Marketing management Chapter 12 pdf

SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
IN THIS CHAPTER, WE WILL
ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS:
1.
What are the characteristics of
products and how can they be
classified?
2.
How can companies differentiate
products?
3. How can a company build and
manage its product mix and
product lines?
4.
How can companies combine
products to create strong co-
brands or ingredient brands?
5. How can companies use
packaging, labeling, warranties,
and guarantees as marketing
CHAPTER 12 SETTING PRODUCT
STRATEGY
At the heart of a great brand is a great product. Product is a key
element in the market offering. Market leaders generally offer
products and services of superior quality.
erhaps no other high-end product combines the skilled crafts-
manship, market dominance, and longevity of Steinway pianos.
One-hundred-fifty years old, the family-run company retains many
of the same manufacturing processes from its humble origins in New York
City.

Although mass-produced pianos take roughly 20 days to build, build-
ing a Steinway takes nine months to a year. A Steinway piano requires
12,000 parts, most of them handcrafted, and relies on 120 technical patents
and innovations. Despite the fact that it can produce only a few thousand
pianos a year and has only 2 percent of all keyboard unit sales in the United
States, Steinway commands 25 percent of the sales dollars and 35 percent
of the profits. Not surprisingly, Steinway owns the market in concert halls
(where it has a market share over 95 percent) and with composers and
musicians.^
A Steinway concert grand: the great product
at
the
heart
of a
great brand.
371
372 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
Marketing planning begins with formulating an offering to meet target cus-
tomers' needs or wants. The customer will judge the offering by three basic ele-
ments: product features and quality, services mix and quality, and price (see
Figure 12.1). In this chapter, we examine product; in Chapter 13, services; and
in Chapter 14, prices. All three elements must be meshed into a competitively
attractive offering.
Value-based prices
• • •
• • •
Product Characteristics and Classifications
| FIG. 12.1
Components of the Market Ottering
Many people think that a product is a tangible offering, but a product can be more than that.

A
product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need. Products that
are marketed include physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, proper-
ties,
organizations, information, and ideas.
Product Levels: The Customer Value Hierarchy
In planning its market offering, the marketer needs to address five product levels (see Figure
12.2).
2
Each level adds more customer value, and the five constitute a customer value hier-
archy. The fundamental level is the core benefit: the service or benefit the customer is really
buying. A hotel guest is buying "rest and sleep." The purchaser of a drill is buying "holes."
Marketers must see themselves as benefit providers.
At the second level, the marketer has to turn the core benefit into a basic product. Thus a
hotel room includes a bed, bathroom, towels, desk, dresser, and closet.
At the third level, the marketer prepares an expected product, a set of attributes and con-
ditions buyers normally expect when they purchase this product. Hotel guests expect a clean
bed, fresh towels, working lamps, and a relative degree of quiet. Because most hotels can
meet this minimum expectation, the traveler normally will settle for whichever hotel is most
convenient or least expensive.
At the fourth level, the marketer prepares an augmented product that exceeds customer
expectations. In developed countries, brand positioning and competition take place at this
level. In developing countries and emerging markets such as China and India, however,
competition takes place mostly at the expected product level.
Differentiation arises on the basis of product augmentation. Product augmentation
also leads the marketer to look at the user's total consumption system: the way the user
performs the tasks of getting and using products and related services.
3
As Levitt observed
long ago:

FIG.
12.2 |
Five Product Levels
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12
The new competition is not between what companies produce in their factories,
but between what they add to their factory output in the form of packaging, ser-
vices,
advertising, customer advice, financing, delivery arrangements, warehous-
ing, and other things that people value.
4
Some things should be noted about product-augmentation strategy. First, each augmen-
tation adds cost. Second, augmented benefits soon become expected benefits and necessary
points-of-parity. Today's hotel guests expect cable or satellite television with a remote con-
trol and high-speed Internet access or two phone
lines.
This means competitors will have to
search for still other features and benefits. Third, as companies raise the price of their aug-
mented product, some competitors offer a "stripped-down" version at a much lower price.
Thus,
alongside the growth of fine hotels like Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton, we see the
emergence of lower-cost hotels and motels like Motel 6 and Comfort Inn, which cater to
clients who simply want the basic product.
i- JAMESTOWN CONTAINER CO.
What could be harder to differentiate than corrugated cardboard? Yet, Jamestown Container Company, the lead
supplier of corrugated products for companies such as 3M, has formed strategic partnerships with area manu-
facturers to provide every part of the shipping system. It not only provides boxes, but also offers tape, shrink-
wrap,
and everything else needed either to display or to ship a customer's final product. "It's a combination for
survival,"
says the company's Chief Operating Officer. "More customers want to call one place for

everything.
We
n have to keep reinventing ourselves and form these kinds of relationships to remain competitive."
5
At the fifth level stands the potential product, which encompasses all the possible aug-
mentations and transformations the product or offering might undergo in the future. Here is
where companies search for new ways to satisfy customers and distinguish their offer. For
instance, in an era when customers are demanding ever-faster Internet and wireless con-
nections, Verizon is investing its capital in creating a raft of potential products:
r- VERIZON
Rather than be seen as a follower in the highly competitive telecom industry, Verizon is pushing fast into totally
new territory. For one thing, Verizon is rolling out fiber-optic connections to every home and business in its
29-state territory over the next 10 to 15
years.
This will allow the lightning-fast transmission of everything from
traditional phone service to HDTV. The company is no less aggressive when it comes to wireless technology.
Verizon has covered Manhattan with more than 1,000 Wi-Fi hot spots that lets any Verizon broadband subscriber
use a laptop to tap into the Net wirelessly when near a Verizon pay
phone.
The company is also deploying 3G, a
third-generation wireless service that lets customers make super-speedy Net connections from their mobile
phones. In short, the company is investing billions in services customers don't even know they want yet, but
a which—Verizon is betting—will set the standard for the entire industry.
6
Also consider the customization platforms new e-commerce sites are offering, from
which companies can learn by seeing what different customers prefer. Proctor
&
Gamble, for
example, has developed Reflect.com, which offers customized beauty products created
interactively on the

Web
site.
Product Classifications
Marketers have traditionally classified products on the basis of
characteristics:
durability, tangi-
bility, and use (consumer or industrial). Each product type has an appropriate marketing-mix
strategy.
7
DURABILITY AND TANGIBILITY Products can be classified into three groups, according to
durability and tangibility:
I. Nondurable goods are tangible goods normally consumed in one or a few uses, like beer
and soap. Because these goods are consumed quickly and purchased frequently, the
appropriate strategy is to make them available in many locations, charge only a small
markup, and advertise heavily to induce trial and build preference.
374 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
2.
Durable goods are tangible goods that normally survive many uses: refrigerators,
machine tools, and clothing. Durable products normally require more personal selling
and service, command a higher margin, and require more seller guarantees.
3.
Services are intangible, inseparable, variable, and perishable products. As a result, they
normally require more quality control, supplier credibility, and adaptability. Examples
include haircuts, legal advice, and appliance repairs.
CONSUMER-GOODS CLASSIFICATION The vast array of goods consumers buy can be
classified on the basis of shopping habits. We can distinguish among convenience, shop-
ping, specialty, and unsought goods.
The consumer usually purchases convenience goods frequently, immediately, and with a
minimum of effort. Examples include tobacco products, soaps, and newspapers.
Convenience goods can be further divided. Staples are goods consumers purchase on a reg-

ular basis. A buyer might routinely purchase Heinz ketchup, Crest toothpaste, and Ritz
crackers. Impulse goods are purchased without any planning or search effort. Candy bars
and magazines are impulse goods.
Emergency goods
are purchased when a need is urgent—
umbrellas during a rainstorm, boots and shovels during the first winter snowstorm.
Manufacturers of impluse and emergency goods will place them in those outlets where con-
sumers are likely to experience an urge or compelling need to make a purchase.
Shopping goods are goods that the consumer, in the process of selection and purchase,
characteristically compares on such bases as suitability, quality, price, and style. Examples
include furniture, clothing, used cars, and major appliances. Shopping goods can be further
divided. Homogeneous shopping goods are similar in quality but different enough in price to
justify shopping comparisons.
Heterogeneous
shopping
goods
differ in product features and
services that may be more important than
price.
The seller of heterogeneous shopping goods
carries a wide assortment to satisfy individual tastes and must have well-trained salespeople
to inform and advise customers.
Specialty goods have unique characteristics or brand identification for which a sufficient
number of buyers are willing to make a special purchasing effort. Examples include cars,
stereo components, photographic equipment, and men's suits. A Mercedes is a specialty
good because interested buyers will travel far to buy one. Specialty goods do not involve
making comparisons; buyers invest time only to reach dealers carrying the wanted products.
Dealers do not need convenient locations, although they must let prospective buyers know
their locations.
Unsought goods are those the consumer does not know about or does not normally think

