PRODUCTS, SERVICES, BRANDS:

BUILDING CUSTOMER VALUE

MEHNAAZ SAMANTHA KAMAL

NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY
OCTOBER, 2015

OBJECTIVES

What is product?
Product and service decisions
Branding strategy: building strong brands
Services marketing

Product:
Anything offered in market for attention, acquisition, use or
consumption that might satisfy a need or want
Services:
Form of product, essentially intangible

Consist of activities, benefits or satisfaction offered for sale

Don't result in ownership of anything

Pure tangible good: soap, toothpaste

Pure service: a doctors exam

Experiences:

What buying the product or service will do for the customer

LEVELS OF PRODUCT AND SERVICE

Consumers see products as complex bundles of benefits, that satisfy their needs.

PRODUCT AND SERVICE

CLASSIFICATIONS

Consumer products:
Products bought by final consumers for final consumption
4 types:
Convenience products
Shopping products
Specialty products
Unsought products

Shopping products are consumer products and service

that customer compares carefully on suitability, quality,
price and style.
Eg: Furniture, Home Appliances, etc

 Materials and parts: fruits vegetables, or component

materials (eg: iron, cement)
Capital items: installations and accessory equipment
(buildings for offices, generators, fax machines)
Supplies and service: paint, nails, pencils

Organization marketing:
Sell the organization itself
Consists of activities undertaken to create, maintain or
change attitudes and behaviors of target consumes toward
an organization
Business firms: sponsor PR or corporate image advertising
campaigns to polish their images and market themselves.

Person marketing:
Activities undertaken to create, maintain or change attitudes and
behavior of target consumers towards particular people.
Sometimes used to build reputation
Place marketing:
Activities undertaken to create, maintain or change attitudes and
behavior of target consumers toward particular places or
destinations.

Social marketing:
Use of commercial marketing to influence individuals behaviors
of improved wellbeing and that of society

PRODUCT AND SERVICE

DECISIONS

Product Mix Decisions

SERVICE MARKETING
The Nature and Characteristics of Service:

THE SERVICE PROFIT

CHAIN
Internal service quality

Satisfied and productive service employees

Greater service value

Satisfied and loyal customers

Healthy service profits and growth

TYPES OF SERVICE MARKETING

MAJOR MARKETING
TASKS OF SERVICES
Managing Service differentiation:
Offer, delivery, images (symbols and branding)
Managing service quality
Customer retention

Good service recovery

Managing service productivity:

Train current employees or hire new ones

Increase the quantity of service by giving up quality

Use the power of technology

BRANDING STRATEGY
Brand equity: the differential effect that knowing the brand name has on
customer response to the product and its marketing
Brand strength can be measured along four consumer perception
dimensions (Young & Rubicams):
1. Differentiation: what makes the brand stand out
2. Relevance: how consumers feel it meets their needs
3. Knowledge: how much consumers know about the brand
4. Esteem: how highly consumers regard and respect the brand
Brand Valuation: the process of estimating the total financial value of a
brand

BUILDING STRONG
BRANDS

Brand
Positioning

Brand Name
Selection

Brand
sponsorship

Brand
developmen
t

BRAND POSITIONING
Three levels:
Product attributes:
Pampers focus on attributes such as fluid absorption, fit and disposability

Least desirable level for brand positioning

Benefits:
Pampers give the skin health benefits from dryness
Beliefs and Value:
Engaging customers on a deep, emotional level.

Pampers positioned as a where we grow together brand

BRAND NAME SELECTION

Suggest about product's benefits and qualities

Easy to pronounce, recognize and remember

Distinctive

Extendable

Can be translated quickly

Capable of registration and legal protection

BRAND SPONSORSHIP
National/ Manufactures brand
Private Brand: brand created and owned by a reseller of a
product/service
Licensing

 Cobranding:
practice of using established brand names of
two different companies on the same product.
Eg: Nike + iPod Sport Kit
Advantages:
complementary strengths of two brands
Allows a company to expand its existing brand
into an unexplored and difficult category.
Limitation:
Involve complete legal contracts and licenses
Partners must coordinate ad, sales promotion
and other marketing efforts
Each partner must trust the other to take good
care of its brand

BRAND DEVELOPMENT

Line extensions: extending an existing

brand name to new forms, colors, sizes,
ingredients or flavors of an existing product
category.

Eg: Doritos providing 22 different flavors

Brand extensions: extending an existing

brand name to new product categories.

Eg: Kellogg's introducing full line of cereals

plus line of crackers, fruit crisps, nutritional
bars, etc

 Multi brand: companies marketing different brands in a given product

category. Eg; Pepsi co marketing different soft drinks, sports and
energy drinks, etc.

New brands: Introducing new brands. Eg: Toyota's Lexus brand

Megabrand strategies: weeding out weaker or slower growing brands

and focusing marketing on brands with good growth prospects.

Managing Brands:
- Brands positioning must be communicated to consumers
- Customers receive brand experiences through wide range
of contacts and touch points
- Companies need to periodically audit brands strengths and
weaknesses

REFERENCES:

Pearson 2010 resources

READING LIST:

Chapter 8. Products, Services and Brands: Building

Customer Value. Book: Principles of marketing ( 15th
edition)