Section outline

  • Learning Intentions
    • Explore product differentiation & branding (part of the Product element of the 4Ps).
    • Focus an analysis of a product or business by using a SWOT analysis. 
    Success Criteria
    • Can explain the purpose of branding (including logos and slogans) and identify popular examples.
    • Can perform a SWOT analysis to analyse a product or business.
    • Can describe 4 reasons for packaging and analyse a product's packaging.

    Product differentiation and Branding

    Businesses often use slogans, for example "The Warehouse, where every one gets a bargain" and "Briscoes, you'll never buy better". 

    They also use logos These marketing tools are designed to be memorable and businesses spend a lot of time and money associating them with certain values and emotions in customers. They are a large component of the brand'.

    A brand is any name, term, symbol or distinctive packaging that identifies specific goods or services and helps to differentiate them. With legal protection, it becomes a trademark. Brands can be linked to businesses, single and family line products. Branding helps to achieve marketing objectives by:

    • being a focal point for advertisng
    • encouraging repeat purchase (customer loyalty)
    • allowing non-price competition (product differentiation)
    • making it easier to expand a product range
    • making it cheaper to advertise (the whole brand rather than every individual product)

    Branding can hep customers by:

    • making it quicker to identify 'good' and 'bad' products
    • identifying the business behind the product
    • encouraging the business to provide consistent quality

    Single product line and Multiple product line

    Some businesses produce just one product and advertise its brand eg WD40 spray and Crocs shoes. Others produce a wide range of different products and advertise both each one but also the business's brand eg Kelloggs make a wide range of food products, but the name Kelloggs is prominent on packaging and in advertising.

    Here's a great online article on this topic 

    Packaging

    There are 4 reasons for packaging:

    1. Ease of carrying and protection eg liquids, fragile or dangerous goods, powders
    2. As part of the Marketing Mix - it can contain the trademark or logo, be eye-catching or distinctive. New packaging can be a cheap way to give the impression that the product has been changed or improved.
    3. To enhance apparent value to the customer and thus enable higher prices and profits eg perfume, Ferrero Roche chocolates
    4. Makes stock taking easier - especially in self service stores where theft or damage may be issues.
       

    Product oriented vs Market oriented

    A business that is product orientated has a dominant production or research & development department that creates a product and then relies on the marketing department to find a market for it. A market orientated business has a dominant marketing department that identifies trends and needs and then asks the production department to create products that meet that need. 

    As a class, we'll listen to Lucy Kellaway's radio clip on the internet of things and new product development, entitled 'We need smart products because we're stupid'. Given that she believes no-one actually needs "a fridge that tells you when you need more milk", consider whether the internet of things is a market or product oriented development.