About the Product Mix

1. Module 2
PRODUCT MIX

2. • A product mix is a group of everything a company sells.
However, the product line is a subset of the product mix.
A product line refers to a unique product category
or product brand a company offers.
• The term Product originated from the Latin words “pro” which
means “forward” and “ducere” which means “to lead”, therefore
it means “to lead forward” or “bring forth”
• It is something which has capacity to fulfil the needs of people.

3. There are 4 important aspects which determine the want
satisfying capacity of a product
1. Desirability- must be desired by consumers
2. Purpose- reason for using
3. Usability –comfortable to user
4. User experience- positive/ negative feeling

4. Features
1. Capacity to fulfil the needs of consumers
2. Physical goods or services(tangible /intangible)
3. Satisfy commercial and personal needs
4. Subject and object of all marketing activities(Associated
attribute).

6. 1. Core Benefit
• The core benefit is the fundamental need or wants that the
customer satisfies when they buy the product.
• Eg. a hotel is to provide somewhere to rest or sleep when away
from home.
2. Generic Product
• The generic product is a basic version of the product made up
of only those features necessary for it to function.
• Hotel eg, this could mean a bed, towels, a bathroom, a mirror,
and a wardrobe.

7. 3. Expected Product
• The expected product is the set of features that the customers
expect when they buy the product.
• Hotel Eg., this would include clean sheets, some clean towels,
Wi-fi, and a clean bathroom.
4. Augmented Product
• It refers to any product variations, extra features, or services
that help differentiate the product from its competitors.
• Hotel Eg., this could be the inclusion of a helper service or a
free map of the town in every room.

8. 5. Potential Product
• It includes all augmentations and transformations the product
might undergo in the future.
• Hotel Eg., this could mean a different gift placed in the room
each time a customer stays. For example, it could be some
chocolates on one occasion, and some luxury water on another.
By continuing to augment its product in this way the hotel will
continue to delight and surprise the customer.

10. 1. Industrial Products
• They are the products that are bought for further processing or
for use in a business process and not for personal consumption.
• They are classified into three groups which include materials
and parts, capital items and sales and services.
2. Consumer products
• as final goods that are bought by individuals or households for
personal use
• are goods that are bought for consumption by the average
consumer
• Eg. Food items, cloths, toothpastes, soaps, vegetables, fruits
etc.

11. Type of consumer product
a) Fast moving consumer products (FMCGs)
- soaps, toothpaste, chocolates
b) Consumer Durables-
- White Goods – Household appliances and heavy consumer durable eg.
Air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines etc
- Brown Goods- Light electronic durables eg. TV, computers, DVD
players, mobile phones etc.
c) Perishable Goods
d) Convenience Goods
- easily available to , usually non-durable goods eg. Fast
food, pen, chocolates, pen

12. e) Shopping Consumer Goods
-are bought less frequently by consumers
-customer usually compares on attributes such as quality, price and style in
the process of selecting and purchasing.
-eg. furniture, clothing, used cars, airline services etc
f) Specialty Consumer Goods
-unique characteristics or brand identification for which a significant group of
consumers is willing to make a special purchase effort/ decision.
-eg. luxury goods and cars, designer clothes
g) Non- Sought/Unsought Consumer Goods
-consumer either does not know about or knows about but does not consider
buying under normal conditions
-consumers do not think about normally, at least not until they need them
-eg. Medicines, coffins+

13. NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (NPD)
• It is the process of bringing a new product to the marketplace
• this process is to changes in consumer preferences, increasing
competition and advances in technology or to capitalise on a
new opportunity.
Some interpretation of NPD
• Give rise to new market
• Exiting product introduced in a new market/ new packaging
• Existing products marketed in a different way.

15. Need for NPD
1. Customisation of product
2. Adjust with PLC
3. Innovation
4. Fighting competition
5. Improving Brand Loyalty
6. Increasing the market share

16. Steps/Product Development Process

17. Idea Generation
• Internal idea sources: the company finds new ideas internally.
That means R&D, but also contributions from employees.
• External idea sources: the company finds new ideas externally.
This refers to all kinds of external sources, e.g. distributors and
suppliers, but also competitors.
• The most important external source are customers, because
the new product development process should focus on creating
Customer Value.
Idea Screening
• screened to spot good ones and drop poor ones as soon as
possible
• go ahead only with those product ideas that will turn into
profitable products

18. Product Concept Development And Evaluation
• The selected product ideas will be presented in a detailed and
meaningful way as product concepts.
• At this test, the thoughts of selected customer groups about
new product concepts will be taken, and the product concept
that received the best score will be selected as a new product to
be developed.
Business/Marketing Analysis(strategies)
• Forecast of market size, operational cost,
• Ensure product fits within the framework of overall mission and
strategy.

