Deciding the product policy is the main task in product development processes. What products should the company make? Where exactly are these products to be offered? What market, or market segment should it be offered in? What should be the relationship among the various members of a product line? What should be the width of the product mix? How many different product lines can the company accommodate? How should the products be positioned in the market? What should be the brand policy? Should there be individual brands, family brands and/or multiple brands? Can a product be left to middleman’s branding? Answers to these questions will constitute the product policy of a firm.
A growing business has to undertake a constant appraisal of its existing product line. No product lasts forever, and no product lines are perfect forever. Changes in the business environment, changes in customer tastes and preferences and the extent of competition all exercise some pressure on the product policy of a firm. A product might have lost its marketable image, be facing the threat of functional obsolescence, lost its profitability, be poor in quality or simply served its purpose and is on the decline.
The techniques employed by firms to render their product or brand distinct and different from the competing brands, is termed product differentiation. Differentiation can be based on product, channel and promotion. Product, however, lends the maximum scope for differentiation. The aim of a product differentiation strategy is to endow the company’s product with certain real differences compared with other competing brands. And the main requirement is that the consumers must perceive the product as different in some respect.
Related Articles of Interest :
-
New Product Development
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
New product development is one of the most important components of product policy and product management. Product lines and products are appraise and are positioned effectively. Brand decisions are taken wisely. For a higher level of growth, a firm has to look beyond its existing...
-
Product Development
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Product development involves several important stages like generating ideas, idea screening, concept testing, business analysis and market analysis, actual development of the product, test marketing and commercialization. Each of these stages involves considerable study and analysis; and at each stage, a management decision is called...
-
Product Design And Development
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Product design begins with identifying the characteristics and expectations of the target market based on the product. The key benefits customers look for in a product must be identified. Multifunction products can give product benefits expected by many types of customers. On the other hand,...
-
Business Strategy
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
A business strategy is formulated by selecting the target audience of the product and assembling the marketing mix. A firm can assemble marketing mix elements in many different ways so that the relative weightage of the different elements will be different in the different combinations....
-
Corporate Branding
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
In certain cases the company name itself is used as a family brand name under which varied products of the company are marketed. This process is called corporate branding. Corporate branding is resorted to only when the company is confident that lending the company name...
-
Internet Branding
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
When talking about Internet branding, positioning is the key. Positioning is the act of fixing the exact locus of the product offer in the chosen market; it decides how and around what distinctive feature the product offer has to be couched and communicated to the...
-
Health Care Branding
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Brand decisions are an integral part of product policy in health care. When a marketer opts for branding a health care product, he is intending to create an asset out of his brand. His promotional programs get centered on the distinctive features of his brand....
-
Branding
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Product identification is the process of branding products. The branding is an important aspect of product planning. It involves the assignment of a brand name to the product being offered to the customers. The word “brand” is a comprehensive term. According to the American Marketing...
-
Marketing Strategy
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Marketing strategy is the set of programs that are matched with the target market opportunities in order to achieve organizational objectives. Drawing up a marketing strategy essentially consists of three steps: targeting market selection, setting market objectives and developing the marketing program. A firm may...
-
Free Business Leads
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
No Comments
Every firm looks out for free business leads since they are free of cost. But getting free business leads requires a lot of effort on your part. Firstly, you have to define the business. Defining one’s business accurately is the starting point of getting business...