the different product lines

Depth refers to the number of product items.

CONCLUSION

According to the book by William Stanton, it tells us all about a product mix. Here we can appreciate the product positioning product line. Price, quality, etc.

In this chapter we have learned everything about the market all about related products, finally all the doubts we had about a mix of products. We have been able to solve them, since here he explains us clearly and precisely.

This work has served us well, because we have learned new things that will help us enrich our knowledge towards our career.

According to the book, philip kotler talks about how to define buyers, identify possible advantages, competitive through analysis, characteristic of product differentiation, its functionality, strategies, compliance with specializations, durability, safety of use, repairability, different seal, customer training Here, we learn how we should serve the client in the different phases of the market that is presented here.

Philip kotler's marketing management book discusses what are the main risks in developing new products? What organizational structures are used in managing the development of the new product? And how can the stages of the new product development process be better managed? Where the purpose of each stage is to decide if the idea should continue its development or be discarded.

According to sholl and guiltiman, the product is the main thing in marketing that the product is the set of tangible and intangible goods and services that satisfy a need.

He also talks about product design and its importance to a market and the characteristics of the design. As they are quality, style, execution and materials. It also talks about the classifications of goods and services.

It was very interesting and constructive to carry out the previous work since with it we enriched our knowledge about the topic.

Download the original file