4 - Products, Services and Brands Flashcards
core customer value
what the customer is really buying
eg. people who buy wireless devices are buying ‘freedom’ and on the go connectivity
types of products
consumer products - bought by final consumer for personal consumption
industrial products - bought for further processing or for use in conducting business
(both products and services)
types of consumer products (4)
convenience - buy frequently w/ minimum comparison (newspaper, cookies…)
shopping - less frequent, customer compares carefully (cars, houses…)
specialty - unique characteristics/brands for which a buyer is willing to make a special purchase effort (electronics, designer items…)
unsought - consumers don’t want to think much about (life insurance, funeral services…)
product & service decisions (5)
product attributes branding packaging labelling support services
top quality management (TQM)
all company’s people are involved in consistently improving the quality
return on quality approach
viewing quality as an investment
- holding quality efforts accountable for bottom line decisions
product quality
characteristics of a product that bear on its ability to satisfy stated/implied customer needs
two dimensions:
- level
- consistency
conformance quality
consistency of quality
- freedom from defects
product line
group of products that are closely related because:
- function in similar manner
- sold to the same customer group
- marketed through same channels
- fall within given price ranges
ways to expand product line length
product line filling - adding more items w/in present range
- eg: iPhone 6 and 6S
product line stretching - reaching more types of clients beyond current range
- iPhone X (more exclusive)
product mix
all the product lines and items available to sell
differences b/w the product mix length, depth and width
product mix length - total number of items in its product lines
product mix depth - n of versions offered of each product in the line
product mix width - number of different product lines
types of service industries (3)
government (courts, hospitals, schools…)
private non-profit organizations (museums, charities, churches…)
business organizations (airlines, hotels, entertainment…)
nature and characteristics of a service
intangible
inseparable (from providers)
perishable (cannot be stored for later use)
variable (quality depends on who provides them, when, where and how)
additional marketing strategies for service firms (3)
service-profit chain
internal marketing
interactive marketing
service-profit chain
links both employee + customer satisfaction to profitability
- internal service quality (superior employee selection + training)
- productive employees
- greater service value
- satisfied and loyal customers
internal marketing
customer-contact employees should work as a team to provide customer satisfaction
- gets everyone in the organization to be customer centered
interactive marketing
service quality depends on the quality of the buyer-seller interaction during the service
- service differentiation
- service quality
- service productivity
what constitutes a successful service company
one that focuses their attention on both the employees and the customers
- service quality depends on the service deliverer and quality of delivery
managing service differentiation
creates a competitive advantage
- offer, delivery and image can be differentiated
managing service quality
differentiates itself by delivering consistently higher quality than its competitors
- customer retention is best measure of quality
managing service productivity
refers to the cost side of marketing strategies for service firms
- avoid pushing productivity so hard that it reduces the quality
- > cutting costs = efficient in the short-run, but in the long-run = reduces the ability to innovate, maintain service quality or to respond to the customers needs and desires
branding advantages
to the consumer:
- helps identify products
- know what to expect from certain brands
to the seller:
- provides legal protection
- helps seller segment markets
difference b/w brand value and equity
brand equity = effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product or its marketing
brand value = total financial value of a brand
