Marketing through the Product Cycle LEARNING OBJECTIVES Explain the unique marketing requirements of each stage There are some common marketing considerations associated with each stage of the PLC. They cannot be used as a formula to guarantee success, but they can function as guidelines for thinking about budget, objectives, and potential opportunities and threats. Keep in mind that we will discuss the new-product development process later in this module, so it is not covered here.… Read More »Marketing through the Product Cycle

Using the Product Life Cycle The product life cycle can be a useful tool in planning for the life of the product, but it has a number of limitations. Not all products follow a smooth and predictable growth path. Some products are tied to specific business cycles or have seasonal factors that impact growth. For example, enrollment in higher education tracks closely with economic trends. When there is an economic… Read More »Using the Product Life Cycle

Stages of the Product Life Cycle LEARNING OBJECTIVES Identify the stages of the product life cycle A company has to be good at both developing new products and managing them in the face of changing tastes, technologies, and competition. Products generally go through a life cycle with predictable sales and profits. Marketers use the product life cycle to follow this progression and identify strategies to influence it. The product life cycle… Read More »Stages of the Product Life Cycle

Product Life Cycle What you’ll learn to do: discuss the product life cycle and its implications for marketing We just considered the case of Apple launching a new product (the Apple Watch). A particular set of marketing strategies and tactics was needed to define a product that did not exist, to create it, and introduce it to the world. If we were instead focused on marketing the iPhone, which was… Read More »Product Life Cycle

The Marketing Mix As you can see from the list of responsibilities, the product marketing function is not confined to only one aspect of the marketing mix. Instead, the product marketing function focuses on a single product or product line across the marketing mix. Let’s look at a specific example of the product marketing role and a corporate marketing role, and see how they each use the marketing mix. When it introduced its watch… Read More »The Marketing Mix

The Role of Product Marketing Product marketing is the function of understanding the target customer’s needs, and promoting and selling the product to the target customer. In many organizations this is a different function from product management, which is responsible for defining the product that the company will build. Obviously the two functions must interact closely, but each has a different primary focus. The product marketer is focused on the market.… Read More »The Role of Product Marketing

Product Marketing in the Marketing Mix LEARNING OBJECTIVES Define product marketing Explain the role of product marketing in the marketing mix The Role of Product Marketing Product marketing is the function of understanding the target customer’s needs, and promoting and selling the product to the target customer. In many organizations this is a different function from product management, which is responsible for defining the product that the company will build. Obviously… Read More »Product Marketing in the Marketing Mix

Augmenting Products with Services LEARNING OBJECTIVES Explain how to augment a product with services Introduction Earlier we touched on “augmented products,” which are tangible products, along with all of the services that support them. When companies devise product strategies and decide whether or not to augment their products with additional services, they typically evaluate whether the following criteria will be met: Services can provide a more complete and satisfying customer experience. Services… Read More »Augmenting Products with Services

Products and Services LEARNING OBJECTIVES Identify differences between products that offer goods versus services Goods vs. Services In marketing, are services considered products? Should products that are predominately goods be treated differently than products that are predominantly services? Whether or not there are substantial differences between goods, products, and service products has been the source of great debate in marketing. Opponents of the division assert that “products are products,” and just because… Read More »Products and Services

Consumer Product Categories LEARNING OBJECTIVES Define a product Consumer products are often classified into four groups related to different kinds of buying decisions: convenience, shopping, specialty, and unsought products. These are described below. Convenience Products A convenience product is an inexpensive product that requires a minimum amount of effort on the part of the consumer in order to select and purchase it. Examples of convenience products are bread, soft drinks, pain reliever, and coffee. They… Read More »Consumer Product Categories