Basics of Product

Management

Dr. Dulari S S

Associate Professor

SCMS
What is a Product?

• Philip Kotler “ A product is anything that can be

offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or
consumption that might satisfy a want or a need”.
• A bundle of attributes, offering for use/consumption by
the final customer

• It is more than physical products; includes services,

places, persons, and ideas
• To create successful new products, the company must:
– understand it’s customers, markets and competitors
– develop products that deliver superior value to customers.

• Products go through life cycles

• Product planning- involves making decisions on

production and sale of a business’s products.
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Levels of Product

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Product management

• Product management process consists of generating, analysing, organising, planning,

implementation & control of the firms existing & new pdt efforts so as to satisfy the
needs & wants of chosen customer segments while fulfilling orgnl objectives

• Includes the whole range of activities relating to product planning & development.

• Product plan is derived from the marketing plan which in turn is derived from the
corporate plan.

• Product plan encompasses product strategies like product line length, product line
depth, line stretching both upwards & downwards.

• It considers existing products as well as introduction of the new products

• The various element in product plan includes new product devt., branding,
segmentation, positioning & differentiation, distribution, advertising, price, sales
management & marketing research

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Product policy

• Appraisal of the product line

• Product differentiation

• Product positioning

• Brand decisions

• Packaging decisions

• New product development decisions

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Why Product management?
1. Need to focus on various customer segments

2. Easier targeting

3. Enabling innovation

4. Communication thru Multi channels

5. Managing the Products Life cycle

6. Mass customization- production oriented around the actual orders

7. Focus on design & Compatibility

8. Innovative approaches- collaborate

9. Multifunctional approach
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Importance of Product
Management in Modern
marketing
• Seamless view of the customer- customer
centric attitude

• Developing bonds with customer- not

transactional – meet the customer

• Ensuring customer delight & Loyalty-

rewarded for continued patronage

• Global focus-

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Job of a product
Manager
• Preparation of annual product plan

• Implementation of the plan

• To build & manage the product mix & product line

• Training, Supervising & monitoring the subordinates in attaining the marketing

goals

• To craft long range competitive strategy for the products

• Keep watch on the marketing budget for no over run

• To work in unison with advertising agencies

• To gather continuous information on the products performance, customer attitude,

dealer attitudes, brand loyalty of customers

• To develop competitive product positioning strategies

• To use packaging & branding as effective marketing tools

• To manage product life cycle effectively

• To carry out product innovations

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• To prepare strategies for product planning &
development for existing products & for new products

• To create & to manage brand equity

• To take branding decisions effectively

• To develop different products to different market

segments

• To adopt brand relaunching & repositioning as & when

required by market conditions

• To formulate strategies for brand extension

• To create & manage customer loyalty

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• Not only responsible for the market share, but
also for improving the profitability

• Develop and execute marketing programmes

that increase brand identity and awareness

• Develop innovative approach

• Constantly update

• Should be more customer friendly

• Be proactive not reactive

• Synergy between marketing strategy and

company philosophy

• Fit marketing plan into corporate plan

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The Product Manager‘s Interactions
Agency media dept,
Company media dept.
Advertising
Trade Media sales reps
Manufacturing agency
and distribution Media Premium suppliers
Premium screening
Store testing Sampling
Couponing
Research and Promotion
development services

Legal Product Packaging

manager

Designers
Researchers
Fiscal Purchasing

Market research
Publicity Suppliers
Research Salesforce
suppliers
Trade
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Product Management: Critical Traits required

Product passion
Customer empathy
Intelligence
Work Ethics
Integrity
Confidence
Business skills & soft skills
Develop innovative approach
Product strategies
 Line stretching

 Line filling

 Line pruning
Types of product strategies
1. Product line addition or deletion: stretching a product line, upwards or downwards is
due to the structural changes in the market place

2. Product Modification: improving an existing pdt may be more profitable & less risky
than developing & launching a new product

3. Development of new uses for the existing product

Alterations may be in designs, size, colour, texture, flavour or packaging or in ad appeal

Brand Strategy: Building Strong Brands

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Line extension
 When a firm uses an established brand name to introduce a new product that targets a
new market segment within a product category the parent brand currently serves

 It adds a different flavour or ingredient variety, a different form or size or a different

application for the brand
BRAND EXTENSIONS

 Using an existing brand name to promote a product in a different category, is Brand

Extension.

 The key difference between line and brand extension is the product category.

 In line extension the Product Category remains constant whereas in brand extension product
category varies.

 Capitalise on complementary products

Multibrands
 Companies often market many different brands in a given product category.

 New Brands
 the power of its existing brand name is waning

 may create a new brand name when it enters a new product category for which none of
its current brand names are appropriate
Line Extension Risks
 Line Confusion - confuse the customers and the retailers
 Encourage Variety seeking – Hence it influence brand switching behaviours. The
loyalty is thus weakened.
 Success Myopia- cause the company to forgo the chance to develop a new brand
 Strained relations -. But at the retailers end, it brings confusion and chaos-
encounter retailer resistance
 Line extension trap: When customers prefer a brand, they would be just as willing
to buy a different product carrying the same name.
 What appears to be logical to the managers performing these adventures tends to be
illogical in the perception of customers.

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Brand Extension Pitfalls
 Can confuse or frustrate consumers

 Can encounter retailer resistance

 Can fail & hurt parent brand image

 Can succeed but cannibalize the parent brand

 Can succeed but diminish identification with any one category

 Can dilute the brand meaning

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Pre requisites of Brand Extension

Consumers have some awareness of and positive associations about the parent brand in
memory

Cost of variety Vs scale opportunity

Co can differentiate the new product in consumers mind with j-n-d

How to make the Brand Extension successful?

1. When the parent brand has favourable associations & consumers perceive a fit between
the parent brand & the extension product

2. Depending on the knowledge of the product category, consumers may perceive fit based
on technical or manufacturing commonalities/ & usage complementarity

3. High quality brands stretch farther than average quality brands, although both types
have boundaries

4. How the co could establish the P-O-P & P-O-D ?

Making an Extension successful
 Aaker & Keller proposed certain assumptions about consumer behaviour which are
fundamentally responsible for the success of a brand extension.

 The parent brand enjoys positive beliefs and favourable attitude in customers memory.
 It is these pre-existing beliefs and attitudes which help in the formation of positive
beliefs and favourable attitude toward the brand extension.
 The negative associations are not transferred to the brand extensions, also these are not
created by the brand extension.
Challenges in Product Management
 Understanding the consumer motivations

 Adaptation and innovation to match new aspirations

 Scale of operations and experience effects

 Anticipating changes in tastes, competition and technology

 Creativity and innovation in overall marketing programme

Summary

• successful product management depends

on understanding consumer behavior

• the “product” is multifaceted, much more

than the physical product itself

• managing the ‘stable’ of products is no

simple task

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Thank you

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