of buying, like smoke detectors. The classic examples of known but unsought goods are life
insurance, cemetery plots, gravestones, and encyclopedias. Unsought goods require adver-
tising and personal-selling support.
INDUSTRIAL-GOODS CLASSIFICATION Industrial goods can be classified in terms of how
they enter the production process and their relative costliness. We can distinguish three
groups of industrial goods: materials and parts, capital items, and supplies and business ser-
vices.
Materials and parts are goods that enter the manufacturer's product completely. They
fall into two classes: raw materials and manufactured materials and parts. Raw materials fall
into two major groups: farm products (e.g., wheat, cotton, livestock, fruits, and vegetables)
and natural products (e.g., fish, lumber, crude petroleum, iron ore). Farm products are sup-
plied by many producers, who turn them over to marketing intermediaries, who provide
assembly, grading, storage, transportation, and selling services. Their perishable and sea-
sonal nature gives rise to special marketing practices. Their commodity character results in
relatively little advertising and promotional activity, with some exceptions. At times, com-
modity groups will launch campaigns to promote their product—potatoes, cheese, and
beef.
Some producers brand their products—Dole salads, Mott's apples, and Chiquita bananas.
Natural products are limited in supply. They usually have great bulk and low unit value
and must be moved from producer to user. Fewer and larger producers often market them
directly to industrial users. Because the users depend on these materials, long-term supply
contracts are common. The homogeneity of natural materials limits the amount of demand-
creation activity. Price and delivery reliability are the major factors influencing the selection
of suppliers.
Manufactured materials and parts fall into two categories: component materials (iron,
yarn, cement, wires) and component parts (small motors, tires, castings). Component mate-
rials are usually fabricated further—pig iron is made into steel, and yarn
is
woven into cloth.
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 375

A Beef Council ad, part of the
"Beef,
It's
What's for Dinner" campaign of
TV
and
print ads designed to promote beef as a
good
food.
The standardized nature of component materials usually means that price and supplier reli-
ability are key purchase factors. Component parts enter the finished product with no further
change in form, as when small motors are put into vacuum cleaners, and tires are put on
automobiles. Most manufactured materials and parts are sold directly to industrial users.
Price and service are major marketing considerations, and branding and advertising tend to
be less important.
Capital items are long-lasting goods that facilitate developing or managing the finished
product. They include two groups: installations and equipment. Installations consist of
buildings (factories, offices) and heavy equipment (generators, drill presses, mainframe
computers, elevators). Installations are major purchases. They are usually bought directly
from the producer, with the typical sale preceded by a long negotiation period. The pro-
ducer's sales force includes technical personnel. Producers have to be willing to design to
specification and to supply postsale services. Advertising is much less important than per-
sonal selling.
Equipment comprises portable factory equipment and tools (hand tools, lift trucks) and
office equipment (personal computers, desks). These types of equipment do not become
part of a finished product. They have a shorter life than installations but a longer life than
operating supplies. Although some equipment manufacturers sell direct, more often they
use intermediaries, because the market is geographically dispersed, the buyers are numer-
ous,
and the orders are small. Quality, features, price, and service are major considerations.

The sales force tends to be more important than advertising, although the latter can be used
effectively.
Supplies and business services are short-term goods and services that facilitate develop-
ing or managing the finished product. Supplies are of two kinds: maintenance and repair
items (paint, nails, brooms), and operating supplies (lubricants, coal, writing paper, pencils).
Together, they go under the name of MRO goods. Supplies are the equivalent of convenience
376 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
goods; they are usually purchased with minimum effort on a straight rebuy basis. They are
normally marketed through intermediaries because of their low unit value and the great
number and geographic dispersion of customers. Price and service are important consider-
ations, because suppliers are standardized and brand preference is not high.
Business services include maintenance and repair services (window cleaning, copier
repair) and business advisory services (legal, management consulting, advertising).
Maintenance and repair services are usually supplied under contract by small producers or
are available from the manufacturers of the original equipment. Business advisory services
are usually purchased on the basis of the supplier's reputation and
staff.
Ill Differentiation
To be branded, products must be differentiated. Physical products vary in their potential for
differentiation. At one extreme, we find products that allow little variation: chicken, aspirin,
and
steel.
Yet
even here, some differentiation is possible: Perdue chickens, Bayer aspirin, and
India's Tata Steel have carved out distinct identities in their categories. Procter
&
Gamble
makes Tide, Cheer, and Gain laundry detergents, each with a separate brand identity. At the
other extreme are products capable of high differentiation, such as automobiles, commer-
cial buildings, and furniture. Here the seller faces an abundance of design parameters,

including form, features, performance quality, conformance quality, durability, reliability,
repairability, and style.
8
Marketers are always looking for new dimensions of differentiation. Otis Elevator
Company has upped the ante in its category by making its elevators smarter:
OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
At a typical bank of elevators in an office building lobby, you press the "up" button and take the first elevator that
comes, with no idea how many stops there will be until you get to your floor. Now Otis has developed a "smart"
elevator.
You
key in your floor on a centralized
panel.
The panel tells you which elevator is going to take you to
your floor. Your elevator takes you right to your floor and races back to the lobby. With this simple change, Otis
has managed to turn every elevator into an express. This remarkable differentiator means a speedier ride and
less groaning and sighing by riders, but it also has big benefits for builders. Buildings need fewer elevators for
a given density of people, so builders can use the extra space for people rather than people conveyers.
9
Product Differentiation
FORM Many products can be differentiated in form—the size, shape, or physical structure
of a product. Consider the many possible forms taken by products such as aspirin. Although
aspirin is essentially a commodity, it can be differentiated by dosage size, shape, color, coat-
ing, or action time.
5 Most products can be offered with varying features that supplement its basic
function. A company can identify and select appropriate new features by surveying recent
buyers and then calculating customer value versus company cost for each potential feature.
The company should also consider how many people want each feature, how long it would
take to introduce each feature, and whether competitors could easily copy the feature.
Companies must also think in terms of feature bundles or packages. Auto companies often
manufacture cars at several "trim levels." This lowers manufacturing and inventory costs.

Each company must decide whether to offer feature customization at a higher cost or a few
standard packages at a lower cost.
PERFORMANCE QUALITY Most products are established at one of four performance lev-
els:
low, average, high, or superior. Performance quality is the level at which the product's
primary characteristics operate. Firms should not necessarily design the highest perfor-
mance level possible. The manufacturer must design a performance level appropriate to the
target market and competitors' performance levels. A company must also manage perfor-
mance quality through time. Continuously improving the product can produce the high
returns and market share. Lowering quality in an attempt to cut costs often has dire conse-
quences. Schlitz, the number-two beer brand in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s,
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 377
was driven into the dust because management adopted a financially motivated strategy to
increase its short-term profits and curry favor with shareholders. In fact, quality
is
becoming
an increasingly important parameter for differentiation as companies adopt a value model
and provide higher quality for less money. Cataloger
J.
Crew is raising the prices of its mer-
chandise as it raises the quality bar higher:
J.
CREW
J.
Crew is returning to a tradition of preppy quality goods. It is adding pleats to the backs of its shirts and hav-
ing them made in Italy instead of China. Its shoes are also being made in Italy, and the company is tailoring
trousers to fit better. The cover of the Fall 2003 catalog reflected the company's emphasis on quality by crisply
portraying each color-dyed stitch, the weave of the wool, and each tiny pearl collar button.
10
ONFORMANCI QUALITY Buyers expect products to have a high conformance quality,

which is the degree to which all the produced units are identical and meet the promised
specifications. Suppose a Porsche 944 is designed to accelerate to 60 miles per hour within
10 seconds. If every Porsche 944 coming off the assembly line does this, the model is said to
have high conformance quality. The problem with low conformance quality is that the prod-
uct will disappoint some buyers.
DURABILITY Durability, a measure of the product's expected operating life under natural
or stressful conditions, is a valued attribute for certain products. Buyers will generally pay
more for vehicles and kitchen appliances that have a reputation for being long lasting.
However, this rule is subject to some qualifications. The extra price must not be excessive.
Furthermore, the product must not be subject to rapid technological obsolescence, as is the
case with personal computers and video cameras.
RELIABILITY Buyers normally will pay a premium for more reliable products. Reliability is
a measure of the probability that a product will not malfunction or fail within a specified
time period. Maytag, which manufactures major home appliances, has an outstanding rep-
utation for creating reliable appliances.
REPAIRABILITY Repairability is a measure of the ease of fixing a product when it malfunc-
tions or fails. Ideal repairability would exist if users could fix the product themselves with lit-
tle cost in money or time. Some products include a diagnostic feature that allows service
people to correct a problem over the telephone or advise the user how to correct it. Many
computer hardware and software companies offer technical support over the phone, or by
fax or e-mail. Cisco put together a Knowledge Base of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on
its
Web
site which it estimates handles about 80 percent of the roughly 4 million monthly
requests for information, and saves the company $250 million annually. Each new call and
solution goes to a tech writer who adds the solution to the FAQs, thus reducing the number
of future phone calls.
11
STYLE Style describes the product's look and feel to the buyer. Car buyers pay a premium
for Jaguars because of their extraordinary look. Aesthetics play a key role in such brands as