19. Product and marketing mix development(product development)
• A sample or samples of new product will be created by the R&D
department
• samples will be tested to assess new product concept
• to ensure the safety, attractiveness and effectiveness of new
product concept
• test process may take a while to choose the most suitable
sample. Businesses either do tests themselves or get a service
from another business.

20. Product Testing/Test marketing
• the businesses should conduct marketing test before going for
commercialization at the next stage.
• Help understand customer attitudes and response on large
scale
• Find deficiencies and make necessary modification
• Help in decision process about launching the new product
• Forecast sales
• Finalise the marketing strategies based on test marketing.

21. Commercialisation/Launching The New Product
• The first thing to be done at this stage is determining the time
when new product concept will be commercialized or introduced
to the market.
• Full scale production and commercial launch takes place during
this stage.
• If the firm can improve further or economic condition is not
favourable then the launch should be delayed

22. Post Launch Analysis
• Adopted to monitor the performance of the product introduced in
the market.
• It is necessary to understand
• Strength and weakness of the product and marketing strategies
adopted.
• Nature of competitions
• Economic condition
• Technological advancements

23. Factors To Be Considered In Product Development
1. Demand- demand analysis to forecast market demand
2. Availability of RM- ready available on continuous basis
3. Finance- adequate finance to fund the product development
4. Development team- finding skilled manpower
5. Legal standards- quality /safety and as prescribed by law
6. Reputation/image - goodwill

24. Reasons For Failure Of New Product
1. Lack of speciality
2. Poor timing
3. Inferior quality
4. Unfair price
5. Lack of competitive strength
6. Lack of promotion
7. Poor distribution network
8. Poor after sales services
9. Unavailability of spare parts

25. Measures To Prevent Product Failure
1. Ensure sufficient demand
2. Fair price
3. Meet standard quality
4. Free from defects
5. Promotion strategies
6. Proper distribution channel
7. After sales services
8. Product modification

26. Product Innovation
• Innovation term was derived from Latin word “innovation” which
means “to renew” or “change”.
• It refers to the creation and introduction of new product or
improvement made in an existing product.

27. There Are Different Types Of Innovation
• Modification of existing product- Amul –cheese,lassi etc
• New model of existing product- Amul milk- falavour milk
• New product out side existing range- frozen pizza, paratha
• A totally mew product in a new field of technology- Garments

28. Need and Importance
1. Increasing sales and profits
2. Increase competitive advantage
3. Offering more benefits
4. Reducing cost
5. Improving quality

29. Product Mix
• “A product mix is the set of all product lines and items that a
particular seller offers for the sale to buyers.”-Philip Kotler
• It is done to strengthen its presence in the market, increase its
market share and increase the sales turnover for more
profitability.

30. Product Line
• “Product line is a group of products that are closely related
because they function in a similar way, are sold to same
customer groups, are marketed through the same type of
outlets, or fall within given price range.” Thus, product line is the
group of similar products.
• Closely Related Products. For example, Pepsi has a Beverages
product category which includes Pepsi, Dew, Aquafina, Brisk,
and many more. These products are related and target a
specific group of people and preferences.
• Same Customer Groups. For instance, 7 UP, Pepsi, Marinda,
Mountain Dew target young people, while Gatorade is a
PepsiCo brand that targets athletes. Similarly, Quaker Oat is
another Pepsi brand that focuses on health-conscious people.

31. In Other Words
• A product line is a group of connected products marketed under
a single brand name by the same company.
• Companies sell multiple product lines under their various brand
names, often differentiating by price, quality, country, or
targeted demographic.
• Companies often expand their offerings by adding to existing
product lines because consumers are more likely to buy
products from brands they already know.

