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Product marketing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Product marketing deals with the "7 P's" of marketing, which
are product, pricing, place, promotion, physical environment, process and people.
Product marketing, as opposed to product management, deals with more outbound marketing or
customer-facing tasks (in the older sense of the phrase).
For example, product management deals with the basics of product development within a firm,
whereas product marketing deals with marketing the product to prospects, customers, and
others.
Product marketing, as a job function within a firm, also differs from other marketing jobs such
as marketing communications ("marcom"), online marketing, advertising, marketing strategy,
and public relations, although product marketers may use channels such as online for outbound
marketing for their product.
A product market is something that is referred to when pitching a new product to the general
public. Product market definition focuses on a narrow statement: the product type, customer
needs (functional needs), customer type, and geographic area.
Product marketing in a Business addresses four important strategic questions:[1]
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What products will be offered (i.e., the breadth and depth of the product line)?
Who will be the target customers (i.e., the boundaries of the market segments to be served)?
How will the products reach those (i.e., the distribution channel and are there viable
possibilities that create a solid business model)?
At what price should the products be offered?
To inform these decisions, Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) act as the Voice of the
Customer to the rest of the product team and company.
This includes gaining a deep understanding of—and driving—customer engagement with the
product, throughout their lifecycle (pre-adoption, post adoption/purchase, and after churning).
PMMs collect this customer information through customer surveys and interviews, and when
available, product usage data. This frequently informs the future product roadmap, as well as
driving customer product education to ensure improved engagement.
PMMs answer these questions and execute on the strategy using the following tools and
methods:
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Customer insights: interviews, surveys, focus groups, customer observation
Data analysis: product marketing managers are highly quantitative, particularly in internet
companies where results of marketing attribution to revenue is easily measured
Product validation: particularly for internet companies, teams often use marketing as a
channel to test and validate product ideas (the minimum viable product or rapid prototyping),
before engineering resources are committed to develop the product
Testing: optimal prices and marketing touch points are developed through exhaustive A/B
testing of language (copy), prices, product line-ups, visuals, and more
THE MARKETING MIX
http://www.learnmarketing.net/product.htm
PRODUCT STRATEGIES
When firms decide to market products there are many decisions to make, each
decision can have a long term impact on the success of the product. Market
research at the beginning of the marketing process will help firms make many
product decisions including product development, target market and pricing. In this
article we cover common product decisions.
Product Design
The design of a product can often be the thing that sells it, as this is the most
obvious aspect of a product. Product design is key in the technology sector;
examples include the iPad, the new Volkswagen Beetle (1997 - 2011) and the
Dyson Ball vacuum cleaner (pictured below). Product design will be dictated by
your target market. For example bright colours may be chosen to attract children,
pink and pastel colours for female adults and dark colours such as black, navy,
charcoal for male adults. Whereas consumers above a certain age may prefer
design features that make a product easier to use more appealing than a design
which is purely about aesthetics.
Product Features (and Benefits)
What features will you add that may increase the benefit offered to your target
market?
We must remember that Marketing is fundamentally about providing the correct
bundle of benefits to the end user, hence the saying ‘Marketing is not about
providing products or services it is essentially about providing changing
benefits to the changing needs and demands of the customer’ (P.Tailor
7/00) Marketing Definition
Philip Kotler in his book "Principles of Marketing" devised a very interesting
concept of benefit building with a product.
Kotler suggested that a product should be viewed on three levels.
Level 1: Core Product
What is the core benefit your product offers? For example customers who purchase
a camera are buying more than just a camera, they are purchasing memories.
Level 2: Actual Product
All cameras capture memories, therefore your aim is to persuade them to capture
memories with your camera. The strategy at this level is to add branding, features
and benefits which offer a differential advantage over your competitors.
Level 3: Augmented Product
This level is about exploring if there are any additional non-tangible benefits you
can offer. Competition at this level is based around after sales service, warranties,
delivery and so on. For example John Lewis a retail department store offers a free
five year guarantee with television purchases. A five year guarantee offers their
customers peace of mind that their television will be repaired or replaced should a
fault develop.
Product Quality
A quality product is difficult to define as it will mean different things to each
consumer. The challenge for all firms is to set their quality level and ensure that it
meets the expectations of their target market. In general quality is made up of
tangible features (features that can be seen) e.g. performance, appearance, strength
and intangible features such as reputation and exclusivity. In all circumstances
a product's quality should be consistent with other elements of the marketing mix.
For example a premium based pricing strategy will require a quality product to
support the price tag. To learn more about quality click here.
Product Branding (including internet branding)
One of the most important decisions a marketing manager can make is branding for
their product. The value of brands in today’s environment is phenomenal. Brands
have the power of instant sales, they convey a message of confidence, quality and
reliability to their target market. A brand is a tool which is used by an organisation
to differentiate itself from competitors. Ask yourself what is the value of a pair of
Nike trainers without the brand or the logo? How does your perception change?
Successful brands are managed by dedicated brand managers tasked with growing
and protecting the brand. There are many examples of firms bringing legal action
against anybody that they feel is infringing their branding and the intellectual
property rights associated with it.
Product branding has to work across all of the firm's trading and promotion
platforms including retail shops, telephone, television and of course the
internet. Internet product branding should compliment, support and protect your
brand strategy. Your product's internet branding should be easy on the eye and
make the most of any brand loyalty you have build via other sources .A firm's
internet website should sell its products to consumers making the most of the
convenience offered by the internet. For more information about the e-marketing
mix click here.
Firms trading solely via the internet do not have the luxury of meeting customers
in person so they have to build customer loyalty through excellent customer
service and strong branding. For example the name of the website needs to be
chosen carefully so that it captures what you are selling and your brand ethos.
Within the UK comparethemarket.com (an insurance comparison site using
meerkats in their promotional activity) have taken a unique approach to product
branding and created a spoof website for their promotion meerkats. Take a
lookcomparethemeerkat.com and For more on branding please click here
Target Market
Market research should've revealed who to aim your product at. If you decide to
aim your product at everyone your marketing will be known as undifferentiated
marketing. If however your market research recommends aiming at specific sectors
of the market you will need to segment (split) the market and select the sectors you
would like to target. Marketing aimed at several sectors of the market is known as
differentiated marketing, whilst marketing aimed at one sector is known as
concentrated marketing. This link takes you to more information about market
targeting, the advantages and disadvantages of undifferentiated marketing,
differentiated marketing and concentrated marketing. It also provides you with
examples for each.
Market Positioning
How does the firm plan to position the product within the market? As the name
suggests market positioning is about where you position your product in the market
place, in comparison to competitor products. Firms will need to decide what
factors to use for the comparison for example price, quality, features (number or
type). Its important to select the correct features as they will impact on the
consumer's perceptions about your product and your brand. For more information
about market positioning click here and to learn how to draw a positioning
(perceptual) map click here.
Conclusion
Every single decision relating to your products (and services) needs to be carefully
considered, as it will impact on their long term success; attractive product design
draws customers towards your product, product features differentiate it from the
competition, whilst good product quality and branding strengthens the firm's
reputation. After you've got all of that right its time to carefully select your target
market and position yourself carefully in the market place.