Absolut vodka, Apple computers, Montblanc pens, Godiva chocolate, and Harley-Davidson
motorcycles.
12
Style has the advantage of creating distinctiveness that is difficult to copy. On
the negative side, strong style does not always mean high performance.
A
car may look sen-
sational but spend a lot of time in the repair shop.
Design:
The Integrative Force
As competition intensifies, design offers a potent way to differentiate and position a com-
pany's products and services.
13
In increasingly fast-paced markets, price, and technology are
not enough. Design is the factor that will often give a company its competitive edge. Design
is the totality of features that affect how a product looks and functions in terms of customer
requirements.
Design is particularly important in making and marketing retail services, apparel, packaged
goods, and durable equipment.
All
the qualities we have discussed are design parameters. The
378 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
designer has to figure out how much to invest in form, feature development, performance,
conformance, durability, reliability, repairability, and style. To the company, a well-designed
product is one that is easy to manufacture and distribute. To the customer, a well-designed
product is one that is pleasant to look at and easy to open, install, use, repair, and dispose of.
The designer has to take all these factors into account.
The arguments for good design are particularly compelling for smaller consumer-products
companies and start-ups that don't have big advertising dollars. That's how one small brewery
got noticed.

FLYING FISH BREWING CO.
Before he started his company, founder Gene Muller sent Pentagram Design Company a case of beer bottles
with blank labels and a note that
said,
"This space available for good design." He told Pentagram partner
Michael Beirut that he wanted something a breed apart from the usual mountain-range motif themes that every-
one else seemed to be doing. The Pentagram design Muller liked most and picked for his start-up was a
fish-
bone propeller plane. Flying Fish Brewing Company was born. Not only has the eye-catching image helped sell
the beer, but the company's merchandise sales (T-shirts, hats, and pint glasses) have been surprisingly strong,
especially at music festivals.
14
Certain countries are winning on design: Italian design in apparel and furniture;
Scandinavian design for functionality, aesthetics, and environmental consciousness. Braun, a
German division of Gillette, has elevated design to a high art in its electric shavers, coffeemak-
ers,
hair dryers, and food processors. The company's design department enjoys equal status
with engineering and manufacturing. The Danish firm Bang & Olufsen has received many
kudos for the design of its stereos, TV equipment, and telephones. "Marketing Insight: Design
as a Powerful Marketing Tool" describes some successes and failures in design.
Services Differentiation
When the physical product cannot easily be differentiated, the key to competitive success
may lie in adding valued services and improving their quality. The main service differentia-
tors are: ordering ease, delivery, installation, customer training, customer consulting, and
maintenance and repair.
ORDERING EASE Ordering ease refers to how easy it is for the customer to place an order
with the company. Baxter Healthcare has eased the ordering process by supplying hospitals
with computer terminals through which they
send orders directly to Baxter. Many banks
now provide home banking software to help

customers get information and do transac-
tions more efficiently. Consumers are now able
to order and receive groceries without going to
the supermarket.
DELIVERY Delivery refers to how well the
product or service is delivered to the cus-
tomer. It includes speed, accuracy, and care
attending the delivery process. Today's cus-
tomers have grown to expect delivery speed:
pizza delivered in one-half hour, film devel-
oped in one hour, eyeglasses made in one
hour, cars lubricated in 15 minutes. Levi
Strauss, Benetton, and The Limited have
adopted computerized quick response sys-
tems (QRS) that link the information systems
of their suppliers, manufacturing plants, dis-
tribution centers, and retailing outlets.
Cemex, a giant cement company based in
Mexico, has transformed the cement busi-
A group of franchisees learning the business at McDonald's Hamburger
U.
in Oak Brook, Illinois.
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER
12 379
C7
MARKETING INSIGHT DESIGN AS A POWERFUL MARKETING TOOL
Manufacturers, service providers,
and
retailers seek
new

designs
to
create differentiation and establish
a
more complete connection with
consumers. Holistic marketers recognize
the
emotional power
of
design and the importance
to
consumers
of
how things look and
feel.
Design
is now
more fully integrated into
the
marketing management
process.
For
example:
•
After seeing some
of
their brands lose share
to
competitors with
stronger designs

and
aesthetics, Procter
&
Gamble appointed
a
Chief Design Officer
in
2001
and now
hands
out
an A. G. Lafley
Design award each
Fall.
Lafley, P&G's
CEO,
is
credited with push-
ing
for
more products
to
involve design
at the
front end—not
as
an afterthought. These products, such
as
Crest Whitestrips, Olay
Daily Facials, and

the
whole line
of
Swifter Quick Clean products,
have generated more trials, more repurchases, and more sales.
•
Sweden's IKEA has become one
of
the top furniture retailers in
the
world
in
part through
its
ability
to
design
and
manufacture inex-
pensive furniture that doesn't seem cheap. Another Scandinavian
company, Finland's Nokia, is credited with taking
a
little black blob
with tiny buttons and turning
it
into an object
of
desire. Nokia was
the first
to

introduce user-changeable covers
for
cellphones,
the
first to have elliptical-shaped, soft, and friendly forms, and the first
with big screens. In the early 1990s, Nokia controlled only
12
per-
cent
of the
global market
for
cell phones. Today,
it is the
world
leader
in
handsets, with
38
percent
of
the market.
With
an
increasingly visually oriented culture, translating brand
meaning
and
positioning through design
is
critical.

"In a
crowded
marketplace," writes Virginia Postrel
in
The
Substance
of
Style,
"aes-
thetics
is
often
the
only
way to
make
a
product stand
out."
Design
can shift consumer perceptions
to
make brand experiences more
rewarding.
Consider the lengths Boeing went
to to
make
its 777
air-
plane seem roomier and more comfortable. Raised center bins, side

luggage bins, divider panels, gently arched ceilings, and raised seats
make the aircraft interior seem bigger. As one design engineer noted,
"If we
do
our jobs, people don't realize what we have done. They just
say they feel more comfortable."
Designers sometimes
put a
human face—literally—on their
products. The Porsche Boxster's bulges
and
curves
can be
seen
as
suggestive
of
muscle; the Apple iMac was thought
by
one designer to
be
"a
head stuck
to a
body
via a
long skinny arm";
and
Microsoft's
optical mouse

can be
seen
as an
outstretched hand. When Frog
Design
set out to
make
a
Disney cordless phone
for
kids,
it
wanted
the design
to
live
up to the
famed Disney imagery. After exhaustive
study, Frog defined
the
composite elements
of a
Disney character
and applied
it to
the phone. The eyes were interpreted
in
terms
of
the

LCD screen
and
were made
as big as
possible;
the
torso
was
inter-
preted
in
terms
of
the housing
of
the phone and was S-shaped, with
a roundness
in the top
front
and
bottom back;
and the
feet were
interpreted
in
terms
of
the base and charger
stand,
which used built-

up plastic
to
emulate
a
sock pushed
up
around
an
ankle.
A
bad
design
can
also ruin
a
product's prospects. Sony's e-Villa
Internet appliance was intended
to
allow consumers
to
have Internet
access from their kitchens.
But at
nearly
32
pounds and
16
inches,
the mammoth product
was so

awkward
and
heavy that
the
owner's
manual recommended customers bend their legs,
not
their back,
to
pick
it
up.
The product was eventually withdrawn after three months.
Sources:
A.
G. Lafley, "Delivering Delight,"
Fast
Company,
June 2004, p.
51;
Frank
Nuovo,
"A Call for Fashion,"
Fast
Company,
June 2004, p. 52; Bobbie
Gossage, "Strategies: Designing Success,"
Inc.
Magazine,
May 2004, pp. 27-29; Jim Hopkins, "When the Devil Is in the Design,"

USA
Today,
December
31,
2001, p. 3B; J. Lynn Lunsford and Daniel Michaels, "Masters of Illusion,"
Wall Street
Journal,
November 25, 2002, pp.
B1,
B5; Jerome Kathman,
"Building Leadership Brands by Design," Brandweek, December 1, 2003, p. 20; Bob Parks, "Deconstructing Cute," Business 2.0, December
2002/January 2003,
pp.
47-50; Lisa Margonelli, "How Ikea Designs Its Sexy Price
Tags,"
Business
2.0,
October
2002,
pp. 106-112.
ness by promising to deliver concrete faster than pizza. Cemex equips every truck with a
global positioning system (GPS) so that its real-time location is known and full informa-
tion is available to drivers and dispatchers. Cemex is able to promise that if your load is
more than 10 minutes late, you get a 20 percent discount.
15
INSTALLATION Installation refers to the work done to make a product operational in its
planned location. Buyers of heavy equipment expect good installation service.
Differentiating at this point in the consumption chain is particularly important for compa-
nies with complex products. Ease of installation becomes a true selling point, especially
when the target market is technology novices. For customers wishing to connect to the

