PRODUCT CLASSIFICATIONS

WHAT IS A PRODUCT?

We define product as follows: A productis anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption and that might satisfy a want or need; it includes physical objects, services, persons, places, organizations, and ideas.

Product planners need to think about the product on three levels. The most basic level is the core product,which addresses the question: What is the buyer really buying? As Figure 1 illustrates, the core product stands at the center of the total product consists of the problem-solving services or core benefits that

consumers seek when they buy a product. A woman buying lipstick buys more than

lip color. Charles Revson of Kevlon saw this early: "In the factory, we make cosmetics; in the store, we sell hope." Theodore Levitt has pointed out that buyers "do not buy quarter-inch drills; they buy quarter-inch holes." Thus, when designing products, marketers must first define the core of benefits the product will provide to consumers. .

The product planner must next build an actualproduct around the core product. Actual products may have as many as five characteristics: quality level features, design, a brand name and packaging. For example, Sony's Handycam Camcorder is an actual product. Its name, parts, styling, features, packaging, and other attributes have all been combined carefully to deliver the core benefit—a convenient, high-quality way to capture important moments.

Finally, the product planner must build augmented productaround the core and actual products by offering additional consumer services and benefits. Sony must offer more than a camcorder. It must provide consumers with a"' complete solution to their picture-taking problems.\Thus, when consumers buy a** Sony I landycam, they receive more than just the camcorder itself. Sony and its dealers also might give buyers a warranty on parts and workmanship, free lessons on how to use the camcorder, quick repair services when needed, and a toll-free telephone number to call if they have problems or questions. To the consumer, all of these augmentations become an important part of the total product.

Therefore, a product is more than a simple set of tangible features. In fact, some products, such as a haircut or a doctor's exam, have no tangible features at all. Consumers tend to sec products as complex bundles of benefits that satisfy their needs. When developing products, marketers first must identify the core consumer needs the product will satisfy. They must then design the actual product and find ways to augment it in order to create the bundle of benefits that will best satisfy consumers.

Today, in developed countries, most competition takes place at the product augmentation level. Successful companies add benefits to their offers that not only will satisfy, but also will delight the customer. Thus, hotel guests find candy on the pillow, or a bowl of fruit, or a VCR with optional videotapes. The company is saying "we want to treat you in a special way." However, each augmentation costs the company money, and the marketer has to ask whether customers will pay enough to cover the extra cost. Moreover, augmented benefits soon become expected benefits: Hotel guests now expect cable television sets, small trays of toi­letries, and other amenities in their rooms. This means that competitors must search for still more features and benefits to distinguish their offers. Finally, as companies raise the prices of their augmented products, some competitors can go back to the strategy of offering a more basic product at a much lower price. Thus, along with the growth of fine hotels such as Four Seasons, Westin, and Hyatt, we see the emergence of lower-cost hotels and motels like Red Roof Inns, Fairfield Inns, and Motel 6 for clients who want only basic room accommodations.

PRODUCT CLASSIFICATIONS

In seeking marketing strategies for individual products and services, marketers have developed several product-classification schemes based on product charac­teristics. We now examine these schemes and characteristics.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 1001