This document discusses product decisions made by marketers. It covers the marketing mix and how marketers use the 4Ps differently for products versus services. For physical products, marketers must consider packaging, labeling, and branding. Products can be classified as convenience, shopping, specialty, or unsought. Marketers make individual decisions about product attributes, branding, packaging, labeling, and support services. They also consider strategies like line extensions, multibranding, brand extensions, and new brands. The document discusses product lines, mixes, and stretching product lines to different price points.

1. Product Decisions week 7
Chapter 8

2. Product Decisions
 Marketing mix describes how a business uses and
manipulates the 4ps to market their product.
 Businesses employ different strategies when marketing
products compared to services.
 As a physical product, marketers need to consider
packaging, labelling and branding involved in marketing the
overall product.

3. Products in the marketing Mix
 “Anything that can be offered to a market for
attention, acquisition use or consumption that might satisfy a
need or want.”
 Marketers refer to products as having three levels;
1. The core product – immediate benefits
2. Actual Product – quality, product features, styling, brand
name and packaging.
3. the augmented product – extras of product

4. Product Classifications
 Marketers have developed four product classifications in the consumer
markets designed to assist in selecting a suitable marketing strategy:
1. Convenience – goods bought regularly therefore familiar with type of
purchase e.g milk
2. Shopping – consumer will spend more time comparing and
considering the various alternatives. Concluded on value for
money, quality and sustainability. E.g new jeans
3. Specialty – looking for a particular brand and luxury characteristic.
They are expensive, exclusive and are only available to limited
distributions. E,g Luxury car or boat
4. Unsought products – not previously thought of by consumer or it is
unaware of its existence. Example: new technologies to upgrade dvd
player.

5. Individual Product Decisions
 Business needs to be involved in a decision making process
for completing the overall product for market.
 Decisions faced by the marketer preparing their individual
products for market include issues surrounding:
- Product attributes
- Branding
- Packaging
- Labelling
- Product support services

6.  When a customer considers a familiar brand they enjoy
there will be four levels:
1. Attributes
2. Benefits
3. Values associated with brand
4. conjure personality – type of person who would use it

7. Brand Strategies for Businesses
 There are four main brand strategies available to
businesses:
1. Line Extension Strategy = existing product, no brand name
2. Multibrand Strategy = existing product with a new brand
name
3. Brand Extension = new product with an existing brand
4. New Brands Strategy = for new products and new brands

8. Product decision process
 Consider packaging that is most appropriate for product
 what level of product support services will be offered to the
consumers.

9. Product Line and Product Mix
decisions
 Turn our attention on decision made for groups of products
called product lines.
 Product lines have similar elements such as price, or
function. E.g different types of nokia phones
 Businesses sometimes stretch product lines upwards and
downwards, meaning having quality expensive items as well
as lower price items to widen target market.