Internet using a high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL), Pacific Bell developed installation
kits that included an interactive software setup program so customers could complete their
DSL setup in less than an hour.
16
CUSTOMER TRAINING Customer training refers to training the customer's employees to
use the vendor's equipment properly and efficiently. General Electric not only sells and
installs expensive X-ray equipment in hospitals; it also gives extensive training to users of
this equipment. McDonald's requires its new franchisees to attend Hamburger University in
Oak Brook, Illinois, for two weeks, to learn how to manage the franchise properly.
380 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
CUSTOMER CONSULTING Customer consulting refers to data, information systems, and
advice services that the seller offers to buyers.
- HERMAN MILLER INC.
Herman Miller, a large office furniture company, has partnered with a California firm to show corporate clients
how to get the full benefits out of its furnishings. The
firm,
Future Industrial Technologies, specializes in work-
place ergonomics training. Working through Herman Miller's dealership network, customers can arrange two-
hour training sessions for small groups of employees. The sessions are run by some of the 1,200 physical ther-
apists, occupational therapists, registered nurses, and chiropractors who work under contract to Future Industrial
Technologies. While customer ergonomics training results in only modest revenue gains for Herman Miller, the
company feels that teaching healthy work habits creates higher levels of satisfaction for customers and sets
Herman Miller products apart.
17
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR Maintenance and repair describes the service program for
helping customers keep purchased products in good working order. Hewlett-Packard offers
online technical support, or "e-support," for its customers. In the event of
a
service problem,
customers can use various online tools to find a solution. Those aware of the specific prob-

lem can search an online database for fixes; those unaware can use diagnostic software that
finds the problem and searches the online database for an automatic fix. Customers can also
seek online help from a technician.
18
- BEST BUY
As consolidation and competitive pricing among electronics retailers continues, companies are increasingly
looking for new ways to stand out in the crowd. That's why Best Buy contracted with the Geek Squad, a
small residential computer services company in its home market of Minnesota's twin cities, to revamp the
chain's in-store computer repair services. Previously, PCs were sent to regional repair facilities, a process
that was time-consuming and ultimately contributed to a high degree of consumer dissatisfaction. Now
about half of all repairs are made in Best Buy stores. But the real differentiator is the Geek Squad's ability
to make house calls (at a higher fee). Geek Squad house calls are called a "Beetle
Roll"
because of the
squad's signature fleet of hip VW Beetles. Geek Squad employees even dress differently for house calls—
they wear a distinctive "geek" look as opposed to the traditional Best Buy blue they wear at the in-store ser-
vice centers.
19
Ill Product and Brand Relationships
Each product can be related to other products.
The Product Hierarchy
The product hierarchy stretches from basic needs to particular items that satisfy those
needs.
We can identify six levels of the product hierarchy (using life insurance as an
example):
1.
Need family -The core need that underlies the existence of a product family. Example:
security.
2.
Product family -

All
the product classes that can satisfy a core need with reasonable
effectiveness. Example: savings and income.
3.
Product class -A group of products within the product family recognized as having a
certain functional coherence. Also known as product category. Example: financial
instruments.
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 381
4.
Product line -A group of products within a product class that are closely related because
they perform a similar function, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed
through the same outlets or channels, or fall within given price ranges. A product line
may be composed of different brands or a single family brand or individual brand that
has been line extended. Example: life insurance.
5.
Product type -
A
group of items within a product line that share one of several possible
forms of the product. Example: term life insurance.
6. Item (also called stockkeeping unit or product variant) -
A
distinct unit within a brand
or product line distinguishable by size, price, appearance, or some other attribute.
Example: Prudential renewable term life insurance.
Product Systems and Mixes
A product system is a group of diverse but related items that function in a compatible
manner. For example, PalmOne handheld and smartphone product lines come with
attachable products including headsets, cameras, keyboards, presentation projectors,
e-books, MP3 players, and voice recorders.
A

product mix (also called a product assort-
ment) is the set of all products and items a particular seller offers for sale.
A
product mix
consists of various product lines. In General Electric's Consumer Appliance Division,
there are product-line managers for refrigerators, stoves, and washing machines. NEC's
(Japan) product mix consists of communication products and computer products.
Michelin has three product lines: tires, maps, and restaurant-rating services. At
Northwestern University, there are separate academic deans for the medical school, law
school, business school, engineering school, music school,
speech school, journalism school, and liberal arts school.
A
company's product mix has a certain width, length, depth, and
consistency. These concepts are illustrated in Table 12.1 for selected
Procter
&
Gamble consumer products.
• The width of
a
product mix refers to how many different product
lines the company carries. Table 12.1 shows a product-mix width of
five
lines.
(In fact, P&G produces many additional lines.)
a The depth of
a
product mix refers to the total number of items in
the mix. In Table 12.1, it is 20. We can also talk about the average
length of a line. This is obtained by dividing the total length (here
20) by the number of lines (here 5), or an average product length

of
4.
E
The width of a product mix refers to how many variants are
offered of each product in the line. If Tide comes in two scents
(Mountain Spring and Regular), two formulations (liquid and pow-
der),
and two additives (with or without bleach), Tide has a depth of
eight as there are eight distinct variants. The average depth of
P&G's
product mix can be calculated by averaging the number of variants
within the brand groups.
v. The consistency of the product mix refers to how closely related
the various product lines are in end use, production requirements,
distribution channels, or some other way. P&G's product lines are
consistent insofar as they are consumer goods that go through the
same distribution channels. The lines are less consistent insofar as
they perform different functions for the buyers.
These four product-mix dimensions permit the company to
expand its business in four
ways.
It can add new product lines, thus
widening its product mix. It can lengthen each product line. It can
add more product variants to each product and deepen its product
mix. Finally, a company can pursue more product-line consistency.
To make these product and brand decisions, it is useful to conduct
product-line analysis.
The PalmOne Zire
31
handheld. Owners can select from more than

20,000 available applications and use the expansion slot to add more
memory, applications, or MP3 tunes.
382 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
TABLE
12.1
Product-Mix Width and Product-Line Length
for
Procter
&
Gamble Products (including Dates
of
Introduction)
Detergents
Toothpaste
Product-Mix Width
Bar Soap
Disposable
Diapers Paper Products
Ivory Snow (1930) Gleem (1952) Ivory (1879)
Pampers (1961)
Charmin (1928)
Dreft (1933)
Crest (1955)
Camay (1926)
Luvs (1976)
Puffs (1960)
PRODUCT Tide (1946) Zest (1952) Bounty (1965)
LINE
LENGTH
Cheer (1950) Safeguard (1963)

LINE
LENGTH
Dash (1954)
Oil
of day
(1993)
Bold (1965)
Gain (1966)
Era (1972)
Product-Line Analysis
In offering a product line, companies normally develop a basic platform and modules that
can be added to meet different customer requirements. Car manufacturers build their cars
around a basic platform. Homebuilders show a model home to which additional features
can be added. This modular approach enables the company to offer variety while lowering
production costs.
Product-line managers need to know the sales and profits of each item in their line in
order to determine which items to build, maintain, harvest, or divest.
20
They also need to
understand each product line's market profile.
SALES AND PROFITS Figure 12.3 shows a sales and profit report for a five-item product
line.
The first item accounts for 50 percent of total sales and 30 percent of total profits. The
first two items account for 80 percent of total sales and 60 percent of total profits. If these
two items were suddenly hurt by a competitor, the line's sales and profitability could col-
lapse.
These items must be carefully monitored and protected.
At
the other end, the last item
delivers only