33. Dimensions of Product Mix
1. Width of product Mix
• The width is all about the number of different product lines the
company carries
2.Length of product mix
• It refers to the total number of items a company carries within
the product lines.

34. 3. Depth of product mix.
• It refers to the number of versions offered for each product in
the product line
4.Consistency of a product mix
• Consistency refers to how closely related the product lines are
in terms of end use, production requirements, distribution
channels or any other way

37. Product Mix Strategies
According to W.J.Stanton
1. Expansion of product mix
• It implies increasing the number of product lines. New lines
may be related or unrelated to the present products. For
example, Bajaj Company adds car
2. Constriction of product mix
• It consists of dropping or eliminating one or more product lines
or product items.
3. Alteration of existing products
• Instead of developing completely a new product, marketer may
improve one or more established products. Improvement or
alteration can be more profitable and less risky compared to

38. 4. Development of new uses for existing products
• This product mix strategy concerns with finding and communicating new uses
of products. No attempts are made to disturb product lines and product items.
For example, Coca Cola may convince to use its soft drink along with lunch.
5. Trading –up and trading –down
• Trading –up consists of adding the high-price-prestige products in its existing
product line. The new product is intended to strengthen the prestige and
goodwill of the company.
• Trading down company producing and selling costly, prestigious, and
premium quality products decides to add lower- priced items in its costly and
prestigious product lines.
6. Product differentiation
• products are not undergone any change. Product differentiation involves
establishing superiority of products over the competitors.

39. Product Life Cycle
• It is the amount of time a product goes from being introduced into the market
until it's taken off the shelves.
• There are four stages in a product's life cycle—introduction, growth, maturity,
and decline.
• The concept of product life cycle helps inform business decision-making, from
pricing and promotion to expansion or cost-cutting.
• Newer, more successful products push older ones out of the market.

41. 1. Introduction- commercialisation or launching of new product
Features
• High cost of production and market operations
• Intense promotion measures
• Low sales, demand and profits
• Customers are to be encouraged to buy the product
• Customers do not have adequate knowledge about the product
• Low or no competitions

42. 2. Growth – consumers get awareness and knowledge about the product
Features
• Reduction in cost as a result of increased production
• Increase in sale volume, profit, demand
• Increase competition
• Stable price

43. 3. Maturity- attain saturation
Features
• Firms try product expansion, contraction, alternation and differentiation.
• Low cost because of large scale production
• Sales volume reaches the maximum limit and attains market saturation.
• Reduce price as a result of intense competition
4. Decline
• Product sales drop significantly and consumer behaviour changes as there is
less demand for the product. The company's product loses more and more
market share, and competition tends to cause sales to deteriorate.
• Eg: Typewriter, floppy, VCR

44. Advantages of PLC
• Easy Sales Forecasting:
The product life cycle is an estimation of the sales which the product will be able to
make in its life span.
• Competitive Advantage:
Analysing the life of a product in the market and framing the strategies accordingly,
helps the company to face competition.
• Defined Strategies:
If the company is aware of the product’s future performance, the company can
determine and plan the strategies in the long run.
• Decision Making:
To make crucial decisions related to the product such as product development or
improvement, product life cycle analysis is essential.
• Marketing Target and Positioning:
Product life cycle provides for targeting the right audience and establishing the brand
image of the product.

45. Limitation of PLC
• Varying Market Conditions:
The market conditions vary from place to place, and the same product life cycle may
not be suitable for every market.
• Inapplicable to Every Product:
Some services like mobile network and computer software, keep on frequently updating
from time to time. However, it does not mean that the brand gets obsolete.
• Fluctuation in Sales Data:
Variation in the sales data is essential for the product life cycle. But it is difficult for the
company to predict such information to plot the PLC curve.
• Effect of Other Elements:
The analysis of the product life cycle is also affected by the various elements of the 4
Ps of the marketing mix, including the product itself, price, place and promotion.
• Delay in Analytics:
The product life cycle requires collection and analysis of the sales data, which is
delayed or unavailable at times.

46. Product Life Cycle Management (PLCM)
• The management has to concentrate on various business areas or fields to
make the product a success.
• It refers to the handling of a good as it moves through the typical stages of its
lifespan: development/introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
• PLM involves both the manufacturing of the good and the marketing of it.
• PLM's main benefits include shortening product development times, knowing
when to ramp up or reduce manufacturing efforts, and how to focus marketing
efforts.

