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 |  Marketing A McGraw Hill and QUT Custom Publication
Managing Products and Brands
Learning ObjectivesChapter 7 - Outline
AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
- Explain the product life-cycle concept and relate a marketing strategy to each stage.
- Recognize the differences in product life cycles for various products and their implications for marketing decisions.
- Understand alternative approaches to managing a product's life cycle.
- Describe elements of brand personality and brand equity and the criteria for the good brand name.
- Explain the rationale for alternative branding strategies employed by companies.
- Understand the role of packaging, labeling, and warranties in the marketing of a product.
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Chapter 7 - Summary
- Products have a finite life cycle consisting of four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. The marketing objectives for each stage differ.
- In the introductory stage the need is to establish primary demand, whereas the growth stage requires selective demand strategies. In the maturity stage the need is to maintain market share; the decline stage necessitates a deletion or harvesting strategy.
- There are various shapes to the product life cycle. High learning products have a long introductory period, and low learning products rapidly enter the growth stage. There are also different curves for fashions and fads. Different product life-cycle curves can exist for the product class and product form.
- In managing a product's life cycle, changes can be made in the product itself or in the target market. Product modification approaches include changes in the quality, performance, or appearance. Market modification approaches entail increasing a product's use among existing customers, creating new use situations, or finding new users.
- Product repositioning can come about by reacting to a competitor's position, reaching a new market, capitalizing on a rising trend, or changing the value offered in a product.
- Branding enables a firm to distinguish its product in the marketplace from those of its competitors. Successful and established brands take on a brand personality, a set of human characteristics associated with a brand name. A good brand name should suggest the product benefits, be memorable, fit the company or product image, be free of legal restrictions, and be simple and emotional. A good brand name is of such importance that is has led to a concept of brand equity, the added value a given brand name gives to a product beyond the functional benefits provided.
- Licensing of a brand name is being used by many companies. The company allows the name to be used without having to manufacture the product.
- Manufacturers can follow one of three branding strategies: a manufacturer's brand, a reseller brand, or a mixed brand approach. With a manufacturer's branding approach, the company can use the same brand name for all products in the line (multiproduct, or family, branding) or can give products different brands (multibranding).
- A reseller, or private, brand is used when a firm manufactures a product but sells it under the brand name of a wholesaler or retailer. A generic brand is a product with no identification of manufacturer or reseller that is offered on the basis of price appeal.
- Packaging and labeling provide communication, functional, and perceptual benefits. The two global emerging trends in packaging are greater concerns regarding the environmental impact and the health and safety of packaging materials.
- The warranty, a statement of a manufacturer's liability for product deficiencies, is an important aspect of a manufacturer's product strategy.
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education