5
percent of the product line's sales and profits. The product-line manager may
consider dropping this item unless it has strong growth potential.
Every company's product portfolio contains products with different margins.
Supermarkets make almost no margin on bread and milk; reasonable margins on canned
and frozen foods; and even better margins on flowers, ethnic food lines, and freshly baked
goods. A local telephone company makes different margins on its core telephone service,
call waiting, caller ID, and voice mail.
A company can classify its products into four types that yield different gross margins,
depending on sales volume and promotion.
To
illustrate with personal computers:
•
Core
product. Basic computers that produce high sales volume and are heavily promoted
but with low margins because they are viewed as undifferentiated commodities.
• Staples. Items with lower sales volume and no promotion, such as faster CPUs or bigger
memories. These yield a somewhat higher margin.
m Specialties. Items with lower sales volume but which might be highly promoted, such as
digital moviemaking equipment; or might generate income for services, such as personal
delivery, installation, or on-site training.
& Convenience items. Peripheral items that sell in high volume but receive less promotion,
such as computer monitors, printers, upscale video or sound cards, and software.
Consumers tend to buy them where they buy the original equipment because it is more con-
venient than making further shopping trips. These items can carry higher margins.
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 383
The main point is that companies should recognize that these items differ in their poten-
tial
for
being priced higher

or
advertised more
as
ways
to
increase their sales, margins,
or both.
21
MARKET PROFILE The product-line manager must review how
the
line
is
positioned
against competitors' lines. Consider paper company
X
with
a
paperboard product line.
22
Two paperboard attributes are weight and finish quality. Paper weight
is
usually offered
at
standard levels
of
90, 120, 150,
and
180 weight. Finish quality
is
offered

at
low, medium,
and high levels. Figure 12.4 shows the location
of
the various product-line items
of
com-
pany
X
and four competitors, A, B, C,
and
D. Competitor
A
sells two product items
in the
extra-high weight class ranging from medium to low finish quality. Competitor
B
sells four
items that vary
in
weight
and
finish quality. Competitor C sells three items
in
which
the
greater the weight,
the
greater the finish quality. Competitor D sells three items, all light-
weight but varying

in
finish quality. Company
X
offers three items that vary
in
weight and
finish quality.
The product
map
shows which competitors' items
are
competing against company
X's items.
For
example, company
X's
low-weight, medium-quality paper competes
against competitor D's and B's papers, but its high-weight, medium-quality paper has
no
direct competitor. The map also reveals possible locations
for
new items.
No
manufac-
turer offers
a
high-weight, low-quality paper.
If
company
X

estimates
a
strong unmet
demand and
can
produce
and
price this paper
at
low cost,
it
could consider adding this
item
to its
line.
Another benefit
of
product mapping is that
it
identifies market segments. Figure 12.4
shows the types
of
paper, by weight and quality, preferred by the general printing industry,
the point-of-purchase display industry,
and
the office supply industry. The map shows that
FIG.
12.3 I
Product-item Contributions
to a

Product
Line's Total Sales and Profits
Medium
Low (90) Medium (120) High (150) Extra high
(11
Paperweight
FIG.
12.4 I
Product Map
for a
Paper-Product Line
Source:
Benson
P.
Shapiro,
Industrial Product
Policy:
Managing
the
Existing Product
Line.
(Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute
Report No. 77-110).
384 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
company
X
is well positioned to serve the needs of the general printing industry but is less
effective in serving the other two industries.
Product-line analysis provides information for two key decision areas—product-line
length and product-mix pricing.

Product-Line Length
Company objectives influence product-line length. One objective is to create a product line
to induce upselling: Thus General Motors would like to move customers up from the
Chevrolet to the Buick to the Cadillac.
A
different objective is to create a product line that
facilitates cross-selling: Hewlett-Packard sells printers as well as computers. Still another
objective is to create a product line that protects against economic ups and downs;
Electrolux offers white goods such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and vacuum cleaners under
different brand names in the discount, middle-market, and premium segments, in part in
case the economy moves up or down.
23
Companies seeking high market share and market
growth will generally carry longer product lines. Companies that emphasize high profitabil-
ity will carry shorter lines consisting of carefully chosen items.
Product lines tend to lengthen over
time.
Excess manufacturing capacity puts pressure on the
product-line manager to develop new items. The sales force and distributors also pressure the
company for a more complete product line to satisfy customers. But as items are added, costs
rise:
design and engineering costs, inventory-carrying costs, manufacturing-changeover costs,
order-processing
costs,
transportation
costs,
and new-item promotional
costs.
Eventually, some-
one calls a halt: Top management may stop development because of insufficient funds or man-

ufacturing
capacity.
The controller may call for a study of money-losing
items.
A
pattern of prod-
uct-line growth followed by massive pruning may repeat itself many times.
A
company lengthens its product line in two
ways:
by line stretching and line filling.
LINE STRETCHING Every company's product line covers a certain part of the total possible
range. For example, BMW automobiles are located in the upper price range of the automo-
bile market. Line stretching occurs when a company lengthens its product line beyond its
current range. The company can stretch its line down-market, up-market, or both ways.
Down-Market Stretch
A
company positioned in the middle market may want
to introduce a lower-priced line for any of three reasons:
1.
The company may notice strong growth opportunities as mass retailers such
as
Wal-Mart,
Best
Buy,
and others attract a growing number of shoppers who want value-priced goods.
2.
The company may wish to tie up lower-end competitors who might otherwise try to
move up-market. If the company has been attacked by a low-end competitor, it often
decides to counterattack by entering the low end of the market.

3.
The company may find that the middle market is stagnating or declining.
A company faces a number of naming choices in deciding to move down-market. Sony,
for example, faced three choices:
1.
Use the name Sony on all of its offerings. (Sony did this.)
2.
Introduce lower-priced offerings using a sub-brand name, such as Sony Value Line.
Other companies have done this, such as Gillette with Gillette Good News and Ramada
Limited. The risks are that the Sony name loses some of its quality image and that some
Sony buyers might switch to the lower-priced offerings.
3.
Introduce the lower-priced offerings under a different name, without mentioning Sony;
but Sony would have to spend a lot of money to build up the new brand name, and the
mass merchants may not even accept a brand that lacks the Sony name.
Moving down-market carries risks. Kodak introduced Kodak Funtime film to counter
lower-priced brands, but it did not price Kodak Funtime low enough to match the lower-
priced film. It also found some of its regular customers buying Funtime, so it was cannibal-
izing its core brand. It withdrew the product. On the other hand, Mercedes successfully
introduced its C-Class cars at $30,000 without injuring its ability to sell other Mercedes cars
for $100,000 and up. John Deere introduced a lower-priced line of lawn tractors called Sabre
from John Deere while still selling its more expensive tractors under the John Deere name.
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 385
A print ad
for
Gallo
of
Sonoma showing
members
of

the younger generation
of
the Gallo family, with the tagline: "New
Generation.
World Class."
Up-Market Stretch Companies may wish to enter the high end of the market
for more growth, higher margins, or simply to position themselves as full-line manufac-
turers.
Many markets have spawned surprising upscale segments: Starbucks in coffee,
Haagen-Dazs in ice cream, and Evian in bottled water. The leading Japanese auto compa-
nies have each introduced an upscale automobile: Toyota's Lexus; Nissan's Infiniti; and
Honda's Acura. Note that they invented entirely new names rather than using or including
their own names.
Other companies have included their own name in moving up-market. Gallo introduced
Gallo of Sonoma (priced at $10 to $30 a bottle) to compete in the premium wine segment,
using the founder's grandchildren as spokespeople in an intensive push-and-pull cam-
paign. With a hip, young, and fun image, case sales volume tripled to 680,000 in 1999.
General Electric introduced the GE Profile brand for its large appliance offerings in the
upscale market.
24
Some brands have used modifiers to signal a noticeable, although pre-
sumably not dramatic, quality improvement, such as Ultra Dry Pampers, Extra Strength
Tylenol, or PowerPro Dustbuster Plus.
Two-Way Stretch Companies serving the middle market might decide to stretch their
line in both directions. Texas Instruments (TI) introduced its first calculators in the
medium-price-medium-quality end of the market. Gradually, it added calculators at the
lower end, taking market share away from Bowmar, and at the higher end to compete
386 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
with Hewlett-Packard. This two-way stretch won TI early market leadership in the hand-
calculator market.

Holiday Inn Worldwide also has performed a two-way stretch of its hotel product line.
The hotel chain broke its domestic hotels into five separate chains to tap into five different
benefit segments—the upscale Crowne Plaza, the traditional Holiday Inn, the budget
Holiday Inn Express, and the business-oriented Holiday Inn Select and Holiday Inn Suites
&
Rooms. Different branded chains received different marketing programs and emphasis.
Holiday Inn Express has been advertised with the humorous "Stay Smart" advertising cam-
paign showing the brilliant feats that ordinary people could attempt after staying at the
chain. By basing the development of these brands on distinct consumer targets with unique
needs,
Holiday Inn is able to ensure against overlap between brands.
LINE FILLING A product line can also be lengthened by adding more items within the
present range. There are several motives for line filling: reaching for incremental profits,
trying to satisfy dealers who complain about lost sales because of missing items in the line,
trying to utilize excess capacity, trying to be the leading full-line company, and trying to
plug holes to keep out competitors.
BMW AG
In four years BMW has morphea" from a one-brand, five-model carmaker into a three-brand, 10-model power-
house.
Not only has the carmaker expanded BMW's product range downward with Mini Coopers and its compact
1
-series models, but it has also built it upward with Rolls-Royce, while filling the gaps in between with its X3 Sports
Activity Vehicle, and a 6-series coupe. The company has used line filling successfully to boost its appeal to the
wannabe-rich, the
rich,
and the super-rich, all without departing from its pure premium positioning.
25
Line filling is overdone if it results in self-cannibalization and customer confusion. The
company needs to differentiate each item in the consumer's mind. Each item should pos-
sess