47. Types Of Marketing Mix /Strategies Adopted In The Different Stages Of PLC
1. Introduction Phase
a. Product –trade mark are obtained and the firm attempts to establish a brand
b. Pricing- low penetration price to gain more market or high skim price to recover the
initial cost.
c. Distribution- the firm tries to create awareness among the customers about the product.
d. Promotion- aims to promote awareness among the customers
2. Growth Phase
a. Product- extra benefits and services are provided to the customers
b. Pricing – tries to maintain stable price
c. Distribution – expends the distribution network
d. Promotion – incurs heavy expenditure on promotion

48. 3. Maturity Phases
a. Product- expansion, contraction, alteration of product is done to maintain or increase
sales volume
b. Pricing – lower price to beat competition
c. Distribution- adopt mass distribution and offer intensive to encourage customers
d. Promotion- focus on product differentiation based on competitors.
4. Decline Phase
a. Product- introduce new product or make complete revival of existing product
b. Pricing – high cut in price to boost sales
c. Distribution- continue delivery of products to loyal customers
d. Promotion- reduce the amount of promotion expenses/ withdraw the product /sell the
product to another firms.

49. Branding
• It is a marketing practice in which a company creates a name, symbol, design,
logos, taglines, jingles or mascots that is easily identifiable as belonging to the
company. This helps to identify a product and distinguish it from other
products and services.
Objectives
• Remember the product
• Deliver product message clearly
• Reach target customers emotionally
• Create loyal consumer
• Increase familiarity
• Premium image
• Expand the product line
• Reduce the expenses of marketing

50. Need and Importance of Branding
• Creates consumer preference for the product/services behind the brand
• generates increased revenues and market share
• Increase the companies market value
• Help the companies survive temporary crises
• Prevent new competitors from entering the market
• Helps create a unique & differentiated company image
• Decrease employee turnover.
• Good brands can easily acquire the monetary and human resources it wants
from different sources.
• Empowers employees
• Helps firms to communicate with internal & external stakeholders

51. Branding Strategies /Types of Brands
1. Family branding( Family Brand/Umbrella Brand)
• It refers to a marketing strategy that promotes a family of products or services
under an umbrella brand. Also known as umbrella branding as the parent
brand acts as an umbrella accommodating numerous products under its
name.
• It is a type of marketing tactic that involves using one brand name to market
multiple products.
• The concept of umbrella branding represents a marketing practice which
involves selling many related products under a single brand name.
• For example, a company may use one brand to market soap, lotion, hair
shampoo, and nail polish.

52. Axe / Lynx
Parent Company Unilever
Umbrella Brand Axe (or Lynx in the UK, Ireland,
Austrailia, and New Zealand)
Product Categories – Deodorants/Antiperspirants
– Body Washes
– Loofas/Scrubbers
– Shampoos
– Conditioners
– Hair Styling Products
– Fragrances
Product Names – AXE Dark Temptation Dry Spray
Antiperspirant
– AXE Phoenix Body Wash
– AXE Shower Tool
– AXE Primed Just Clean Shampoo
– AXE Anarchy 2 in 1 Shampoo and
Conditioner
– AXE Extreme Hold Gel
– AXE Gold Temptation Daily Fragrance

53. 2. Corporate Branding
It refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity
“The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the
consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent
theme.”
Eg. Apple, Nike,

54. 3. Individual Branding
It is a marketing strategy in which every product a company sells has its own
unique brand name
With individual branding, scandal or tragedy that affects one product will not
damage the others. It won’t damage the others because they do not have the
same brand name.

