2. Reasons many firms do not want to
limit themselves to one product
1. To counteract the effects of the PLC on a one product
firm.
2. To even out seasonal sales patterns.
3. To use company resources and capabilities more
effectively.
4. To capitalize on middlemen and consumer acceptance
of established products.
5. To spread production and marketing costs over a wider
product mix.
6. To become better known and respected by middlemen
and consumers.
3. Product Line
1. Product line length
i. Line Stretching
a. Upward Stretching
b. Downward Stretching
c. Two-way Stretch
2. Cannibalization: Qualis by Toyota
4. From Generic Product to Potential Product
• The Generic product Is the unbranded and undifferentiated commodity like rice, bread, flour or cloth.
• The Branded Product The branded product gets an identity through a name. WIBS bread.
• The Differentiated product - The differentiated product enjoys a distinction from other similar
products/brands in the market. E.g. Brown Bread.
• The Customized product - Customer specific requirements are taken into account while developing the
product.
• The Augmented product-The augmented product is the result of voluntary improvements brought
about by the manufacturer in order to enhance the value of the product, which are neither suggested
by the customer nor expected by them.
• The Potential product-The potential product is tomorrows product carrying with it all the
improvements and finesse possible under the given technological, economic and competitive
condition. There are no limits to the potential product. Only the technological and economic
resources of the firm set the limit.
5. Product Differentiation
The Boston consulting group has distinguished four types of
industries based on the number of available competitive
advantages and their size.
1. Volume industry: One in which companies can gain only a
few, but rather large, competitive advantages.
2. Stalemated industry: One in which there are a few
potential competitive advantages and each is small.
3. Fragmented industry: One in which companies face many
opportunities for differentiation, but each opportunity for
competitive advantage is small.
4. Specialised industry: One in which companies face many
differentiation opportunities, and each differentiation can
have a high payoff.
6. Different strategy stances that firms
can adopt
1. Offensive Strategy - Is the strategy of aggression usually
employed by the firm that is not presently the leader, It
tries to expand its market share and utilizes all the
elements of the marketing mix in attacking the leader.
2. Defensive Strategy - Is usually employed by the leader
who has the compulsion to defend his position against the
confrontation of powerful existing competitors.
3. Niche Strategy - Is usually employed by firms, which
neither confront nor defend itself. It cultivates a small
market segment for itself with unique products/services.
7. Different Types Of Differentiation
• Product – Blackberry CURVE
• Services- LG
• Personnel- Eureka Forbes
• Channel- Titan Watches, Walls Ice Cream
• Image- Nike
12. Product Management Strategies For
Extending The PLC
• Product Diversification
• New Product Uses
• Changing Product Layers - Altering the product features and creating different
product families.
• Re-Positioning - Changing the perceived values and intent, a product has in the mind of the consumer
• Co-Branding - Enhancing (or diluting) the products brand equity by association with another strong brand.
• Re-Packaging - Literally placing the product in a new package as to revive its appeal.
• Re-Branding - A drastic and costly measure used to disassociate the brand from the previous values associated
with it.
• Increasing Frequency of Use - Encouraging consumers to break away from traditional molds of product usage.
• New Markets and Segments - This strategy is an attempt to penetrate non traditional markets or consumer
segments.
• Pricing and Special Offers - Pricing is a positioning tool and a way to influence sales through the use of various
price, payment schemes
