Dr. AER MBA COLLEGES C.

RAMAPURAM -517563 Subject: Product & Brand Management 314 Unit I Product concept in Marketing Strategy& New product planning: Organizational
arrangements

Product Concept: Marketing begins with the identification of consumer needs and wants, and culminates with successfully fulfilling that need through the 4ps of marketing. The concept of 4ps of a marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) was introduced by Jerome McCarthy and developed by Philip Kotler. A marketer can satisfy the needs and wants of his customers by offering something in exchange for money. And this offering is basically a product. The product is one of the important elements of the 4ps of the marketing mix. It consists of a bundle of tangible and intangible attributes that satisfies consumers. A product can be a good, a service, an idea or a combination of all these. Goods are tangible in nature; a customer can touch and feel them. Depending upon the nature of goods, they can be used either once or several times. Services are intangible, yet they provide utility/benefits to the customer, for example, postal services, legal services, etc. services are perishable in nature and cannot be stored. For example airline ticket, haircut etc. An idea can be a concept or a philosophy. It helps customers to solve their problems and adjust to the environment. New product planning: New product development is both important and risky for a firm. For example, Motorola suffered severe financial losses due to the failure of their satellite phone (iridium) which was completely rejected by the market. However, organizations need to invest their effort and resources for developing new products. The average age of a product continues to be an a decline, as customers demand new and better products, and competitors keep coming up with improved products. Marketing strategies adopted by a firm can also affect the performance of the new products. A new product strategy is a statement that identifies the role of a new product and what it is expected to play in achieving corporate and marketing goals. It might be designed so as to protect market share meet a specific return on investment goal or to establish a position in a new market. Or a new products role may be to maintain the companys reputation for innovation or social responsibility. A new products intended role also will influence the type of product to be developed. Organizational arrangements: An effective new product development organization starts with top management. The amount of money spent on R & D is an important top management decision related to new product development. Companies give the responsibility for new product development to product mangers, or new-product managers, or new-product committee, or new-product department, or new-product venture teams. In general product managers may not be able to devote adequate time to new products as they have to take care of existing products' marketing and selling issues.

Typically, a company organizes that product development process with the help of the following people/entities: Product Managers Product Committees Product Departments Product venture teams Managing the development process: Idea Generation Idea Screening Concept Testing and Analysis Product Development Test Marketing Commercialization Stages of new product development: Idea generation Idea screening Concept testing and analysis Business analysis Total sales estimation Estimating costs and profits Development to commercialization: Launch of a product is done after a positive response from all the preceding stages. The launch follows a four-step sequence: 1. Pre launch preparation 2. announcement 3. beach head 4. early growth The consumer adoption process The PLC is tied closely to the concept of Diffusion of Innovation, which explains how information and acceptance of new products spread through a market. As we discussed in the Managing External Forces tutorial, innovation is anything new that solves needs by offering a significant advantage over existing methods (e.g., other products) customers use. Innovation can encompass both highly advanced technology products, such as new computer chips, and non-technological products, such as a new soft drink. In fact, the seminal work of the Diffusion of Innovation concept occurred in the 1950s when researchers in the agricultural industry observed how new corn seeds were adopted by farmers in Midwest U.S. states. A prospective buyer goes through six stages in an adoption process deciding whether to purchase something new or not. They are as follows. Awareness Interest Evaluation Trial

 Adoption Conformation PLC management: Product life cycle analysis is a very valuable tool in the hands of a marketer. A typical product goes through four stages in its life, i.e. Introduction Growth Maturity decline And it varies according to the type of product studying the patterns of PLC, from time to time, helps the business to prosper. It gives marketers a better understanding in managing their profitable products and eliminating the unprofitable ones. As the product moves from one stage of its life cycle to another, marketers try to evaluate and adjust strategies for promoting, pricing and distributing the product. Special issues

Unit II Understanding Brands

A brand is defined as a name, term, sign, symbol or special design or some combination of these elements that is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers. A brand differentiates these products from those of competitors. Brands in New economy Brand plays a variety of roles, branding is interpreted as something done to consumers but not as something consumers do things with. What's new about this economy? A lot, but not everything in this new economy is new. Sure, its easy to get caught up in the drama: Information technology is ubiquitous and rapidly advancing. Global economies are opening up. Legacy businesses are transforming before our eyes. But when it comes right down to the essence of business, its the same as it has always been - understand what drives a customers behavior and provide an experience which will attract that customers behavior over time. Its still all about building reciprocal relationships.