a
just-noticeable difference. According to Weber's law, customers are more attuned to
relative than to absolute difference.
26
They will perceive the difference between boards
2 and 3 feet long and boards 20 and 30 feet long but not between boards 29 and 30 feet
long. The company should also check that the proposed item meets a market need and is
not being added simply to satisfy an internal need. The infamous Edsel automobile, on
which Ford lost $350 million in the late 1950s, met Ford's internal positioning needs for a
car between its Ford and Lincoln lines but not the market's needs.
LINE MODERNIZATION, FEATURING, AND PRUNING Product lines need to be modern-
ized.
A
company's machine tools might have a 1970s look and lose out to newer-styled com-
petitors' lines. The issue is whether to overhaul the line piecemeal or all at once.
A
piecemeal
approach allows the company to see how customers and dealers take to the new style. It is
also less draining on the company's cash flow, but it allows competitors to see changes and
to start redesigning their own lines.
In rapidly changing product markets, modernization is continuous. Companies plan
improvements to encourage customer migration to higher-valued, higher-priced items.
Microprocessor companies such as Intel and AMD, and software companies such as
Microsoft and Oracle, continually introduce more advanced versions of their products.
A
major issue is timing improvements so they do not appear too early (damaging sales of the
current line) or too late (after the competition has established a strong reputation for more
advanced equipment).
The product-line manager typically selects one or a few items in the line to feature. Sears
will announce a special low-priced washing machine to attract customers. At other times,

managers will feature a high-end item to lend prestige to the product line. Sometimes a
company finds one end of its line selling well and the other end selling poorly. The company
may try to boost demand for the slower sellers, especially if they are produced in a factory
that is idled by lack of demand; but it could be counterargued that the company should pro-
mote items that sell well rather than try to prop up weak items.
Product-line managers must periodically review the line for deadwood that is depressing
profits. "Marketing Insight: Rationalizing Brand Portfolios for Growth" describes some
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 387
MARKETING INSIGHT RATIONALIZING BRAND PORTFOLIOS FOR GROWTH
In 1999, Unilever owned more than 1,600 distinct brands. Some of
Unilever's famed brands include Lipton tea, Snuggle fabric softener,
Ragu pasta sauces, Bird's-Eye frozen foods, Close-Up toothpaste,
Calvin Klein fragrances, and Dove personal-care products. But more
than 90 percent of its profits came from just 400
brands.
That
year, the
company announced its "Path to Growth" program designed to get the
most value from its brand portfolio by eliminating three-quarters of its
brands
by
2003.
The
company intended to retain global brands such as
Lipton,
as well
as regional brands and "local jewels" such as
Persil,
the
leading detergent in the United Kingdom. Unilever co-chairman Niall

FitzGerald likened the brand reduction to weeding a garden so "the
light and air get in to the blooms which are likely to grow the best."
Unilever is not alone. Multibrand companies all over the world are
attempting to optimize their brand portfolios. In many cases, this has
led to a greater focus on core brand growth and to concentrating
energy and resources on the biggest and most established brands.
Hasbro has designated a set of core toy brands, including Gl Joe,
Transformers, and My Little Pony, to emphasize in its marketing.
Procter & Gamble's "back to basics strategy" concentrates on its thir-
teen $1 billion-plus brands, such as Tide, Crest, Pampers, and
Pringles.
At the same time, firms have to be careful to avoid overreliance
on existing brands at the expense of any new brands. Kraft spent the
early part of the 2000s introducing one line extension after another
of its established brands, such as Oreo cookies, Chips Ahoy, and
Jell-0.
Some extensions
failed.
A Chips Ahoy extension,
Gooey
Warm
n' Chewy, turned out to be tricky to eat and too pricey. Extension pro-
liferation meant that the company missed out on important health
and nutrition trends in the marketplace. Stagnant sales led to the
ouster of co-CEO Betsy Holden in December 2003.
Sources:
John Willman, "Leaner, Cleaner, and Healthier Is the Stated Aim,"
Financial Times,
February 23, 2000; John Thornhill, "A Bad Time to Be in
Consumer Goods,"

Financial Times,
September 28, 2000; "Unilever's Goal: 'Power Brands',"
Advertising
Age,
January 3, 2000; "Unilever Axes 25,000
Jobs,"
CNNfn,
February 22,2000; Harriet
Marsh,
"Unilever
a Year
Down the 'Path',"
Marketing,
February
22,2001,
p. 30. Patricia O'Connell, "A Chat with
Unilever's Niall Fitzgerald,"
BusinessWeek
Online,
August
2,2001;
Nirmalya Kumar, "Kill a Brand, Keep a Customer,"
Harvard Business Review
(December
2003): 86-95; Sarah Ellison, "Kraft's Stale Strategy,"
Wall Street
Journal,
December 18, 2003, pp. B1, B6; Brad Stone, "Back to Basics,"
Newsweek,
August 4, 2003, pp. 42-44.

developments with that strategy. The weak items can be identified through sales and cost
analysis.
A
chemical company cut down its line from 217 to the 93 products with the largest
volume, the largest contribution to profits, and the greatest long-term potential. Pruning is
also done when the company is short of production capacity. Companies typically shorten
their product lines in periods of tight demand and lengthen their lines in periods of slow
demand.
Product-Mix Pricing
Chapter 14 describes pricing concepts, strategies, and tactics in detail, but it is useful to con-
sider some basic product-mix pricing issues here. Price-setting logic must be modified when
the product is part of a product mix. In this case, the firm searches for a set of prices that
maximizes profits on the total mix. Pricing is difficult because the various products have
demand and cost interrelationships and are subject to different degrees of competition. We
can distinguish six situations involving product-mix pricing: product-line pricing, optional-
feature pricing, captive-product pricing, two-part pricing, by-product pricing, and product-
bundling pricing.
PRODUCT-LINE PRICING Companies normally develop product lines rather than single
products and introduce price steps.
INTEL
Intel has segmented its product line into microprocessors aimed at specific markets, such as cheap PCs, mid-
tier "performance" PCs, and powerful servers. This strategy let Intel balance thin profits from chips like the
Celeron—new models of which sell for as little as $150 and go into low-priced PCs—with cash cows like the
Itanium workstation and server chips, which cost up to $4,200 each. The company's most profitable chips are
the Pentium 4 chips, priced between $300 and $600, depending on processor speed.
27
388 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
Print ad for Intel®
Centrino™,
part of

Intel's product line of microprocessors
segmented by market. Centrino mobile
technology is a set of notebook
technologies designed specifically for
wireless notebook
PCs,
and for the top of
the market.
In many lines of trade, sellers use well-established price points for the products in
their line. A men's clothing store might carry men's suits at three price levels: $200, $400,
and $600. Customers will associate low-, average-, and high-quality suits with the three
price points. The seller's task is to establish perceived quality differences that justify the
price differences.
OPTIONAL-FEATURE PRICING Many companies offer optional products, features, and
services along with their main product. The automobile buyer can order electric window
controls, defoggers, light dimmers, and an extended warranty. Pricing is a sticky problem,
because companies must decide which items to include in the standard price and which to
offer as options. For many
years,
U.S.
auto companies advertised a stripped-down model for
$10,000 to pull people into showrooms. The economy model was stripped of so many fea-
tures that most buyers left the showroom spending $13,000.
Restaurants face a similar pricing problem. Customers can often order liquor in addition
to the meal. Many restaurants price their liquor high and their food low. The food revenue
covers costs, and the liquor produces the profit. This explains why servers often press hard
to get customers to order drinks. Other restaurants price their liquor low and food high to
draw in a drinking crowd.
CAPTIVE-PRODUCT PRICING Some products require the use of ancillary, or captive,
products. Manufacturers of razors, digital phones, and cameras often price them low and

set high markups on razor blades and film, respectively.
AT&T
may give a cellular phone free
if the person commits to buying two years of phone service.
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 389
• HEWLETT-PACKARD
In 1996, Hewlett-Packard (HP) began drastically cutting prices on its printers, by as much as 60 percent in some
cases. HP could afford to make such dramatic cuts because customers typically spend twice as much on
replacement ink cartridges, toner, and specialty paper as on the actual printer over the life of the product. As the
price of printers dropped, printer sales rose, as did the number of aftermarket sales,
HP
now owns about 40 per-
cent of the worldwide printer business. Its inkjet supplies carry 35 percent profit margins and generated
$2.2 billion in operating profits in 2002—over 70 percent of the company's
total.
28
There is a danger in pricing the captive product too high in the aftermarket. Caterpillar,
for example, makes high profits in the aftermarket by pricing its parts and service high. This
practice has given rise to "pirates," who counterfeit the parts and sell them to "shady tree"
mechanics who install them, sometimes without passing on the cost savings to customers.
Meanwhile, Caterpillar loses sales.
29
TWO-PART PRICING Service firms often engage in two-part pricing, consisting of a
fixed fee plus a variable usage fee. Telephone users pay a minimum monthly fee plus
charges for calls beyond a certain area. Amusement parks charge an admission fee plus
fees for rides over a certain minimum. The service firm faces a problem similar to
captive-product pricing—namely, how much to charge for the basic service and how
much for the variable usage. The fixed fee should be low enough to induce purchase of
the service; the profit can then be made on the usage fees.
BY-PRODUCT PRICING The production of certain goods—meats, petroleum products, and

