Chapter 13 Chapter 11 Product is a Whole Concept

A product is anything that is offered to the market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption to satisfy a certain want or need. In modern economic life, products are the link between producers and consumers, enterprises and customers.The essence of market economy operation is the cycle of products and their value between producers and consumers, enterprises and customers. Therefore, how to develop and produce products has become one of the important tasks of marketers.How to know and understand products more comprehensively and carry out more scientific and reasonable product development and marketing has also become the key to enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises.

In 1955, the world's first McDonald's was established by founder RayA.Kroc in Chicago, USA. Now, a McDonald's is born every three hours. The astonishing speed of rapid expansion makes the golden arches spread all over the world, becoming the most attractive chain in the world. one of the brands. The success of McDonald's is due to the fact that its founders created a business model that meets the requirements of the times, and by formulating unified and standardized standards, it can quickly replicate and expand. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the United States entered the stage of rapid economic development, people’s life and work pace accelerated, and the time for eating became shorter and shorter. Especially after individuals owned a large number of cars, the demand for fast meals on the way appeared, and in some McDonald's fast-food restaurants set up at airports and highway junctions have met people's needs.

The products of the McDonald's brand are not just hamburgers and French fries. The experience and mode of McDonald's are the combination of food, characters and happiness.People may not think that McDonald's serves the best food in the world, but people think it is the best fast food restaurant in the world.Therefore, people's recognition of McDonald's products is not only the recognition of the physical and use value of its products, but also the acceptance and recognition of its huge image value. With the development of social economy, people have a better understanding of products, and at the same time put forward many new requirements, from paying attention to tangible products such as price, quality, and style, to paying attention to additional products such as service, environmental protection, and experience, so that products Development and production are facing new challenges, requiring enterprises to adapt to new demands from design to production, from marketing to after-sales service.Therefore, it is of great significance to re-examine the true connotation of the product.

Kotler believes that products are not just the items we produce, and marketers need to examine the concept of products from five levels—each of these five levels adds more value to customers, and they constitute customer value levels. The most basic level of products is the core benefits, that is, the basic services or benefits that customers actually buy.At McDonald's, what customers really want to buy is "something to fill their stomachs."Marketers must recognize that we are the ones providing services to serve the interests of consumers. The second level of the product is that the marketer must transform the core benefits into the basic product, that is, the basic form of the product.For example, McDonald's transforms "food that fills the stomach" into hamburgers, of course, it also includes Coke and chicken wings, and even seats and toilets.

At the third level, marketers prepare a desired product, that is, a set of attributes and conditions that buyers usually expect and default to when purchasing a product.For example, at McDonald's, customers expect delicious and fast food, cool thirst-quenching beverages and a clean and hygienic environment. At the fourth level, the marketer prepares an add-on product that includes added services and benefits.For example, set up a children's playground in McDonald's restaurants, hold birthday parties for customers, etc., and attract more customers for yourself through additional products and services.

In essence, today's competition takes place more at the additional level of products.Since the first three of the product are already well achieved by most companies, the additional level of the product has higher value.At the same time, the additional level of products makes marketers have to face up to users' aspects of acquiring, using, repairing and disposing of products. There is also a fifth level, which is the development of potential products, that is, all the additional parts of the product that may eventually be realized and the parts that will be converted in the future.That is, companies satisfy customers and differentiate their products in new ways.For example, Singapore Airlines is considering adding a shopping area on the plane.At the same time, it is still considering the company's new e-commerce platform to better understand what different customers like and provide them with differentiated services.

The development and growth of any enterprise needs to achieve its purpose by operating one or more products.However, what kind of products to choose and how to launch products to win the market have always been a key issue in business operations. When a product is put into the market, the first thing to rely on is the uniqueness and price advantage of the product, followed by the competition for quality.When there are more and more similar products in the market and the product quality is almost the same, it is not easy to open up product sales simply by relying on price and quality. At this time, more advanced marketing tactics must be adopted to understand the marketing significance behind product price and quality.

