Discussion Question Chapter 10: Product Strategy 2828 unread replies.2828 replies. Instructions Write a post for the Discussion Forum on this topic, addressing the questions below. You may use eithera...

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Discussion Question Chapter 10: Product Strategy

2828 unread replies.2828 replies.

Instructions


Write a post for the Discussion Forum on this topic, addressing the questions below. You may use eithera writtenparagraph or bullet-point format. Part 1 should be 2–3 paragraphs in length or an equivalent amount of content in bullet-point form. Responses to your classmates’ posts should be 1–2 paragraphs or several bullet points in length.


Part 1: Product Strategy


Briefly describe your product or service. Where is it in the product development life cycle? What recommendations do you have for improving the offering to fit your target market’s needs? Be sure to consider the following:



  • What level of quality and consistency does the offering have?


  • How many features does it have and can they be removed or added?




  • Does the design and/or service deliver what the customer values? If not, how can it improve?




  • What improvements would help your offering compete more effectively?






CHAPTER 10: PRODUCT MARKETING WHY IT MATTERS: PRODUCT MARKETING Why learn about product marketing? Often when students begin to study marketing they expect to study promotion or perhaps only advertising, but product is the core of the marketing mix. Product defines what will be priced, promoted, and distributed. If you are able to create and deliver a product that provides exceptional value to your target customer, the rest of the marketing mix becomes easier to manage. A successful product makes every aspect of a marketer’s job easier—and more fun. Is it possible to offer a product that is so good it markets itself? Yes. When this is the case, marketers can employ something called viral marketing, which is a method of product promotion that relies on customers to market an idea, product, or service themselves by telling their friends. Generally, in order for viral marketing to work, the product must be so compelling that customers who use it can’t stop talking about it. Let’s look at an example of viral marketing and a successful new product that has changed transportation in cities around the world. How did the individuals who created the product at the beginning of its life cycle develop a winning product concept and take it to market? Technically speaking, Uber is a ride-sharing solution—an incredibly successful one. The company launched in June 2010, and today Uber drivers provide well over one million rides each day to passengers around the globe. The company doesn’t publicly disclose revenue, but experts estimate its 2015 revenue at approximately $2 billion. (Note: http://recode.net/2015/08/21/leaked-doc-uber-nears-2-billion-in-revenue- expects-ipo-in-18-24-months/) When a passenger needs a ride, he simply opens the Uber app on his phone. He can immediately see the locations of cars nearby and request a pickup. The passenger knows which driver is coming and can track the car’s location until it arrives. When the ride is over, the passenger’s credit card is automatically billed for the service. Bill Gurley, a seasoned investor who has put money in Uber, evaluates the company this way: “The product is so good, there is no one spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing.” (Note: http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/29/benchmarks-bill-gurley-uber-is-growing- faster-than-ebay-did/) Industry experts who have analyzed Uber’s success The Uber app provides immediate access to drivers nearby. (Used with permission.) agree again and again that Uber took on a problem that was real for many people—poor taxicab availability and abysmal service—and completely fixed it. Among the many problems Uber is tackling are: poor cab infrastructure in some cities, poor service, and fulfillment–including dirty cabs, poor customer experience, late cars, drivers unwilling to accept credit cards, and more. Uber set out to reimagine the entire experience to make it seamless and enjoyable across the board. They didn’t fix one aspect of the system (e.g. mobile payments for the existing taxi infrastructure); they tackled the whole experience from mobile hailing, seamless payments, better cars, to no tips and driver ratings. By avoiding the trap of smaller thinking, and iterating on one element of the taxi experience (say, by making credit card payments more accessible in the car) they were able to create a wow experience that has totally redefined what it means to use a car service, sparking an avalanche of word of mouth and press. (Note: https://growthhackers.com/growth-studies/uber) Again, the product creates a “wow experience” that creates “an avalanche of word of mouth and press.” That is the power of the product in the marketing mix. An Uber driver in Shanghai, China. (Used by permission.) Licensing & Attributions CC licensed content, Original · Why It Matters: Product Marketing. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTS AND MARKETING MIX What you’ll learn to do: explain what a product is and the importance of products in the marketing mix We’ll start this module by defining what a product is and seeing how it fits in the marketing mix. When thinking about the target customer’s perspective, it’s useful to have an “expansive” view of product and keep in mind that the customer experience is not only about the tangible aspects of a good. For example, imagine that you stop at a fast-food restaurant for a quick sandwich. The sandwich is fresh and delicious and is exactly what you wanted to eat. However, the wait for the sandwich was exceptionally long, the restaurant was filthy, and the sales clerk was rude. Does that change your level of satisfaction? Or, have you ever been excited to get a bargain on an airline ticket and then been surprised by additional fees for what seem like basic services, such as checking your luggage? Do the fees change your level of satisfaction with the product? As we explore products and product marketing, you will find that most products include a broader range of components than you might first expect.Licensing & Attributions CC licensed content, Shared previously · Outcome: Products and Marketing Mix. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution DEFINING PRODUCT Learning Objectives · Define a product Introduction A product is a bundle of attributes (features, functions, benefits, and uses) that a person receives in an exchange. In essence, the term “product” refers to anything offered by a firm to provide customer satisfaction, tangible or intangible. Thus, a product may be an idea (recycling) , a physical good (a pair of jeans), a service (banking), or any combination of the three. (Note: https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/ Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=P#product) Broadly speaking, products fall into one of two categories: consumer products and business products (also called industrial products and B2B products). Consumer products are purchased by the final consumer. Business products are purchased by other industries or firms and can be classified as production goods—i.e., raw materials or component parts used in the production of the final product—or support goods—such as machinery, fixed equipment, software systems, and tools that assist in the production process. (Note: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/industrial-goods.html) Some products, like computers, for instance, may be both consumer products and business products, depending on who purchases and uses them. The product fills an important role in the marketing mix because it is the core of the exchange. Does the product provide the features, functions, benefits, and uses that the target customer expects and desires? Throughout our discussion of product we will focus on the target customer. Often companies become excited about their capabilities, technologies, and ideas and forget the perspective of the customer. This leads to investments in product enhancements or new products that don’t provide value to the customer—and, as a result, are unsuccessful. Four Levels of the Product There are four levels of a product (shown in the figure below): core, tangible, augmented, and promised. Each is important to understand in order to address the customer needs and offer the customer a complete experience. The Core Product The core product satisfies the most basic need of the customer. For example, a consumer who purchases a healthy snack bar may be seeking health, convenience, or simply hunger relief. A student who buys low-priced, sturdy sneakers may just be seeking footwear. A student on a tight budget who buys top-of-the-line sneakers might be hoping to achieve status. Or, the student might be seeking a sense of freedom by splurging on an item that represents a true sense of style, even though he can’t really afford it. Footwear, status, and freedom are all legitimate core products. The core product is complex because it is so individualized, and, often, vague. The marketer must have a strong understanding of the target customer (and the different segments of target customers) in order to accurately identify the core product. The Tangible Product Once the core product has been identified, the tangible product becomes important. Tangible means “perceptible by touch,” so the tangible aspects of a product are those that can be touched and held. This idea can be expanded to also include the characteristics of the product that directly touch the buyer in the buying decision. These are the product elements that the customer will use to evaluate and make choices: the product features, quality level, brand name, styling, and packaging. Every product contains these components to a greater or lesser extent, and they are what the consumer uses when evaluating alternatives. The importance of each aspect of the tangible product will vary across products, situations, and individuals. For example, at age twenty, a consumer might choose a particular brand of new car (core product=transportation) based on features such as gas mileage, styling, and price (choice=Toyota Yaris); at age forty-five, the core product remains the same, while the tangible components such as quality level, power, features, and brand prestige become important (choice=Audi A6). The Augmented Product Every product is backed up by a host of supporting services. The augmented product includes the tangible product and all of the services that support it. Often, the buyer expects these services and would reject the tangible product if they were not available. For example, if you shop at a department store, you are likely focused on a core and tangible product that centers on the merchandise, but you will still expect the store to have restrooms, escalators, and elevators. Dow Chemical has earned a reputation as a company that will bend over backward in order to service an account. It means that a Dow sales representative will visit a troubled farmer after hours in order to solve a serious problem. This extra service is an integral part of the augmented product and a key to their success. When the tangible product is a service, there is still an augmented product that includes support services. Westin hotels offer hotel nights with a specific set of features as their tangible product. The augmented product also includes dry cleaning services, concierge services, and shuttle services, among others. In a world with many strong competitors and few unique products, the augmented product is gaining ground, since it creates additional opportunities to differentiate the product from competitive offerings. The Promised Product The outer ring of the product is referred to as the promised product. Every product has an implied promise, which is a characteristic that is attached to the product over time. The promised product is the long-term result that the customer hopes to achieve by selecting the product. The promised product may be financial—the resale value of a car, home, or property, for example—but it is often more aspirational. The customer hopes to be healthier, happier, more productive, more successful, or enjoy greater status. Like the core product, the promised product is highly personal. Generally, marketers find that there will be groupings of customers seeking a similar promise but that there is not a single promised product across all customers. Can the core product and the promised product be the same thing?
Answered Same DayNov 28, 2021

Answer To: Discussion Question Chapter 10: Product Strategy 2828 unread replies.2828 replies. Instructions...

Sudipta answered on Nov 29 2021
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The selected product is Amazon Echo, which is an AI based virtual assistant can be sy
nchronized with smartphones and consist of smart speakers. The product can be segmented under “Specialty product” as it comes with unique features. As per reports, 32 million is the selling unit of Echo in 2018. It increased to 42 million in 2019. Later, total sales unit further increased to 53.9 million (statista.com, 2020). These statistics signifies the product currently holding the growth stage of Product life cycle. It is...
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