Product continued....
So product is a tangible thing that a customer can see,feel and touch....But further when we will talk about service marketing we will find that in service sector there are products also....like Insurance is a product for an insurance company....but its nature being intangible in that case,a customer can only feel it.....so product mix extends here to 8 P's of Marketing....
Coming back,to the physical product....
Today all companies are trying hard to reach their target customers in one way or in an another way...
Corporates are trying new and innovative ideas to catch the sight of the customer...
Lets try to understand this via an example:-
You see these are all "Head and Shoulders "shampoo bottles from P&G....
Have you ever wondered that when the content is almost same in them,then why there is variations in their bottling design.....
This is a little aspect of the much bigger strategy what a marketer uses....
The marketers try to differentiate their products from the rest of the products to seek customers attention...It has been seen that even packaging can drive a customers perception regarding a product and persuade him or not to buy a product.....
Head and shoulders continuously keep changing the packaging or we can say design of their products to a greater extent so that customers can always find something new about it.....
This is an example of Wall Mart...One of he biggest retail chains with its presence in most of the countries.....
Have you ever felt when you have entered a big retail store with more than 15,00,000 products across the hall and you still reaching for your desired product find the space where its located in a little corner....
You would not even have realised this that you have come across and left almost 14,99,999 products to get that desired one...
This is called "Product Positioning",this gives your product an competitive edge or we can say an competitive strategic advantage....over the others...
So companies overall want to gain this particular image in the mindset of the customer so that's the reason they keep on changing their packaging from time to time so that on the shelf space there product would look different from the other competitors offering same type of the products...
In order to achieve this product image the biggest factor in my opinion is ... "A V R E".
Availability:- It is a one of the biggest factor that can bring you customer loyalty in a long business run.Suppose a company who spends a lot of money in promotion activities is unable to meet the demand of its customers due to the scarcity of its supply,then it simply means that you are burning your money unnecessarily.
If via promotions you are creating a demand in the market and customers have started opting or buying your product,this is obviously a positive sign but the another time when the same customer wants to buy your same product again and your product is not available due to the shortage of supply then this will turn him off and donot think that he is gonna wait for your product to reach in the markets but he will switch over to the competitors and you will definitely lose your market share and moreover it will create a negative impact of your product in his mindset and this approach will surely tarnish your company image also.
So if as a marketer you want your product to survive,then "Product Availability" is the key factor to gain the customer's long term association...
Let us take the help of an example to understand this:
Every person including you,me and a Marketer are the customers and we all buy products that we are in need of!!!
As usual,while having breakfast in the morning,you read a newspaper and while going through the frontpage we see an add of AIRTEL...
Then after leaving for office from home we see ads of Airtel on the billboards on the the roadside while driving.
When we stop our car at a red light we see a big fiex board of Airtel
After reaching office,just near the parking lot,we see an another advertisement of this type.
After we have reached the office and we open our web browser to see the mail inbox.We see an add of Airtel again.....
The reason i gave so many examples was only to make my dear readers aware that a marketer has a proper strategy for doing these things...He is trying to drive your decision regarding a purchase and is trying to influence your thoughts as well...
The marketer is really trying to enter in your evoke set so that u consider buying his product when ever your need arises....
It is to be mentioned here that a marketer continuously passes messages to the customer again and again,whether consciously or subconsciously but most of the time a marketer passes on a message to the customer so that subliminally he accepts it without his knowledge...
So passing on a specific message to the customer again and again persuades him to give a product a try and this power is called,"The Power Of Repetition and prolonged repetition leads to learning."
Will you believe that Shelf space is even rented....Shelf space is that space in a Shopping Mall or a big retail chain store where products are displayed.It has been seen that the products who have a greater visiblity are often choosen by the end customer to give it a try...
Shelf space helps in gaining a positive market share....Even in my further posts i will tell you that how arrangement of products in a shelf place will affect the purchase decision of a consumer.
So in order to boost sales,the marketers or sales promoters often choose a shelf space where there would be a good visibility for their products....
Example...
A baby Diaper manufacturer in order to boost sales will place his product with the Brand like Johnson's and johnson's Baby Powder..because he knows that the caring mother who needs a Powder for her baby would need a diaper too...Thats called planning.....
So how as a marketer or a sales promoter how you make your products visible t your target customers plays a vital role in the promotion and sales boosting of any product and speaks a lot about the approach you have used....!!!
Reliability: Product reliability is yet an another most important critical factor that ensures smooth sales and which ensures customer loyalty.
Making a customer to buy a product for the first time is a bit difficult task but the biggest challenge lies in making him re-purchase your product again.
It is no fun that you spend a lot of money in Advertisements or visibility factors but fail to ensure that your product works accordingly as per the specifications and customers expectations...
The product should be able to
Let me explain it with a given example:-
If we talk about 'Pacemaker' ,a crucial artificial medical equipment that is used by heart patients is expected to work for a longer duration of time without any faults.This expectation from the customer end comes when he chooses to have such a product on which he can trust upon as because of the reason that Pacemaker is a critical life saving device.
Thus reliability is one of the most important factor for the survival of the product as it designates the reputation of your brand categories or the brand as a whole.
Only manufacturing of a product doesnot ensure its reliablity.There are various factors on which the reliability of a product depends upon.
Like, '' The way the product was handled;The space or place where it was stored,Product installation and much more.
Ignoring the above factors can make a product completely unreliable,so organisations should ensure that the safe practices are being followed in the entire Value chain to attain customer satisfaction and customer appreciation.
Education:- The Marketer acts as a teacher.He also acts as a communicator.He is responsible to educate the prospective customers about his product,the product varieties it offers,the right way of using the products and the benefits of using them.
The more and more we educate our prospectus customers,the more likely the target customers are going to show their interest in our products and will be ready to give that product a try.
Hence educating the target customers,a marketer is able to create a demand for his product in the market.
So product is a tangible thing that a customer can see,feel and touch....But further when we will talk about service marketing we will find that in service sector there are products also....like Insurance is a product for an insurance company....but its nature being intangible in that case,a customer can only feel it.....so product mix extends here to 8 P's of Marketing....
Coming back,to the physical product....
Today all companies are trying hard to reach their target customers in one way or in an another way...
Corporates are trying new and innovative ideas to catch the sight of the customer...
Lets try to understand this via an example:-
Have you ever wondered that when the content is almost same in them,then why there is variations in their bottling design.....
This is a little aspect of the much bigger strategy what a marketer uses....
The marketers try to differentiate their products from the rest of the products to seek customers attention...It has been seen that even packaging can drive a customers perception regarding a product and persuade him or not to buy a product.....
Head and shoulders continuously keep changing the packaging or we can say design of their products to a greater extent so that customers can always find something new about it.....
Have you ever felt when you have entered a big retail store with more than 15,00,000 products across the hall and you still reaching for your desired product find the space where its located in a little corner....
You would not even have realised this that you have come across and left almost 14,99,999 products to get that desired one...
This is called "Product Positioning",this gives your product an competitive edge or we can say an competitive strategic advantage....over the others...
So companies overall want to gain this particular image in the mindset of the customer so that's the reason they keep on changing their packaging from time to time so that on the shelf space there product would look different from the other competitors offering same type of the products...
In order to achieve this product image the biggest factor in my opinion is ... "A V R E".
A-Stands for Availability.
V-Stands for Visibility
R-Stands for Reliability &
E-Stands for Education.
If via promotions you are creating a demand in the market and customers have started opting or buying your product,this is obviously a positive sign but the another time when the same customer wants to buy your same product again and your product is not available due to the shortage of supply then this will turn him off and donot think that he is gonna wait for your product to reach in the markets but he will switch over to the competitors and you will definitely lose your market share and moreover it will create a negative impact of your product in his mindset and this approach will surely tarnish your company image also.
So if as a marketer you want your product to survive,then "Product Availability" is the key factor to gain the customer's long term association...
Visibility:- It is amongst the one of the main components on which the buying decision of a customer depends and is amongst one of the crucial factors which could eventually decide the fate of your product in terms of success or a failure!!!
Let us take the help of an example to understand this:
Every person including you,me and a Marketer are the customers and we all buy products that we are in need of!!!
As usual,while having breakfast in the morning,you read a newspaper and while going through the frontpage we see an add of AIRTEL...
Then after leaving for office from home we see ads of Airtel on the billboards on the the roadside while driving.
When we stop our car at a red light we see a big fiex board of Airtel
After reaching office,just near the parking lot,we see an another advertisement of this type.
After we have reached the office and we open our web browser to see the mail inbox.We see an add of Airtel again.....
The reason i gave so many examples was only to make my dear readers aware that a marketer has a proper strategy for doing these things...He is trying to drive your decision regarding a purchase and is trying to influence your thoughts as well...
The marketer is really trying to enter in your evoke set so that u consider buying his product when ever your need arises....
It is to be mentioned here that a marketer continuously passes messages to the customer again and again,whether consciously or subconsciously but most of the time a marketer passes on a message to the customer so that subliminally he accepts it without his knowledge...
So passing on a specific message to the customer again and again persuades him to give a product a try and this power is called,"The Power Of Repetition and prolonged repetition leads to learning."
Will you believe that Shelf space is even rented....Shelf space is that space in a Shopping Mall or a big retail chain store where products are displayed.It has been seen that the products who have a greater visiblity are often choosen by the end customer to give it a try...
Shelf space helps in gaining a positive market share....Even in my further posts i will tell you that how arrangement of products in a shelf place will affect the purchase decision of a consumer.
So in order to boost sales,the marketers or sales promoters often choose a shelf space where there would be a good visibility for their products....
Example...
So how as a marketer or a sales promoter how you make your products visible t your target customers plays a vital role in the promotion and sales boosting of any product and speaks a lot about the approach you have used....!!!
Reliability: Product reliability is yet an another most important critical factor that ensures smooth sales and which ensures customer loyalty.
Making a customer to buy a product for the first time is a bit difficult task but the biggest challenge lies in making him re-purchase your product again.
It is no fun that you spend a lot of money in Advertisements or visibility factors but fail to ensure that your product works accordingly as per the specifications and customers expectations...
The product should be able to
Let me explain it with a given example:-
If we talk about 'Pacemaker' ,a crucial artificial medical equipment that is used by heart patients is expected to work for a longer duration of time without any faults.This expectation from the customer end comes when he chooses to have such a product on which he can trust upon as because of the reason that Pacemaker is a critical life saving device.
Thus reliability is one of the most important factor for the survival of the product as it designates the reputation of your brand categories or the brand as a whole.
Only manufacturing of a product doesnot ensure its reliablity.There are various factors on which the reliability of a product depends upon.
Like, '' The way the product was handled;The space or place where it was stored,Product installation and much more.
Ignoring the above factors can make a product completely unreliable,so organisations should ensure that the safe practices are being followed in the entire Value chain to attain customer satisfaction and customer appreciation.
Education:- The Marketer acts as a teacher.He also acts as a communicator.He is responsible to educate the prospective customers about his product,the product varieties it offers,the right way of using the products and the benefits of using them.
The more and more we educate our prospectus customers,the more likely the target customers are going to show their interest in our products and will be ready to give that product a try.
Hence educating the target customers,a marketer is able to create a demand for his product in the market.