Brand Hierarchy: To help manage a visual identity system strategically, institutions of higher education often call upon a brand architecture model. This model provides a hierarchy, starting with the top-level brand for the institution as a whole, The five categories within the UWMadison brand hierarchy are: Core brand Core brand extension Secondary brand extension Sub-brand Independent brand Brand personality: A brand personality is a comprehensive concept which includes al the tangible and intangible traits of a brand, say beliefs, values, prejudices, features, interest, heritage. A brand personality makes it unique. A brand personality visually and collectively represents all internal and external characteristics. It takes image characteristics of a brand and renders them in human terms as seen by the consumer. Brand image is broader than brand personality because by the time we enter the personality realm, we are dealing with feelings and emotions that the consumer takes away from communications. A well established brand has a clear brand personality. Measuring brand personality How is it created? Advantages of Brand Personality Brand personality and user imagery Brand Ambassadors Brand Persona Relationship Building and Brand personality Brand image: Most consumer buying decision are influenced by the image they have of the product. Consumers buy the functional, psychological and aspiration values delivered by a product. The product image is formed out of the knowledge the consumers have about the benefits a product offers or values it delivers, and some other aspects of the product such as the class of people who use corporate image of the company which manufactures it. Brand identity: Brand identity is the purpose for which the brand is born. Brand identity: Brand as product Brand as organization Brand as person Brand as symbol Six sided prism

Brand positioning: Brand positioning refers to target consumers reason to buy your brand in preference to others. It is ensures that all brand activity has a common aim; is guided, directed and delivered by the brands benefits/reasons to buy; and it focuses at all points of contact with the consumer. 1. Under positioning- This is a scenario in which the customers have a blurred and unclear idea of the brand. 2. Over positioning- This is a scenario in which the customers have too limited a awareness of the brand. 3. Confused positioning- This is a scenario in which the customers have a confused opinion of the brand. 4. Double Positioning- This is a scenario in which customers do not accept the claims of a brand. Brand equity: Broadly brand equity can be viewed as the value added to a product by a brand name. Brand equity sometimes referred a s brand value. There are subtle differences between the two which needs to be appreciated. Brand value is the total financial value of the brand. Measurement of Brand equity: Loyalty Perceived quality/leadership Association/differentiation Awareness Market behavior Value addition from branding Brand value is of immense importance to a firm. This is evident from the fact that most companies spend a lot of time, money and energy in brand building. It would be difficult for a company to imagine existence without the brand name. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Customer relationship management (CRM) is a widely-implemented strategy for managing a companys interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processesprincipally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. Customer relationship management describes a company-wide business strategy including customer-interface departments as well as

other departments. Measuring and valuing customer relationships is critical to implementing this strategy.

Brand loyalty The level of commitment that customers feel toward a given brand, as represented by their continuing purchase of that brand. Unit III Managing Brands The markets in which companies operate are highly dynamic in nature. There is constant evolution in products, introduction of new technology, government rules, regulatory framework, consumer taste and preference. Between all these companies have to devise marketing communication and branding programs, which look forward to maintaining consumer based brand equity. For example, consumer promotion activity like providing 20% extra for the said product will not create the same response but may raise expectations of 20% during the normal purchase also. Companies have to balance brand management that they are able to understand the future preference of consumer. This calls for companies to be pro-active and thinking standing on their feet. Brand creation Brands are built by using resources and expertise. Brands become valuable balance sheet assets. In order to get the best return from their brands, companies adopt a brand vision about their brands. Branding decision no longer remain tactical confined to just promotion and design. They consider the overall capabilities of the organization. They also consider the environmental factors affecting the brand. A brand plan is developed which states brand objectives and specifies the strategies to achieve these objectives. Brand name decision Brand extension Brand product relationship Brand portfolio Brand revitalization Unit IV Measuring & Interpreting Brand Performance Brand assessment through research

Brand identity, brand positioning Brand image Brand personality assessment and change Financial aspects of brand Unit V Branding in different sectors, in customer sector, in industrial sector (B2B), in retail sector, in service sector. Branding in different sectors: Although the audiences, competitors, delivery and service aspects of branding in different market sectors may vary, the basic principle of being clear about what you stand for always applies. In customer sector: Although all branding is about communicating a clear offer to your customers or users, branding in the public sector is not necessarily as concerned with maximum market stand-out, as it typically is in the commercial/private sector. For public sector organizations, such as the police force and health services, the focus may be on clarity and access to important information. So branding and design may focus on signposting this information or communicating issues clearly in order to change peoples behavior Start-up businesses At the start of a new business you can launch your product with a brand that challenges the conventions of the sector - often called a 'challenger brand'. This is much harder to do once you're established as you have more to lose. You must think carefully about how brave and 'rule-breaking' your product or service can be by assessing the market sector from the outside, looking at the different players, opportunities or gaps in the market. Another benefit at start-up is that the business is likely to be small and, therefore, more responsive and adaptable, with no existing processes that have to be changed to create a new brand. Industrial Sector (B2B) The principles of effective branding apply to the B2B sector in the same way as they do in customer-facing businesses. B2B businesses market products and services directly to other businesses rather than the public. They too need to use branding to differentiate and create a distinct personality, even if that personality is more corporate and businesslike in its tone. Service Sector: You should consider how your brand is reflected in how your service is provided and how your staff interact with customers. Service brands are built on the people who deliver them, so staff need to be trained to understand the company's culture, its 'promise' to customers and how they will put this into practice. Retail Sector:

In retail context, the name of the retailer will work as a brand communicating to consumer the type of merchandise and services offered by the retailers. There are some retailers who developed private label or store brands, like wills lifestyle, ebony, etc, which are exclusively sold through their channels. There could be single brand retailers or multi brand retailers, or store brand conveying the value proposition.