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Product Strategies Answers

Read about Product Strategies here | View a powerpoint slide Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix Exercise One: Product Strategies.

As the marketing manager, you know the product (s) has to be right. The PC industry is competitive, lifecycles are short, the marketing mix ingredients have to be correct.

Looking at the points covered in products:

1. Apply Kotlers theory of benefits to the computers LM Ltd wish to sell. What benefits are consumers really getting from purchasing one of LM Ltds PC’s? What particular product decisions are important in the product planning process?

2. Draw a product lifecycle for one of LM Ltd computers and show at what point the firm will re-invent or update the product.

Answers

Kotlers Theory

Core Benefit: The core benefit offered to consumers depends much on what their primary need is. Purchasing a computer can have the benefit of ‘need for speed’, as a communication device over the net, or an entertainment device for playing games or watching movies or as a work or educational machine.

Total product:

One way for the company to differentiate the product is via branding, packaging, designing the product and by promoting thervariety of features the product offers.

Augmented product

Differentiating via branding and features in this market is not enough. You must also be able to make sure that the customer has some form of good quality after care service in the form of warranties, technical back up line and so on. This sometimes is the selling point for many people. Good after sales service usually encourages good word of mouth, creating a good reputation for the organization.

Total Product Concepts

2.

The company will have to start thinking about replacement models soon after launch, possibly growth stage. In this fast moving market of personal computers where the average lifecycle is about six months, the company will have to launch replacement models at the decline stage so they can see a smooth transmission of one lifecycle to another.