Marketing Essay Example on Product Strategy

What are the three elements required in a product strategy?

The product can be defined as anything that can be given to the market to satisfy customers desires. A product can either be physical or service which is abstract in nature. Product strategy has the following key elements; first, target market- this is the demographic location in which one may feel is most preferable to carry out business. It is where one may prefer to obtain goods and services. Some of the factors determining target market include; gender, geographic location, family situation, occupation and finally income. In determining target market one may use historical information on the same product which has already been established. Conducting market surveys may also assist in determining the target market. In addition, when conducting market survey, one should consider the demographic groups and consumer tendency.

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Secondly, product strategy involves determining the product pricing. Correct pricing element will help to generate efficient revenue. When determining product pricing, one should put consideration on the following; manufacture costs, market costs and finally, product margin. Product margin is the total percentage of selling price of products.

The third element is the differentiation. Market competition may affect product strategy. However, it is important for a business enterprise to control the market competition. This involves improving the product quality to ensure that the product has unique features from other similar products in the market. The business should determine what the product offers in the market and yet other similar product producers do not produce in the market. However, creating this uniqueness does not mean that the product to be produced in a total different way, rather it should male slight distinctions to assist manage the market competition.

How are the best possible ventures identified?

Most of people find it very difficult to find and choose the right business for themselves. Therefore, one may ask him/herself several questions in attempt to settle this problem. The following are some of the things one can use to determine the best business opportunity for him/herself. First, one may see a problem in the market and yet he has the capability and resources he can use to settle the problem. This means that one should identify the gap in the market in terms of goods and service delivery and customer consumption in the market. By identifying the gap, one will able to determine what the market lacks and look for a way to establish market control by providing what the market lacks and is required by consumers. This does not mean that one has to come up with a new product. However, one can even improve on the existing products to fit the changing market situation. In addition, one can even obtain an idea from other places such as other countries or market and he/she can apply the same idea in their respective countries. Ideas are everywhere. For instance, in a company employees might have business ideas which can enhance business performance. And therefore, employers should listen to the idea and analyze it critically whether it can actually improve the business or not. If it can then there is no need of ignoring such idea. In attempt to identify the right business venture, one should put some considerations such as; analyze the market competition. This involves identifying the competitors. Secondly, one should identify the customers needs by identifying who are the customers to the business. Finally, one should factors which affect business both internally and externally. This involves identifying the business rules and regulations.

Why do designers need to think about waste, scrap, effluent and by-products?

Waste management has become a major factor of consideration in manufacturing industries. Most of the companies now turn attention to waste management with the primary aim of minimizing waste and enhancing re-use of products. However, designers now give much of their attention to waste, scrap and by-products because waste and by-products have created competition in the market such that they no longer perform as they used to. Customers do not but products because they love the product but rather they buy the product because they need the assistance of that product. Therefore, when another company or person is willing to provide the same product at a cheaper price, customers will turn their attention to that direction. This ideology has reduced the performance of most of designing companies. Most of customers prefer products that they can afford and when someone else is ready to assist them get the benefit, they will not think twice about it. Most of the recycling companies now redesign the same product using the waste, scraps and by-products and sell them at a cheaper price affordable almost for every customer. In order to maintain market performance, designing companies must turn their attention to waste, scraps and by-products.

Outline the stages of and R&D programme and product or service life cycle

Companies must revise their product designing frequently in order to capture and fit to the changing market. Research and Development is the major organization used to research on the market performance. The R&D determines what the market lacks and recommends the appropriate stages to be taken. In determining the product life cycle, the following stages are involved; first is the introduction stage. This stage mostly affects companies which desire to launch new products in the market. Based on the small market for the product, the business is necessarily to perform poorly because of the costs the business has to encounter. For instance, the consumer testing costs and the research development.

Second stage is the growth stage. This stage is mostly determined by the high performance of the business in terms of the profit and sales growth. Some of the factors which might lead to this growth include; receiving benefits from the economies scale, increase in profit margins and other profit increase in general. This stage motivates the business to invest more in the business in order to increase the potentiality of such growth.

The third stage is the maturity stage which enhances the product establishment and motivating the business to improve the product quality in order to maintain the growth stage. This stage is marked by high rate of competition and therefore, business should improve and ensure that they produce the best product quality to control the competition. This may also involves product modification which determines the product performance in terms of the quality.

The last stage is the decline stage in which the product begin to shrink. The shrinkage of the product may result from the product becoming saturated. Saturation of product means that the customers have already bought the product and they dont need it anymore or customers switching to other types of products and they no longer require that type. However, companies can still make sales at this stage by switching market to other places where the product is low and at cheaper price.

What issues need to be considered prior to the commencement of a product or service rejuvenation exercise?

Before the process of rejuvenating the product and service commencement, the following factors should be put in consideration; first, change agent. One should find a change agent for the business. This will break of the monotony of carrying out the same activities in the business over and over again. There has to be new ideas in the business and it is better to have the change agents from both inside the business and outside. Secondly, situation is another factor of consideration. This is assessing the business situation by assessing the consumer behavior, employees and other business stakeholders. However, when determining the product situation it is best to assess the consumer behavior as it will help identify the best business situation. The business should maintain good relationship and contact between the business and the consumer.

Thirdly, business plan is another factor to be considered. With the relevant data collected from the consumer and other business stakeholders, one can now develop a business plan. The business plan should be comprehensive and should include; how to improve the sales in the business, customers preference. The last factor to be considered is the communication system in the business. The business should have a devise used to regulate and monitor the activities in the business. The communication should be effective and efficient such that it can convey effective results and share information in within the business organization. In addition, the communication system should satisfy the customers desire by conveying the right information to customers.

List some of the reasons which cause the failure of an R&D project

The success or failure of R&D project depends on the following factors; first, the implementation process. The implementation process is within the management and the failure of this implementation will eventually result to failure R&D project. Secondly, the perception also determines the success or failure of the project. The project teams perception on the value and usefulness of the project determines whether the project will be successful or will fail. Thirdly, the project assessment also affects the success of the project. The project may not agree with the clients assessment. The clients satisfaction is the best external determining factor of project performance.

What are the four aspects of 'value' considered in a value analysis exercise?

Value analysis involves the following aspects; first, value for existing products. Selecting an existing product that is sold in large volumes is the best factor in determining the value analysis. This will provide the historical information about the product. Existing product integrates various information from different stakeholders and this enables the business to establish the best saleable product. Next is the value for new products. This aspect concentrates on the business environment which affects the decision making process. This aspect is also known as the value engineering. This aspect requires high skilled manpower in terms of experience. The third aspect is the horizontal deployment. This involves improving the product quality in order to enhance the market performance in terms of consumer satisfaction. This improvement may affect all the products produced in a company. This aspect has been helpful to business in terms of financial savings. The last aspect is the competitive value analysis. Value analysis is normally applied in competitive situations in order to calculate the competitors costs of products. This enables a company to determine the performance of the competitor in terms of production. It enables the business to identify the weaknesses, innovations and costs of production of the competitor company.

What is the benefit in using a multidisciplinary team in a value analysis exercise?

The multidisciplinary team normally involves a highly qualified professionals with high experience backgrounds. This interaction in the team allows them to share their experiences and ideas with one another within the team. This team discusses various problems affecting each department within an organization hence able to come up with a solution to each problem through sharing of ideas and experiences.

In conclusion, business success depends on the various factors such as; the environment, effective analysis of the business performance. However, every business success is determined by the consumer perception on the product quality. With the technological advancement, business organizations have improved their product quality...