other chemicals—often results in by-products. If the by-products have value to a customer
group, they should be priced on their value. Any income earned on the by-products will
make it easier for the company to charge a lower price on its main product if competition
forces it to do so. Australia's CSR was originally named Colonial Sugar Refinery and its early
reputation was formed as a sugar company. The company began to sell by-products of its
sugar cane: waste sugar cane fiber was used to manufacture wallboard. By the mid 1990s,
through product development and acquisition, CSR had become one of the top 10 compa-
nies in Australia selling building and construction materials.
PRODUCT-BUNDLING PRICING Sellers often bundle products and features. Pure bundling
occurs when a firm only offers its products as a bundle. Michael Ovitz's former company,
Artists Management Group, would sign up a "hot" actor if the film company would also
accept other talents that Ovitz represented (directors, writers,
scripts).
This is a form of
tied-
in
sales.
In mixed bundling, the seller offers goods both individually and in bundles. When
offering a mixed bundle, the seller normally charges less for the bundle than if the items
were purchased separately. An auto manufacturer might offer an option package at less than
the cost of buying all the options separately.
A
theater company will price a season sub-
scription at less than the cost of buying all the performances separately. Because customers
may not have planned to buy all the components, the savings on the price bundle must be
substantial enough to induce them to buy the bundle.
30
Some customers will want less than the whole bundle. Suppose a medical-equipment
supplier's offer includes free delivery and training.
A

particular customer might ask to forgo
the free delivery and training in exchange for a lower
price.
The customer is asking the seller
to "unbundle" or "rebundle" its offer. If a supplier saves $100 by not supplying delivery and
reduces the customer's price by
$80,
the supplier has kept the customer happy while increas-
ing its profit by $20.
Studies have shown that as promotional activity increases on individual items in the bun-
dle,
buyers perceive less saving on the bundle and are less apt to pay for the bundle. This
research has offered the following three suggested guidelines for correctly implementing a
bundling strategy:
31
s Don't promote individual products in a package as frequently and cheaply as the bundle.
The bundle price should be much lower than the sum of individual products or the con-
sumer will not perceive its attractiveness.
390 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
Co-branding: Part of a video ad directed at children for two General Mills products, Trix cereal
and
Yoplait yogurt.
• Limit promotions to a single item in the mix if
you still want to promote individual products.
Another option: alternate promotions, one after
another, in order to avoid conflicting promotions.
• If you decide to offer large rebates on individ-
ual products, it must be the absolute exception
and done with discretion. Otherwise, the con-
sumer uses the price of individual products as an

external reference for the bundle, which then
loses value.
Co-Branding and Ingredient
Branding
D-BRANDING Products are often combined
with products from other companies in various
ways.
A rising phenomenon is the emergence of
co-branding—also called dual branding or brand
bundling—in which two or more well-known
existing brands are combined into a joint product
and/or marketed together in some fashion.
32
One
form of co-branding is same-company
co-brand-
ing, as when General Mills advertises Trix and
Yoplait yogurt. Still another form
is
joint-venture
co-branding,
as in the case of General Electric and
Hitachi lightbulbs in Japan and the Citibank AAdvantage credit card. There is multiple-sponsor
co-branding,
as in the case of Taligent, a technological alliance of Apple, IBM, and Motorola.
33
Finally, there is retail co-branding where two retail establishments, such as fast-food restau-
rants,
use the same location as a way to optimize both space and profits:
CINN ABON

When you think of Cinnabon, you think of—or catch a whiff of—only one thing: cinnamon rolls. However, this 18-
year-old chain needed to add a new dimension in order to spark sales at its franchises, all tucked into shopping
malls.
To do
that Cinnabon is now co-branding with
Freshen,
a seller of smoothie
drinks.
The
two concepts work well
because people get thirsty while eating a cinnamon roll and Freshen offers a healthy alternative to
soda.
The match
has already "freshened" Cinnabon's
sales,
which have spiked 3 to 4 percent at the co-branded locations.
34
The main advantage to co-branding is that a product may be convincingly positioned
by virtue of the multiple brands involved. Co-branding can generate greater sales from
the existing target market as well as open additional opportunities with new consumers
and channels. Co-branding also can reduce the cost of product introduction because
two well-known images are combined, accelerating potential adoption. And co-brand-
ing may be a valuable means to learn about consumers and how other companies
approach them. Companies within the automotive industry have reaped all of these
benefits of co-branding.
The potential disadvantages of co-branding are the risks and lack of control from becom-
ing aligned with another brand in the minds of consumers. Consumer expectations about
the level of involvement and commitment with co-brands are likely to be high, so unsatis-
factory performance could have negative repercussions for the brands involved. If the other
brand has entered into a number of co-branding arrangements, there may be a risk that

overexposure will dilute the transfer of any association. It may also result in a lack of focus
on existing brands.
A
necessaiy condition for co-branding success is that the two brands separately have brand
equity—adequate brand awareness and a sufficiently positive brand image. The most impor-
tant requirement is that there is a logical fit between the two brands such that the combined
brand or marketing activity maximizes the advantages of the individual brands while minimiz-
ing the disadvantages. Research studies show that consumers are more apt to perceive co-
brands favorably if the two brands are complementary rather than similar:
35
SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 391
i- GODIVA AND SLIM-FAST
Godiva (fine chocolate) rates high on taste and richness, whereas Slim-Fast (weight-loss products) rates favor-
ably on calorie content and value. In an academic research study, a hypothetical cake-mix extension of either
brand alone was judged by sample consumers to be similar to the parent brand. For instance, Godiva cake mix
was
judged
to be good tasting but high on calories, whereas Slim-Fast cake mix was perceived to be low on both
calories and taste. In contrast, co-brands such as Slim-Fast cake mix by Godiva or Godiva cake mix by Slim-Fast
• were judged to possess the desirable attributes of
both
brands.
Besides these strategic considerations, co-branding ventures must be entered into and
executed carefully. There must be the right kind of fit in values, capabilities, and goals, in
addition to an appropriate balance of brand equity. There must be detailed plans to legalize
contracts, make financial arrangements, and coordinate marketing programs.
As
one execu-
tive at Nabisco put it, "Giving away your brand is a lot like giving away your child—you want
to make sure everything is perfect." The financial arrangement between brands may vary,

although one common approach involves a licensing fee and royalty from the brand more
involved in the production process.
Brand alliances involve a number of decisions.
36
What capabilities do you not
have?
What
resource constraints are you faced with (people, time, money, etc.)? What growth goals or
revenue needs do you have? In assessing a joint branding opportunity, a number of ques-
tions need to be asked. Is it a profitable business venture? How does it help to maintain or
strengthen brand equity? Is there any possible risk of dilution of brand equity? Does it offer
any extrinsic advantages (e.g., learning opportunities)?
INGREDIENT BRANDING Ingredient branding is a special case of co-branding. It involves
creating brand equity for materials, components, or parts that are necessarily contained
within other branded products. Some successful ingredient brands include Dolby noise reduc-
tion, Gore-Tex water-resistant fibers, and Scotchgard fabrics. Some popular ingredient-
branded products are Betty Crocker baking mixes with Hershey's chocolate syrup, Lunchables
lunch combinations with Taco Bell tacos, and Lay's potato chips made with KC Masterpiece
barbecue sauce.
An interesting take on ingredient branding is "self-branding" in which companies adver-
tise and even trademark their own branded ingredients. For instance, Westin Hotels adver-
tises its "Heavenly Bed" and "Heavenly Shower." The Heavenly Bed has been so successful
that Westin now sells the bed, pillows, sheets, and blankets via an online catalog, along with
other "Heavenly" gifts and bath items. If you can do it well, it makes much more sense to
self-brand ingredients because you have more control and can develop the ingredient to suit
your purposes.
37
Ingredient brands attempt to create sufficient awareness and preference for their product
such that consumers will not buy a "host" product that does not contain the ingredient.
DuPont has achieved success in marketing its products as ingredient brands.