As the leading shoe-making company in the world's shoe-making industry today, the products of the American Melville-Koplers Shoe-making Company are sold all over the world, with annual sales of up to 6 billion US dollars.Its products are so popular, in addition to the high quality and low price of the products, it also has a lot to do with the leader of the company, Francis Noli, who pays attention to the research of consumer psychology and makes each pair of shoes full of human touch.Prior to this, the products of the Melville-Koplers shoe company had once been in an embarrassing situation of unsalable products, and Francis Nolly was ordered to be the general manager when the company was in a difficult situation. important task.After taking office, Noli, who has done in-depth research on consumer psychology, adopted new marketing methods and endowed products with emotional color, which finally turned the company from danger to safety and achieved impressive sales performance.

Noli believes that the market is not only a battlefield between enterprises, but also a place for emotional exchanges between enterprises and consumers.However, in order to defeat competitors and win the favor of consumers, companies must endow products with emotions.This is because many consumers today buy shoes not only for the needs of antifreeze and foot protection, but more for displaying individuality and living standards. Francis Nolly implemented a marketing model with a human touch.First of all, the company's designers are required to completely change the traditional single design style, and lead the design style to diversification.Later, the company's designers introduced different styles of shoes, such as "masculine" and "feminine", "wild" and "elegant", "sophisticated" and "youthful", and used different styles in terms of style and color configuration. The style of shoes tends to be diversified.

At the same time, Melville company also gave each pair of shoes a unique name, such as "love", "anger", "joy", "tears", etc., so that each pair of shoes is full of life and emotion, and meets the needs of different consumers. needs of the reader.In addition, Melville-Gopulus also took some weird names for shoes, such as "laugh", "tear", "love", "anger", "swing dance" and so on, just like living objects , refreshing and endless aftertaste. Unsurprisingly, people rushed to buy Melville-Gyprus products.With the knack of "giving emotion to the product", Melville-Koplers entered a continuous sales climax.