57. 4. Combination Branding
• Combination branding refers to the use of a combination of brand names- a
family brand name and an individual brand name.
• Microsoft Windows (XP, 7, Vista, 8 etc.), Maruti Swift (default and Dzire),
Lenovo ThinkPad, Google Android etc.
• Ford Focus, family name is Ford and the individual product name is Focus
• Volkswagen Polo, family name is Volkswagen and the individual product
name is Polo
• Honda Civic family name Honda and the individual product name is Civic

58. Characteristics Of A Good Brand
• Name should be easy to read and understand
• Easy to pronounce
• Suitable for the features, quality and superiority of the product
• Easy to memorise
• Unique
• Meets the legal stipulations (conditions) of the country.
Eg. BMW stands for 'Bavarian Motor Works'

59. • BMW stands for 'Bavarian Motor Works‘
• Buy-ray-sha Mo-touren-verka'‘-German Pronounciaiton
• Be-em-ve
• Adidas- pronounced : Uh-DEE-das
• Really pronounced : AH-dee-das
• HERMES- pronounced : Her-MEES
• Really pronounced : AIR-mez
• Porsche -pronounced : POORSH
• Really pronounced : POOR-sha
• Chevrolet- pronounced : Shev - Ro - Lette
• Really pronounced : Shev - Ro - Lay

60. Advantages of Branding
Companies/Producers
1. Create unique image
2. Reduce product promotion expenses
3. Easy to introduce new products and expand their product line
4. Increase sales volume and market share
5. Clearly differentiate competitors

61. Dealers
1. No need to canvass-customers voluntarily enquire, search and purchase
2. Give loyal and regular customers to dealers
3. Dealer can also promote and increase sales of other products in his store.
4. Customer complaints are low
5. Enjoy a competitive advantages

62. Consumers
1. Maintain top quality and offer more benefits compared to non branded items.
2. Customers need not face any difficulty in purchasing the products.
3. Uniform price throughout the whole market.

63. Disadvantages
• Higher prices- customers
• Higher Cost- companies
• Low profit margin- dealers
• Brand monopoly- charge undue price for the product.

64. Brand Equity
• A commercial value that derives from customer perception of the brand name
of a particular product or services, rather than from the product or services
itself.
Key Elements of Brand Equity
According to David Aaker its classified into 5 categories.
1. Brand loyalty
2. Brand awareness
3. Perceived quality
4. Brand associations
5. Other- patent, trademark, logo, package etc

65. 1. Brand awareness- familiarity with the brand
2. Perceived Quality- opinion about quality of the brand
3. Brand Association- asking product by specified brand name rather than the
general name. certain concept that a consumer recalls –Vanish- stains
removal
4. Other proprietary/trademark brand assets- symbol, logo or package, patent.
Brand Loyalty-Attachment of customer

66. Brand Loyalty
• Brand loyalty is demonstrated by repeat purchases of a product even when
the consumer has choices of competing alternatives.
• Marketing campaigns are designed to nurture brand loyalty.
• Brand loyalty can evaporate when consumer trends change, but the product
doesn't.
• Brand loyalty is when a customer continues to purchase from the same
company, not because they are the only option, but because they trust the
company.

67. • According To Philip Kotler, There Are 4 Patterns Of Brand Loyalty
1. Hard core loyal- consumers who buy the brand all the time.
2. Split loyal- who are loyal to 2 or 3 brands
3. Shifting loyal- who move from one brand to another
4. Switchers- who have no loyalty to any brand.

68. Trademark
• “A trademark is any name, symbol, figure, letter, word, or mark adopted and
used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his or her goods
and to distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others.”
Signs of a Trademark
• To indicate that a trademark has been claimed companies use one of three
symbols:
• ™ - Using the trademark symbol after a logo or phrase. alerts competitors that
you have claimed this symbol or phrase as your own, but you don’t have to
have even formally apply for it.
• ® - Only trademarks that have been officially granted by the Trademark office
can use the ® symbol, which stands for registered trademark.
• ℠ - Companies that sell services, not products, have the option to use the
service mark logo, but most use the ™ instead for simplicity.

70. Need And Importance Of Trademark
• Gives legal protection
• Protect consumers
• Clearly differentiate between original and duplicates
• Trademark brand get more acceptance
• Increase the authenticity of a brand.

71. Product Standardisation
• Product standardization refers to the process of maintaining uniformity
of products and services sold in different markets or in other words
setting identical characteristics for a particular good or a service.
• In this case, a laptop is the best example of a standardized product.
There are many different brands of laptops, but they all perform the
same function. Additionally, all laptops have standardized features,
such as a screen and a keyboard. Except for the Mac laptop, most of
these machines run on a Windows operating system. Also, all laptops
have a standard bag used to store and carry them. A new trend that is
coming up is installing interactive or touch screens in laptops. There is
also fingerprint scanning as an added security feature for logging in.

