Principles of marketing: Lecture 21

MGT301
Principles of Marketing
Lecture­21


Summary
of  
Lecture­20


Individual Product Decisions
Product Attributes
Branding
Packaging
Labeling
Product Support Services


Quality
Quality

Features
Features

Design
Design


Branding

Brand Development


Four Brand Strategies 
Product Category
Existing

Brand Name

Existing

New

New

Line Extension

Brand Extension

Multibrands

New Brands


Today’s Topics
Product (cont..) 


A
A Good

Good
Brand
Brand Name
Name
Is...
Is...

•
•
•
•
•

Short and simple
Suggestive of product benefits
Legally available
No negative imagery
Easy to spell, read, and
pronounce
• Adaptable for international
markets
• Adaptable to packaging/labeling
needs
• Adaptable to any advertising
medium


Generic name: A brand name that has become a 
generally descriptive term for a class of products.
– If this occurs, the original owner loses exclusive right to the 

brand name (which is very bad for marketers).
– Examples:  nylon, aspirin, escalator, kerosene, etc.


 Packaging


Activity of designing and 
producing the container or 
wrapper for a product.



Packaging used to just contain 
and protect the product.


Goals of Packaging
Protection against damage, spoilage, 
tampering etc.

Assistance in marketing the product 

Cost effectiveness (and good for the 
environment)


Labeling

Printed information appearing on or with the package.
Performs several functions:
– Identifies product or brand
– Describes several things about the product
– Promotes the product through attractive graphics.


Universal Product Code (UPC)


A bar code on a product’s package that provides information 
read by optical scanners.



UPC codes provide several advantages:  labor saving, 
improve inventory control, and help with marketing research.

79400 80740


Sales
Tasks

Identifies

Competitive
Advantages
Packaging
Packaging

Labeling
Labeling
Describes

Product
Safety

Promotes


Product ­ Support Services
Companies should design its support services to profitably 
meet the needs of target customers and gain competitive 
advantage.  


How?


Step 1
Survey customers to assess the value  of current services and to 
obtain ideas for new services.

  

Step 2

Assess costs of providing desired services.

Step 3  

Develop a package of services to delight customers and yield 
profits to the company.


Product Line Strategies


Product
Product Line
Line Extensions
Extensions
Stretching

Filling

Adding new
items to line

Adding sizes or
styles

Downward

Upward
Two-way

Contracting
Contractingaa
Product
ProductLine

Line
Dropping
Droppingitems
items


New Product Development 
The development of original products, product improvements, 
product modifications, and new brands through the firm’s 
own R&D efforts.


Major Stages in New­Product 
Development
Marketing
Strategy

Concept
Development
and Testing

Idea
Screening

Idea
Generation

Business
Analysis

Product
Development

Test
Marketing

Commercializatio
n


Stage 1:  Idea Generation
–  Internal idea sources:  
 R & D
 Sales force

–  External idea sources: 
 Customers, competitors, distributors, suppliers


Sources of New­Product Ideas