Melville is good at grasping the psychological needs of consumers, and responding positively in advance to the personalized needs of consumers.They are very clear that successful marketing is not only to provide practical and affordable products, but also to make their products human, so that each product has its own life. Today's market competition is becoming more and more fierce. Like Melville, companies need to make more personalized plans for their products in order to ensure that their products are invincible in the fierce market competition.Generally speaking, product personalization can be planned from the following aspects: Highlight product features.Enterprises should deliberately promote the most distinctive aspects of their products, abandon the commonality with competing products, and widen the distance between their products and competing products.For example, Japan's Toshiba refrigerators focus on promoting the power-saving features of their products, and the Panasonic series of video recorders emphasize the wide application range of tapes. Highlight geographical advantages.The place of origin or source of raw materials of certain products is closely related to the quality and characteristics of the product, such as the pure aroma of "Colombia coffee beans" and the crystal clear "Thai basmati rice".In the eyes of consumers, the country of origin is rich in such high-quality raw materials, and the quality of the products produced should be higher than similar products on the market. Highlight performance advantages.The superior performance of the product itself and the benefits obtained from it can make consumers recognize its positioning.For example, in the 1960s, Kodak developed a new type of fully automatic "fool" camera for this purpose, which means that even fools can use it.Kodak declared in its advertisement: "You just press the button, and I will take care of the rest." Highlight consumer types.Produce products with different uses or performances to meet the needs of different types of users and position them for different consumer groups.The major sporting goods companies in the world take advantage of the market characteristics of consumers' demand for multiple varieties of products, change the situation in the early days that no matter what kind of sports they are engaged in, they wear rubber-soled shoes, and produce a variety of special sports according to different sports characteristics. Shoes, such as all kinds of track and field shoes, sneakers, travel shoes, hiking shoes, etc. Highlight usage differences. The Michelob Brewery Company positioned itself based on the occasions in which beer is used, and then expanded the occasions in which beer is consumed. Michelob repositioned what was originally a weekend beer as a nightly beer, boosting product sales. Highlight product innovation.In most cases, the production of products is not to compete with a particular competitor, but to compete with similar products.When the product is a new product in the market, whether it is developing a new market or expanding the market for an existing product, this method can be used to position the product.The competition between light beers and generally high-calorie beers is a typical example of this positioning. A product portfolio is a set of products that a particular seller confers to a buyer, including product lines and product items.The company's product portfolio has a certain width, length, depth and viscosity. Product mix, also known as "product assortment", is the combination of all product categories and product items of various products produced and operated by an enterprise within a certain period of time.The product mix is ​​diverse, it can be a combination of two technologies, or a combination of multiple products.For example, the electricity invented by Edison is a combination of two known elements to form a new combination; the Danish windmill manufacturing industry is the product of the combination of ancient civilization and modern technology, and is known as "the wonder of Western technology". Due to the ever-changing market environment and competitive situation, every determinant of the product mix must also change according to their changes.Some products have achieved rapid growth and continued to achieve high profits, while other products may tend to decline.Therefore, the product mix strategy can only provide the basic shape of the product mix in principle.Therefore, enterprises should adjust their product mix according to the dynamic market environment, and seek and maintain product optimization in the changing situation. A British company has created a diving robot called "Jim".It is a composite of emerging deep-diving technology and robotics, becoming a pioneer in the development of the ocean.The dictating phone combines the recording device with the telephone, which expands the functions of the product and wins more markets.The Japanese company combined the OK machine with the video recorder, and then combined the video recorder with the TV, and then developed the three-in-one karaoke machine, video recorder, and TV.Although the new product is formed by combining two or three products, the resulting functions have nearly ten times the efficacy. Combination-type new products, with the characteristics of "one thing with multiple functions", can meet various requirements of customers and develop them in breadth and depth.It is one of the trends in future product development. An enterprise's product mix decision is not determined arbitrarily, but should follow the principle of benefiting sales and increasing the total profit of the enterprise, and make flexible choices according to the resource conditions and market conditions of the enterprise.The product portfolio strategy refers to the process in which an enterprise makes different combinations of the breadth, length, depth and relevance of product portfolios according to market conditions, its own resource conditions and competitive situations.From a static point of view, the alternative product mix strategies are: ①Comprehensive strategy across the board.This refers to the strategy of a business that focuses on providing any customer with everything it needs.This strategy needs to take into account the entire market, so not every company can do it.The full-line and comprehensive strategy can maximize the diversification of the business risks of various products, expand the strength and momentum of the enterprise, obtain the largest market coverage, and satisfy the needs of customers to the greatest extent.Generally, large industrial groups or large companies generally adopt this strategy.The meaning of the entire market can be broad, that is, the overall product market in different industries; it can also be narrowly defined, that