72. There Are 2 Type Of Standards
1. Voluntary standards – which is establish by the firms
2. Legal standards- which are establish by the law or regulation. Eg BIS
(Bureau of Indian Standards), ISO (International Organisation for
standardisation)

73. Packaging
• Packaging means the wrapping or bottling of products to make them
safe from damages during transportation and storage. It keeps a
product safe and marketable and helps in identifying, describing, and
promoting the product.
• “Packing is the preparation of product or commodity for proper storage
and/or transportation. It may entail blocking, bracing, cushioning,
marking, sealing, strapping, weather proofing, wrapping, etc.” –
Business Dictionary.

74. Functions/Role of Packaging
1. Physical protection- air, moisture, climatic changes.
2. Containment- Small objects are typically put together in one package
for reasons of efficiency and economy.
3. Information- usage, recycle, disposal
4. Promotion- design
5. Security- reduce risk during transportation.
6. Convenience- handling, storage, display, opening, closing etc.

75. Essentials of A Good Packaging
1. Attractive
2. Tell product story- brand and brand name, ingredients, usage, price
3. Build confidence
4. Clean & hygienic
5. Convenient to handle, stock, display and use
6. Good value
7. Fast seller
8. Preferred display
9. Minimize clerical time
10. Prevent spoilage
11. Resist soiling

77. Product Labelling
• Labelling is the display of label in a product. A label contains
information about a product on its container, packaging, or the product
itself. It has name of the brand, name and address of the manufacturer,
date of production, date of expiry, quantity, ingredients, usage
instruction ,price
• It also has name tags, advertising, bar codes also has warnings in it

78. Functions of Labelling
• Specifies product brand identification of product.
• Exhibits standard special features
• Instruction to the proper use of a product
• Price
• Quantity/weight
• Contact of the manufacturer.

79. Type of Labels
1. Brand label
2. Price Label
3. Bar cord Label
4. Quantity label
5. Descriptive label
6. Address Label
7. Date label
8. Warning label.

81. Marketing Of Services
• Services refers to as economic activities offered by one party to another
or a business to its clients.
• Selling anything that is not a physical product like banking,
transportation, hospitality services, health care and professional
services etc.
Characteristics Of Service
1. Inseparable
2. Intangible
3. Perishable
4. No ownership sitting
5. Heterogeneity (not same)

82. Service Marketing Mix
1. Product –no physical form of product.
2. Price – depends upon the quality of service offered.
3. Place – depend on services.
4. Promotion – present the range of services offered
5. People – services differs based on services provided by the firm
6. Process- way the services are delivered to the clients.
7. Physical evidence – the ambience

83. Pricing of Products
• Pricing is the process of determining the reward for a company in
exchange for its products.
• Pricing is considered as the most flexible element of the marketing mix.
Objectives
• To maximize long- term & short –term profit of the company
• To increase the volume of sales and market share of the company
• To prevent entry of new forms
• Fight against competition
• Uplift image of the firm

84. Importance Of Pricing
1. Flexibility
2. Creating impression
3. Sales promotion
4. Fighting competition
5. Image

85. Factors Influencing Pricing
Internal Factors External Factors
1. Objectives of the Firm
2. Cost of the Product
3. Promotion
1. Demand
2. Price of the competitors
3. Distribution
4. Size of the market
5. PLC
6. Economic conditions
7. Government Regulations

86. Type of Pricing
1. Premium pricing- charging high price claiming it is unique.
2. Penetration Pricing- charge low price in order to gain market
3. Economy pricing- keeping price at the lowest possible
4. Pricing skimming- charge high price at introduction and lower
later
5. Image/prestige pricing- creating an image of superior quality and
social status.
6. Administered pricing- fixed by legal statue/ govt
7. Promotional pricing- BOGOF, price discount
8. Geographical pricing- basis on location
9. Differentiated pricing- based on type of customer, time of order,
quantity, delivery time, payment terms.

87. Sr.No Basis Product Services
1. Terms referred to Tangible Intangible
2. Experience Touch and
examine
Can only feel or
experience
3. Substitutes Can be substitute No substitute
4. Storage Can be preserved
and stored
Cannot be stored
5. Quality examination Can be done
before purchasing
Can be done after
getting the services