Product Line

3 Key excerpts on "Product Line"

• 

  eBook - ePub

  Fundamentals of Marketing

  • Marilyn Stone(Author)
  • 2007(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  A Product Line is a group of products that are closely related to each other. For example, a clothing company might arrange its mix into shirts, coats and jeans to reflect the particular production requirements and problems for each line. On the other hand, a company might organize the product mix according to market requirements or a mixture of production and market requirements. For example, Michelin has a tripartite product organization into tyres, maps and restaurant rating services. While only a limited number of the actual lines offered by P&G is shown in Figure 8.1, this example helps to illustrate concepts such as the product mix width, length, depth and consistency. The product mix width refers to how many different Product Lines the company carries. In the simple example shown above, the width of the mix is four (although other lines such as household cleaning products, disposable nappies, etc., could be added). A Product Line consists of a number of product items. These are the individual products or brands, each with its own features and price. Product Line length refers to the number of items within the Product Line. According to Figure 8.1, Crest has a length of one item. Product Line depth refers to the number of variants of each item within the Product Line. A deep product may have many different variants. For example, if Crest came in three sizes and two formulations (regular and mint) then Crest would have a depth of six items. The consistency of the product mix refers to how closely related various Product Lines are according to the criteria devised by management. For example, P&G’s lines are consistent to the extent that they go through the same distribution channels to the final consumer

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  eBook - ePub

  Strategic Marketing Management (RLE Marketing)

  • Gordon Foxall(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Within a line, the products are ‘spaced’ in terms of customers’ requirements and willingness to pay: marketers of washing machines, for instance, offer a variety of models with different specifications and prices to suit each segment of the market. The number of lines may depend on the buyer’s use of items from more than one line: marketing a line of cameras may depend heavily upon marketing a complementary line of interchangeable lenses. It is evident then that the overall product mix resembles a system of interrelated parts and that to change one of these parts or lines is to alter the image presented by the mix to customers; similarly, each line is itself a subsystem: to alter one of its components, e.g. by improving the quality of a single item, may affect customers’ perceptions of the entire line. Winkler 7 identifies several indicators of inadequate product mix management. Sales decline may refer to a reduction in the sales of a single item or a Product Line. The first reation to this should be an examination of the non-product marketing mix elements: an investigation of price, promotions and distribution to ensure that the product is receiving adequate support is relatively inexpensive but, if it does not yield results, it may be necessary to modify the product or to replace it. This state of affairs may indicate that the product has reached the maturity phase of its life cycle and that market development is required. The underutilisation of marketing resources usually results from an unduly narrow product mix so that each marketing mix element which deals with communication is underproductive. The productivity of advertising, for instance, could be improved if the company had more product items or lines to promote. Winkler suggests, as a short-term ameliorative, that the company buy in products from other manufacturers to increase the productive work done by each advertisement or salesman’s call or by the company’s distribution channel

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  eBook - ePub

  Marketing and the Customer Value Chain

  Integrating Marketing and Supply Chain Management

  • Thomas Fotiadis, Dimitris Folinas, Konstantinos Vasileiou, Aggeliki Konstantoglou(Authors)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  The saving of resources and capital by cooperating with specialized companies that provide special services allows a business to invest in other basic goals and sectors, and to develop other activities. Additionally, it succeeds in the improvement of the quality and performance of its services, because these companies provide the appropriate resources as well as a wide accumulated experience and the appropriate technological infrastructure. Consequently, outsourcing provides immediate access to the latest technology without requiring the usual development period within the business. Upgrading the level of quality of the services provided consequently gains further satisfaction from the customers/final consumers. However, the long-term cooperation between businesses and service providers possibly may give rise to dependence of the former on the latter, due to the gradual loss of know-how on the part of their human resources. If a business chooses to outsource a large number of its vital processes, then its ability to innovate becomes limited. Also, there is the possibility that an external partner is unable to adapt to the particularities of the company, with the result that the level of services provided does not reflect the expectations of the business. A potential “bad” provision of services will surely negatively influence the entire image of the business in the market.

  1.3 Decisions concerning the product mix, brand, packaging, and labeling of a product

  1.3.1 Product mix

  The product mix of a company refers to the set of single products that it offers to its customers and the way that these are classified based on their degree of involvement with each other, with reference to brand, price or special characteristics. A line or series consists of a group of products that are very closely associated with each other. For example, a food company has Product Lines such as fresh milk, dairy products, fruit juices, etc. The width of the mix refers to the number of different lines (series) that the business's portfolio contains. The length refers to the number of items in the product mix. The depth refers to the entire number of alternatives that each product is offered in, for example, the number of versions of fresh natural juice based on their ingredients (orange, apple, orange-pomegranate-grape mix, etc.) and the size of the packaging (e.g. single serve packaging of 300 ml and family-size packaging of 1 and 1.5 litres). The consistency

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