is, the overall market aspects of a certain industry.In a narrow sense, a full-line comprehensive product portfolio strategy is to provide all the products necessary for an industry.For example, the United States General Electric Company has many product lines, but they are all related to electricity.In a broad sense, the comprehensive product portfolio strategy is to increase the width and depth of product lines as much as possible without being restricted by the correlation between product lines.For example, the business scope of Sony Corporation of Japan ranges from TV sets, radio cassette players, camcorders, VCDs, DVDs to travel agencies, chain restaurants, pharmacies, etc. ②Market professional strategy.This combination does not take into account the degree of relatedness between the various product lines.It is to provide various products required by a certain professional market and a certain type of customers.For example, the product mix of tourism enterprises should consider all the products or services that tourists need, such as accommodation services, catering services, transportation services, souvenirs, and photographic equipment. ③Professional strategy for product series.It refers to the product portfolio strategy in which an enterprise focuses on the production of a certain type of product and sells its products to various customers.For example, a certain automobile manufacturer's products are all automobiles, but according to different market needs, it has three product series of cars, buses and trucks to meet the needs of different users. ④Professional strategy for a single product line.According to their own expertise, enterprises focus on limited or even single product series to meet limited or single market needs.For example, some automobile manufacturers specialize in the production of cars as personal means of transportation and do not produce other types of vehicles in order to give full play to their professional advantages in this area. ⑤Professional strategy for special products.Due to the particularity of products, enterprises produce certain special product items with superior sales according to their own expertise.The market that this product mix strategy can develop is limited, but its advantage is that the threat of competition is very small. In addition, we can also analyze from a dynamic point of view, the alternative product portfolio strategies are: ① Expand product mix strategy.It refers to increasing product series or product items, expanding business scope, expanding the width or depth of product portfolio, and producing and operating more products to meet market needs. ②Strategy to reduce product mix.It refers to reducing the width or depth of the product mix, deleting some product series or product items, increasing the level of specialization, concentrating on the production and operation of a series of products or a few product items, and trying to get from production to production. The competitive advantage of the enterprise is reflected in the products with less production and operation. ③ high-end product strategy.It refers to increasing the production of high-grade and high-priced product items within the same product line in order to improve the reputation of the enterprise and existing products. ④ low-end product strategy.In order to attract customers who cannot afford to buy high-end products due to economic conditions, but envy and yearn for high-end brand-name customers, increase the production of low-end and low-priced product items in the same product line, so as to make full use of the reputation of high-end brand-name products. force. Increased competition and increased clutter on retailer shelves means that packaging must now take on many sales responsibilities – from attracting attention to describing the product to making a sale. We already know that a product is much more than just the product itself.Consumers are more inclined to see it as a combination of complex benefits that meet their needs, and marketers want to pass this benefit to consumers.On the shelves of retailers full of products, if you want to attract consumers to buy products, packaging is the first element. The American beer market has become more and more difficult for beer companies to survive due to the decline in consumption due to intensified competition.Coupled with the growing market share of giants such as Anhaus-Busch and Miller, many smaller beer companies have been eliminated. But at this time, Rollin Rock beer, produced in Pennsylvania, was a success.At the beginning, due to limited funds and insufficient advertising budget, the company had to work hard on the packaging, determined to turn the packaging into a billboard. Soon, in the American beer market, a beer in a green long-necked bottle attracted many beer lovers with its unique outer packaging.Consumers think it looks high-end, some people think that the design on the bottle is hand-painted, it is unique and interesting, different from other brands.People like to put it in a prominent place on the table.The green bottle placed in the mountain spring is printed on the beer box, which is very attractive. This is Rollin Rock beer, and its outer packaging leaves a good impression on people. Although Rollin Rock beer is not capable of competing with big beer manufacturers such as Miller in terms of production process and quality, its beautiful green bottle conceals all its disadvantages. It is this memorable external image that helped Rollin Rock Beer to get out of the predicament, gain a firm foothold, and finally embark on the road of rapid development in the highly competitive American beer market.Marketing expert John Chapel commented: "In the marketing strategy of Rollin Rock Beer, the packaging strategy has played a key role." Novel and unique packaging can convey the attributes and positioning of the product, can arouse the desire of consumers to buy and try, and can enhance product popularity through visual stimulation.It is precisely because of this that Rollin Rock has gained a firm foothold in the US market with its external image.Of course, just having packaging is not enough, but if there is no attractive packaging, no matter how good the quality of Rollin Rock beer is, it will soon be squeezed into an unnoticed corner by big beer manufacturers such as Miller. Not on development.Therefore, operators must not ignore packaging. According to a survey, with the increasing variety of products on the market, a customer can see 300 kinds of goods every minute in the supermarket, and 3% of his purchases are based on impulse, and the packaging is almost the same at this time. in a "five-second commercial".Packaging is known as the "silent salesman".Kotler believes that packaging has become a very important product marketing