Product decisions are at the heart of marketing. A product is not just a physical item; it includes features, brand, service, packaging and customer experience.
Product planning helps the firm:
In exams, PLC and branding/packaging questions are common and scoring because they can be written in stage-wise and point-wise format.
A product is anything that can be offered to satisfy a need or want—goods, services, ideas.
Core product: basic benefit/problem solution.
Actual product: tangible attributes—features, quality, design, brand, packaging.
Augmented product: additional services—warranty, after-sales service, delivery, installation.
This model helps marketers compete beyond just features.
Product planning is the process of developing and maintaining a product line to meet customer needs and achieve firm objectives.
Objectives:
Product line: group of related products offered by a company.
Product mix: total set of product lines offered by a company.
Product mix dimensions:
Example:
PLC is the concept that a product passes through stages from introduction to decline in terms of sales and profits.
Stages:
Not all products follow the same PLC pattern, but it is a useful planning tool.
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Levels of product are:
This helps firms compete beyond features by adding service and experience.
Product line is a group of related products (e.g., shampoo variants).
Product mix is the total collection of all product lines offered by a company (e.g., soaps + shampoos + detergents).
In short: product line is part of product mix; product mix is broader and includes multiple lines.
Marketing management is “planning, organising, controlling and implementing of marketing programmes, policies, strategies and tactics designed to create and satisfy the demand for the firms' product offerings or services as a means of generating an acceptable profit.”
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Product decisions are at the heart of marketing. A product is not just a physical item; it includes features, brand, service, packaging and customer experience.
Product planning helps the firm:
In exams, PLC and branding/packaging questions are common and scoring because they can be written in stage-wise and point-wise format.
A product is anything that can be offered to satisfy a need or want—goods, services, ideas.
Core product: basic benefit/problem solution.
Actual product: tangible attributes—features, quality, design, brand, packaging.
Augmented product: additional services—warranty, after-sales service, delivery, installation.
This model helps marketers compete beyond just features.
Product planning is the process of developing and maintaining a product line to meet customer needs and achieve firm objectives.
Objectives:
Product line: group of related products offered by a company.
Product mix: total set of product lines offered by a company.
Product mix dimensions:
Example:
PLC is the concept that a product passes through stages from introduction to decline in terms of sales and profits.
Stages:
Not all products follow the same PLC pattern, but it is a useful planning tool.
Exam tip: even if question asks “PLC strategies”, write in 4Ps format.
Brand is a name, term, symbol or design that identifies a seller and differentiates products.
Importance of branding:
Types of branding:
Brand equity is built by consistent quality, communication and customer experience.
Packaging means designing and producing the container/wrapper for a product.
Functions of packaging:
Good packaging features:
Label is the part of the product/package that carries information.
Functions:
Examples of statutory info: manufacturing date, expiry date, MRP, net quantity, customer care details.
If these notes helped you, a quick review supports the project and helps more students find it.
Product Life Cycle (PLC) is the concept that a product goes through stages—introduction, growth, maturity and decline—based on sales and profit pattern.
Stage-wise strategies (write in 4Ps format):
Thus, PLC helps marketers plan product and marketing mix decisions over time.