Exam 12: Setting Product Strategy

Marketing planning begins with formulating an offering to meet target customers' needs or wants.

Companies may wish to implement a(n)________ to achieve more growth,to realize higher margins,or simply to position themselves as full-line manufacturers.

_____________ is a measure of the ease of fixing a product when it malfunctions or fails.

The homogeneity of natural materials limits the amount of demand-creation activity that producers undertake.

Studying how consumers shop,how they use a particular product or service,and how they dispose of the product when consumed is important for marketers.This information forms the basis of product strategy.Define the consumption system and identify the two upcoming product strategies that are affected by this knowledge.

Even if the seller prefers a simple label,the law may require additional information.

The vast array of products that consumers buy can be classified on the basis of shopping habits and are broken down into four main areas.List these four main classifications of consumer goods and explain what elements are included within.

A product system is a group of diverse and unrelated items that does not function in a compatible manner and includes the product mix and product assortment.

Companies in the "middle market" should never attempt to stretch their line in both directions.

Explain the concepts of product-mix width,length,depth,and consistency.

A manufacturer of hiking boots looks at data that indicate that their subsegment of the market called "serious hiker" is declining and is predicted to decline into the future.The firm decides to enter the "low-price" segment with its new items.This is an example of a firm's ________ to reach a new market.

In planning its market offering,the marketer must address the five product levels of the customer-value hierarchy.Describe the "customer-value hierarchy" and identify the five levels of product contained within.

Because ________ are purchased frequently,marketers should make them available in many locations,charge only a small markup,and advertise heavily to induce trial and build preference.

Many products can be differentiated in terms of their ________,which is its size,shape,or physical structure.

Price-setting logic must be modified when the product is part of a product mix.

Various factors have contributed to the increased importance of packaging as a marketing tool.List and briefly describe these events.

The product-line length can be obtained by averaging the number of variants within the brand groups.

To avoid "feature fatigue," companies must be careful to prioritize those features that are included and find unobtrusive ways to provide information about how consumers can use and benefit from the feature.

The cost of processing a return can be significantly greater than that of an outbound shipment.

As the newest member of the marketing department,your immediate boss asks you to comment on the company's proposal to add two new shoes to the company's middle-of-the-road pricing and product-line strategies.The first pair will retail for $40.00 and has as its target market the "bargain" shopper.The second pair will retail for $200.00 and is targeted at the "sophisticated shopper." In relation to product-line strategy,what is the company trying to accomplish with these two new items?