r- DUPONT
Over the years, DuPont has introduced a number of innovative products, such as Corian® solid-surface mater-
ial,
for use in markets ranging from apparel to aerospace. Many of these products, such as Lycra® and
Stainmaster® fabrics, Teflon® coating, and Kevlar® fiber, became household names as ingredient brands in
con-
sumer products manufactured by other companies. Several recent ingredient brands include Supro® isolated
• soy proteins used in food products and RiboPrinter® genetic fingerprinting technology.
38
Many manufacturers make components or materials that enter into final branded prod-
ucts,
but whose individual identity normally gets lost. One of the few component branders
who have succeeded in building a separate identity is Intel. Intel's consumer-directed brand
campaign convinced many personal computer buyers to buy only computer brands with
"Intel Inside." As a result, major PC manufacturers—IBM, Dell, Compaq—purchase their
chips from Intel at a premium price rather than buy equivalent chips from an unknown sup-
plier. Most component manufacturers, however, would find it difficult to create a successful
ingredient brand. "Marketing Memo: Making Ingredient Branding Work" outlines the char-
acteristics of successful ingredient branding.
392 PART
5 >
SHAPING
THE
MARKET OFFERINGS
A DuPont ad
for its
Corian® solid-surface
material,
used here
in a

familiar
household application
as a
kitchen
countertop.
Ill Packaging, Labeling, Warranties, and Guarantees
Most physical products have to be packaged and labeled. Some packages—such as the
Coke bottle and the L'eggs container—are world famous. Many marketers have called
packaging a fifth P, along with price, product, place, and promotion. Most marketers,
MARKETING MEMO
MAKING INGREDIENT BRANDING WORK
What
are the
requirements
for
success
in
ingredient branding?
1.
Consumers must perceive that the ingredient matters
to
the per-
formance
and
success
of the end
product. Ideally, this intrinsic
value
is
easily visible

or
experienced.
2.
Consumers must be convinced that
not
all ingredient brands are
the same and that the ingredient
is
superior.
3.
A
distinctive symbol
or
logo must clearly signal
to
consumers
that the host product contains
the
ingredient. Ideally,
the
symbol
or logo would function like
a
"seal"
and
would
be
simple
and
versatile and credibly communicate quality and confidence.

A coordinated
"pull"
and
"push" program must help consumers
understand
the
importance and advantages
of the
branded ingre-
dient. Channel members must offer full support. Often this will
involve consumer advertising and promotions and—sometimes
in
collaboration with manufacturers—retail merchandising
and
pro-
motion programs.
Sources:
Kevin Lane Keller,
Strategic Brand
Management,
2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ; Prentice
Hall,
2003); Paul F. Nunes, Stephen F.
Dull,
and
Patrick D. Lynch, "When Two Brands Are Better
Than
One,"
Outlook,
No. 1 (2003): 14-23.

SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGY CHAPTER 12 393
however, treat packaging and labeling as an element of product strategy. Warranties and
guarantees can also be an important part of the product strategy, which often appear on
the package.
Packaging
We define packaging as all the activities of designing and producing the container for a
product. Packages might include up to three levels of material. Paco Rabanne cologne comes
in a bottle {primary package) that is in a cardboard box {secondary package) that is in a cor-
rugated box {shipping package) containing six dozen boxes of Paco Rabanne.
Well-designed packages can create convenience and promotional value. We must
include packaging as a styling weapon, especially in food products, cosmetics, toiletries,
and small consumer appliances. The package is the buyer's first encounter with the product
and is capable of turning the buyer on or off. For Arizona Iced Tea, packaging is definitely a
turn-on.
39
- ARIZONA ICED TEA
Arizona Iced Tea marketer Ferolito, Vultaggio, & Sons has gained success by taking a rather straightforward
drink—tea—and putting it into unusual bottles with elaborate designs. The wide-mouthed, long-necked bot-
tles have been trendsetters in the New Age beverage category, and customers often buy the tea just for the
bottle.
Because consumers are known to hang on to their empties or convert them into lamps and other house-
hold objects, the company uses unique bottle shapes for its line extensions. It uses a ridged grip design on
Arizona Rx Elixirs, miniature jugs for Arizona Iced Coffees, and a pint-sized, deep-blue urn for Blue Luna Cafe
i Latte.
40
Various factors have contributed to the growing use of packaging as a marketing tool:
m Self-service. An increasing number of products are sold on a self-service basis. In an
average supermarket, which stocks 15,000 items, the typical shopper passes by some
300 items per minute. Given that 53 percent of all purchases are made on impulse, the
effective package must perform many of the sales tasks: attract attention, describe the

product's features, create consumer confidence, and make a favorable overall impression.
A good example is the book publishing industry, where customers often quite literally
choose a book by its cover: The number-one classics publisher, Penguin Books Ltd., is
repackaging most of its titles and spending $500,000 to promote them under the banner,
"Classic Books, Fresh Looks." Sales have increased 400 percent for Dorothy Parker's
Complete Stories, 50 percent for a new translation of Don Quixote, 43 percent for Pride and
Prejudice.
4
'
n Consumer affluence. Rising consumer affluence means consumers are willing to pay a
little more for the convenience, appearance, dependability, and prestige of better packages.
m Company and brand image. Packages contribute to instant recognition of the company
or brand.
s Innovation opportunity. Innovative packaging can bring large benefits to consumers
and profits to producers. Companies are incorporating unique materials and features such
as resealable spouts and openings. Heinz's unique, colorful EZ Squirt ketchup revitalized
that brand's sales. Dutch Boy developed the award-winning Twist & Pour paint container,
an easy-to-carry, easy-to-open, easy-to-pour-and-close paint jug. Not only did the new
packaging increase sales, but it also gave Dutch Boy more distribution at higher retail
prices.
42
Developing an effective package requires a number of decisions. From the perspective of
both the firm and consumers, packaging must achieve a number of objectives:
43
1.
Identify the brand,
2.
Convey descriptive and persuasive information,
3.
Facilitate product transportation and protection,

4.
Assist at-home storage, and
5.
Aid product consumption.
394 PART 5 SHAPING THE MARKET OFFERINGS
To achieve the marketing objectives for the brand and satisfy the desires of con-
sumers, the aesthetic and functional components of packaging must be chosen correctly.
Aesthetic considerations relate to a package's size and shape, material, color, text and
graphics. Color must be carefully chosen: Blue is cool and serene, red is active and lively,
yellow is medicinal and weak, pastel colors are feminine and dark colors are masculine.
Functionally, structural design is crucial. For example, packaging innovations with food
products over the years have resulted in packages becoming resealable, tamper-proof,
and more convenient to use (easy-to-hold, easy-to-open, or squeezable). Changes in
canning have made vegetables crunchier, and special wraps have extended the life of
refrigerated food.
44
The various packaging elements must be harmonized. The packaging elements must also
be harmonized with decisions on pricing, advertising, and other parts of the marketing pro-
gram. Packaging changes can have immediate impact on sales. For example, sales of the
Heath candy bar increased 25 percent after its wrapper was redone.
After packaging is designed, it must be tested. Engineering tests are conducted to
ensure that the package stands up under normal conditions; visual tests, to ensure that
the script is legible and the colors harmonious; dealer
tests,
to ensure that dealers find the
packages attractive and easy to handle; and consumer
tests,
to ensure favorable consumer
response.
Developing effective packaging may cost several hundred thousand dollars and take sev-

eral months to complete. Companies must pay attention to growing environmental and
safety concerns about packaging. Shortages of paper, aluminum, and other materials sug-
gest that marketers should try to reduce packaging. Many packages end up as broken bottles
and crumpled cans littering the streets and countryside. Packaging creates a major problem
for solid waste disposal, requiring huge amounts of labor and energy. Fortunately, many
companies have gone "green."
- TETRA PAK
Tetra Pak, a major Swedish multinational, provides an example of the power of innovative packaging and
customer thinking. Tetra Pak invented an "aseptic" package that enables milk, fruit juice, and other per-
ishable liquid foods to be distributed without refrigeration, so dairies can distribute milk over a wider area
without investing in refrigerated trucks and facilities. Supermarkets can carry Tetra Pak packaged products
on ordinary shelves, allowing them to save expensive refrigerator space. Tetra's motto is "the package
should save more than it costs." Tetra Pak advertises the benefits of its packaging to consumers directly
and even initiates recycling programs to save the environment. Its new American headquarters in Vernon
Hills,
Illinois, was built using recycled materials and other environmentally sensitive building products and
techniques.
45
Labeling
Sellers must label products. The label may be a simple tag attached to the product or an
elaborately designed graphic that is part of the package. The label might carry only the brand
name or a great deal of information. Even if the seller prefers a simple label, the law may
require additional information.
Labels perform several functions. First, the label identifies the product or brand—for
instance, the name Sunkist stamped on oranges. The label might also grade the product;
canned peaches are grade labeled A, B, and C. The label might describe the product: who
made it, where it was made, when it was made, what it contains, how it is to be used, and
how to use it safely. Finally, the label might promote the product through attractive graphics.
New technology allows for 360-degree shrink-wrapped labels to surround containers with
bright graphics and accommodate more on-pack product information, replacing paper

labels glued on to cans and bottles.
46
Labels eventually become outmoded and need freshening
up.
The label on Ivory soap has
been redone at least 18 times since the 1890s, with gradual changes in the size and design of
the letters. The label for Milk Bone dog biscuits was redesigned to emphasize the key visual
elements that emerged from consumer research—the dog, the biscuit, and the bone shape—
and helped to stem a sales slide for the brand.
47
Companies with labels that have become
icons need to tread very carefully when initiating a redesign: