The Four P's of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, & Promotion:
ProductThe word "product" is such a commonly-used term that we may overlook its actual meaning. In the context of marketing, a "product" can include anything with tangible benefits that a firm is offering in exchange for something else. A product can include a tangible good, a service, person, idea, place, organization, etc. - the list can go on and on. Most people instinctively think of tangible goods when they think of the word product, but we must understand that the American Cancer Society or any other nonprofit organization offers a product as well. The nature of that product may be different, but many of the same marketing issues must be addressed. A product strategy often encompasses the concepts of product management and brand management. Product and brand managers have their responsibilities defined by the specific products they represent. Also, product and brand management is concerned with the attributes, image, and personality of a specific product. For example, the decision to add a new feature to a cellular phone, such as a digital camera, is a product-related decision, versus a price, place or promotion-related decision. After learning how to gather relevant information about product and brand strategy, you should be able to analyze this information, critically evaluate the company's product and brand strategy, and predict or suggest future strategies. Information needs to guide and inform your strategy and decision making, and this module will help you locate information that is most effective for those purposes. The Words We Use Brand - A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name. Brand name - The brand name is that part of a brand that can be spoken. It includes letters, numbers, or words. The term trademark covers all forms of brand (brand name, brand mark, etc.), but brand name is the form most often meant when trademark is used. Copyright - 1. (legislation definition) A copyright offers the owner of original work that can be printed, recorded, or "fixed" in any manner the sole right to reproduce and distribute the work, to display or perform it, and to authorize others to do so, during the author's lifetime and for fifty years thereafter. 2. (product development definition) An exclusive right to the production or sale of literary, musical, or other artistic work, or to the use of a print or label. Occasionally, it is applied to a brand, but brands are usually protected by registration in the Patent and Copyright Office as a trademark. Logo - 1. (product development definition) A clipped or shortened form of logotype. A logo is a word or phrase that serves to identify an organization. It is similar to a trade name. 2. (advertising definition) A graphic design that is used as a continuing symbol for a company, organization, or brand. It is often in the form of an adaptation of the company name or brand name or used in conjunction with the name. Trade name - A trademark that is used to identify an organization rather than a product or product line. Trademark - A legal term meaning the same as brand. A trademark identifies one seller's product and thus differentiates it from products of other sellers. A trademark also aids in promotion and helps protect the seller from imitations. A trademark may be eligible for registration, as it is in the United States through the Patent and Trademark Office of the Department of Commerce. If registered, the trademark obtains additional protection, mainly exclusive use, but special efforts are necessary to keep the registration and the exclusive use. From American Marketing Association
Getting Started: How to Find Product Information Hoover's Online
Mergent Online
PriceA product's price is how much is required to purchase and own a product. A product's price is most commonly and clearly linked to the purchase price, and the Internet has had a significant impact on the availability of purchase of purchase price information. A product's price can also include the cost of purchasing and owning a product. For example, a book available through Amazon.com might have a purchase price of $15, but might also require a payment of $5 for shipping. What's the actual price in this case? The Internet certainly allows you to gather pricing information about many products, but in marketing we are often interested in the broader concept of a company's pricing strategy. When you analyze a company's pricing strategy, you must not only know the purchase and ownership cost of a product, you must also know how this pricing compares to the competition, how this pricing has changed over time, and you must be able to identify the forces that influence those prices. Additionally, you must be able to critically evaluate a company's pricing strategy and prescribe future directions. How to find Pricing Information Getting Started
Place - Distribution and Channel PracticesWhat issues affect your distribution plan? Effective distribution decisions will make sure your product is available for your target market once you have demand for it. Although there are many issues involved in this including inventory control, logistics, channel relationships, the factors we are most concerned with in marketing are choosing the right channels. You should focus on collecting the following information:
Table Base A great place to find specific distribution channel information is Table Base. For example, select "Distribution Channels" from the Marketing Terms drop box. Next select "Beverage" from the Industry drop box. Table Base collects data from thousands of trade journals for hundreds of industries. Table Base includes data from IRI, ACNielsen, TWICE, CSNews Market Research/Harris and other high-level market report offering category,
Journals Industrial Distribution International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management Logistics Management & Distribution Report Logistics Management Logistics Today Traffic World Transportation Research. Part E - Logistics and Transportation Review
American Wholesalers and Distributors Directory REF HF 5421 .A615 A comprehensive guide offering industry details on approximately 31,000 wholesalers and distributors in the United States. *Under SIC 5182 - Wines and Distilled Beverages Wines & Vines Buyers Guide Wine Handbook: The preeminent data resource on the U.S. wine industry Consultants & Consulting Organizations Directory Supermarket Industry Market Scope: The Desktop Guide to Supermarket Share HD 9321.4 .M375 Market Scope is the only source for the most accurate retail market share data available anywhere, at any price. View the latest share information for all 52 ACNielsen SCANTRACK® markets, all 64 IRI InfoScan® markets, 48 Marketing Guidebook markets, 205 DMAs and the top 100 MSAs by population. For over two decades, professionals in the supermarket industry have relied upon Market Scope to make intelligent, on-the-money decisions with less guesswork. So deeply detailed, we print a mid-year update in August. Supermarket Market Share for nearly 1,400 chains and wholesalers -- View supermarket share in any of five market configurations:
Market Scope brings you share, store counts, and advertising group data for every industry player in the US, plus market demographics, relative strength of chains vs. independents and a lot more. Market Scope remains the only source of reliable data on supermarket share for one key reason - Trade Dimensions, the publisher of Market Scope, has a database of every supermarket location in the US including dozens of facts about each store including ACV, square footage of selling area, number of checkouts, in-store specialty departments and even linear feet of display space in numerous categories. More importantly, Trade Dimensions updates this database year-round, opening and closing hundreds of stores every month to keep up with the numerous changes that occur at the retail level. "This book is a must-have if you want to understand the true scope of the grocery industry." --CEO, Advertising/Media
Thomas Food and Beverage Market Place Completely updated for 2005, Thomas Food and Beverage Market Place contains more information than ever before, including thousands of new entries, and enhancements to many existing entries. Several new features have been added to this brand new edition, including completely revised and greatly expanded Food Product Category and Supplier Product Category Indexes -- finding a product or service has never been easier. Plus, the Importer and Exporter Indexes have been reworked to include the food and beverage product categories that the company imports or exports. With over 40,000 companies, 80,000+ key executive contacts and in-depth product categories Thomas Food & Beverage Market Place lets you find the products, services and new clients required to operate your business -- quicker and easier than ever before. Thomas Food and Beverage Market Place provides contact information and product details on over 40,000+ companies and over 80,000 executives in the following categories:
Thomas Food and Beverage Market Place is a valuable reference for executives, marketing firms, and anyone working in the food and beverage industry. Also includes: 2 Product Category Sections, 14 Indexes and 2 major All-Volume Indexes
Databases Business & Industry
Books
Sample titles: Advanced Supply Chain Management: How to Build a Sustained Competitive Advantage Managing the Global Supply Chain
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