tool and is a part of the product. So, where should good packaging start?Marketing experts suggest that we can improve our packaging from the following aspects: Portable and convenient to use.In order to facilitate the use of goods, the packaging should be of appropriate size.For tourism food and beverages, it is advisable that one person can use them up at one time. For commodities that are volatile and perishable after opening the package and the consumption is not large, the packaging should not be too large.In order to be easy to carry, some product packaging should be designed as a relatively hard and strong package or box with a handle. have aesthetic value.The packaging design should be novel in shape, bright in color, decorative and ornamental, so that customers will have a beautiful feeling after watching it.In particular, gift packaging should be beautiful and generous, with strong artistry, so as to increase the luxury of the product, so as to achieve the purpose of promoting the product and expanding sales. Reuse packaging.Reusable packaging means that after the original packaging is used up, the container can be used for other purposes.This kind of packaging strategy, on the one hand, can increase the use value of consumer goods, on the other hand, because there are trademarks on the packaging, it can play the role of commodity marketing, causing consumers to buy repeatedly. Comes in bonus packaging.This packaging method arouses consumers' desire to buy due to the addition of gifts.In the market where children mainly consume, this strategy is particularly effective. For example, there are comic strips, color photos of characters, word sets, small animal models, small toys and gift coupons in the packaging box, which can easily arouse children's interest. Thus forming a loyal consumer group of children. Sellers must design labels for their products.A label can be a simple label attached to a product, or it can be an elaborate graphic designed as part of the packaging.The label may just bear the brand name, or it may have a lot of information.Labels perform several functions. The word "label" originally refers to a cloth belt or strip tied on the hat of a Christian bishop, which is a symbol of power and identification. As early as 1700, Europe printed a label that was used on medicines and cloth as commodity identification. The first batch of tags, so, strictly speaking, tags are used to mark the classification or content of goods, such as the keywords we define for products, which are tools for you and others to find and locate your targets. Of course, since the development of the label, the content contained is far more than that.In addition to playing the role of identification, labels can also play a role in describing products, preventing counterfeiting, and establishing brand image.Therefore, more and more companies begin to pay attention to their product labels. Westinghouse is an old company with a history of nearly a hundred years.Since the first trademark came out in 1900, the company has updated its brand logo six times, basically every ten years on average. The brand logo of Westinghouse Electric Company in the United States was designed by the outstanding designer P. Rand. His design standard is to make the brand logo not only reflect the corporate image of Westinghouse Electric Company, but also express the scope and nature of the company's business operations. Under the careful design of the designer, the logo of Westinghouse Maverick appeared.The current world-renowned brand logo has a "W" in its center. Below the "W" is a rectangular box with the words "Westinghouse Electric" inside, apparently for fear that others will regard the "W" as an upside-down "M".This is the original logo of Westinghouse. By 1940, the words "Westinghouse Electric" were written around the brand logo, and the rectangle under the "W" became a horizontal line. In 1953, the words "Westinghouse" were removed again, and the current brand logo was adopted in 1960. It is printed in white on a light blue underside of what the company calls "Westinghouse Blue."Today, all Westinghouse electrical products use this brand logo. The smallest logo is engraved on the tiny electronic parts made by the company. The brand logo, which may be the smallest brand logo in the world; and the largest brand logo is erected in the ring in front of the company's transformer factory in Indiana. It is as high as a three-story building and is 70,000 times larger than its smallest brand logo. The change of Westinghouse's brand logo, from complex to simple, has always been around the company's initial letter "W" to gradually change the graphics. In terms of replacement time, either when new products are launched, or old products are updated, or It is carried out when packaging, envelopes, stationery and other marked supplies are used up, or signs and vehicles need to be repainted, because this is a reasonable or best time to switch to a new brand logo.This can not only save money, but also easily maintain the original goodwill. A brand is a sample of goods or services composed of numbers, graphics and their combinations.A successful brand graphic design can embody distinct characteristics and vitality of the times. The evolution of Westinghouse graphic design in the United States confirms this statement. The competition of modern enterprises and products in the market is manifested in the need to distance themselves not only in product quality and sales, but also in brand and other popularity.This means: Whichever enterprise has a good brand design and can occupy a position in the minds of consumers and establish a good image through advertising, whichever enterprise can take the initiative in market competition. The "Westinghouse" brand is exactly like this, so it has become a leader in the same industry and similar products, and then gradually become a brand. The content of the product brand label includes: the name and address of the manufacturer or seller; product name; trademark; composition; quality characteristics; quantity in the package; method of use and purpose, serial number;Kotler reminds companies to pay attention to what functions it can play when making labels, and at least it is convenient for consumers to identify products or brands.In addition, businesses must ensure that their labels contain all necessary information. However, the brand identity is not a long-term absolute change.With the development of society, economic prosperity, intensified competition, changes in lifestyle and fashion, the content and graphics of brand logos will also be challenged.Enterprises also need to make their brand logos more perfect if they want their brand logos and products to reflect the sense of the times and adapt to changes in consumer psychology.