162 CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCINGANDMANAGINGTHEPRODUCT
ofa productthathassuccessfullyengagedinthis strategy.Minortastechangesandfor-
mulachangeshavedifferentiateda basicproductinthemindsofmanyCrestusers.
Marketextensionis a secondapproachavailabletotheproductmanager.Tnisentails
attractingadditionaltypesofbuyersintothemarketordiscoveringandpromotingnewuses
oftheproduct.Sometimestheadditionofnewbuyersitselfprovidesnewusesfortheprod-
uct.3M'sScotchtape,forexample,expandeditsuseswhenit becamepopularwiththegen-
eralconsumeraswellasthebusinessconsumer.Unfor:.unately,marketextensionstrategies
areextremelyeasyforcompetitorstocopy.Thus, thebrandpromotingthenewuseis ben-
efitingcompetitorsaswell.
Marketsegmentationisthefinalapproach. Asdiscussedinanearlierchapter,seg-
mentationisidentifyinga groupofconsumersthattendtorespondtosomeaspectofthe
marketmixina similarway. Ratherthantryingtoappealtothewholemarket,youcon-
centrateyoureffortsandresourcesona partofthatmarket.Thetrendtowardssegmenting
marketsoccursmostamongbrandedgoods.Evenindustrialproducts,suchasthemanyvari-
etiesofdieseltrucks,isanindustryinwhichsmallfirmssurvivebyconcentratingonsome
specialsegnentofthatheterogeneoustotalmarket.AcompanylikeCoca-Colafoundthat
therewerepocketsofconsumersthat,forvariousreasons,didnotpurchaseCoke.Through
theintroductionofTabmanyyearsago,followedbyDietCokeandCaffeine-FreeCoke,
theyfeelthatmostofthemarketis nowcovered.KeyProductManagementDecisions
Witheveryproduct, regardlessofwhereit is initslifecycle,therearecertainkeydecisions
thatmustbemade,perhaps~·epeated1y.Thesedecisionsincludespecifyingproductfeatures,
packagedesign,brandingdecisions,establishingrelatedservices,andlegalconsiderations.
Althoughthesedecisionareasarediscussedseparately,itshouldbenotedthattheyallinter-
actwithoneanother,andaremonitoredandT'1odifiedwhennecessary,throughoutthelife
oftheproduct.ProductFeatures Ina functional sense,thekey questionis,"Doestheproductdo
whattheconsumerwantsittodo?" Doesit getclothesclean?Doesit quenchyourthirst?
Doesit saveyoumoney? Someofthesequestionscanbe answeredonlythroughproduct
research,butconsumerresearchprovidesmoreanswers.
Whilethedevelopmentofultra-high-speedphotographicfilmwasa researchbreak-
through,howdle::;onsumerperceivesthisbenefitcanbeansweredonlybytheconsumer.
!tispossiblethattheproductbenefitissogreatthatit overwhelmstheconsumerorit is
notbelievedbytheconsumer.Severalnewtoothpastemanufacturershaverecentlycome
outwithproductsthatpartiallyrestoredecayedtoothareas.Theyhaveintentionaiiykept
thisinnovationveryJow-key,becausetheyfearedtheconsumerwouldnotbelieveit.
Productfeatures includesuchfactorsasform,color,si?:e,weight,odor,material, and
tactilequalities.Anewcarcanofferthousandsofalternativeswhenoneconsiderstheexte-
riorandinterioroptions.Thesmelloffreshbakeryproductsora goodItalianrestaurant
hasclearlyenticedmanya customer.Theproductmustalsobeaestheticallypleasing. When
theentireproductisputtogether,it mustcreateanappealing,visuallyattractiveanddis-
tinctiveneedsatisfier.Packaging Withtheincreasedimportanceplacedonself-servicemarketing, the
roleofpackagingisbecomingquitesignificant.Forexample,ina typicalsupermarketa
shopperpassesabout 600 itemsperminute, oroneitemeverytenthofa second. Thus,the
onlywaytogetsomeconsumerstonoticetheproductis throughdisplays,shelf-hangers,
tear-offcouponblocks, otherpoint-of-purchasedevices,and,last butnotleast,effectivepack-