184 CHAPTER10 MANAGINGPRODUCTLINES ANDBRANDS
chaser of a drill is buying “holes.” Effective marketers therefore see themselves as
providers of product benefits,not merely product features.
At the second level, the marketer has to turn the core benefit into a basic prod-
uct.Thus, a hotel room includes a bed, bathroom, towels, and closet. At the third
level, the marketer prepares an expected product,a set of attributes and conditions that
buyers normally expect when they buy the product. Hotel guests expect a clean bed,
fresh towels, and so on. Because most hotels can meet this minimum expectation, the
traveler normally will settle for whichever hotel is most convenient or least expensive.
At the fourth level, the marketer prepares an augmented productthat exceeds cus-
tomer expectations. A hotel might include a remote-control television set, fresh flow-
ers, and express check-in and checkout. Today’s competition essentially takes place at
the product-augmentation level. (In less developed countries, competition takes
place mostly at the expected product level.) Product augmentation leads the mar-Figure 4-1 Components of the Market Offering
Figure 4-2 Five Product Levels