164 CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCINGANDMANAGINGTHEPRODUCT
First,astrictmanufacturer'sbrandingpolicycanbefollowed.Thiswouldmeanthat
theproducerrefusestomanufacturemerchandiseunderbrandsotherthanhisown,although
hemaysellsecondsorirregularsonanunbrandedbasis.
Second,anexclusivedistributorsbrandspolicycouldbefollowed.Inthiscase,the
producerdoesnothavea brandofhisownbutagreestosellhisproductsonlytoa partic-
ulardistributorandcarryhisbrandname(privatebrands).
Thefinalopinionisamixedbrandpolicy,whichincludeselementsofbothextremes
andleadstotheproductionofmanufacturer'saswellasdistributor'sbrands.Forexample,
Firestonesellssometiresundertheirownbrandnamesandsomeunderprivatelabels.
Formost companies,bothbrandnamesandtrademarksarevitalintheidentifica-
tionofprod;Jcts.Thedesignprocessshouldbeguidedbyresearch;oftentheadvertising
agencyisbroughtintohelp.Brandnamesaremandatoryifthemanufacturerordistrib-
utorintendstousemassadvertising.Brandnamesalsomakeword-of-mouthadvertising
effective.Withoutthem,repeatpurchasesofa particularproductwouldbevirtuallyimpos-
sible.Productidentificationthroughthebrandnameisa mostimportantelementinthe
productplan.RelatedServices Behindeveryproductisa seriesofsupportingservices,suchas
warrantiesandmoney-backguarantees.Inmanyinstances,suchservicesmaybeasimpor-
tantastheproductitseif.Infact,attimesitisdifficulttoseparatetheassociatedservices
fromtheproductfeatures.Consequently, companiesmustconstantlymonitortheservices
offeredbythecompanyanditscompetitors.
Basedontheresultsofdata-gatheringdevicessuchascustomersurveys,consumer
corrplaints,andsuggestionboxes,theproductmanagercandeterminethetypesofserv-
icestooffer,theformtheservicewilltake,andthepricecharged.Forexample,consumers
areveryreluctanttopurchasea stereothatcanbeservicedonlybysendingit tothefac-
tory,andpayingthepostageanda highservicefee.Maytag,however,hasbeenveryeffec-
tiveinsellingtheirapplianceswithservicecontractsandlocalrepair.Banksarestilluncertain
as towhethertheyshouldchargethecustomerforchecks,ATMuse,safetydepositboxes,
andoverdrafts.Anindustrialcustomermightbekeenlyinterestedinrelatedservicessuch
aspromptdelivery,reliablepricequotations, credit,testfacilities, demonstrationcapabili-
ties,liberalreturnpolicies,engineeringexpetlise,andsoforth.
Althoughtherearea widerangeofsupportiveservices,thefollowingaremostprevalent:- Creditandfinancing.Withtheincreasedacceptanceofdebtbytheconsumer,offer-
ingcreditand/orfinancinghasbecomeanimportantpartofthetotalproduct.For
certainmarketsegmentsandcertainproducts,theavailabilityofcreditmaymake
thedifferencebetweenbuyingornotbuyingtheproduct. - Warranty.Thereareseveraltypesofdurableproducts,retail stores,andevenserv-
iceproductswherewarrantiesareexpected.Thesewarrantiescanprovidea wide
arrayofrestitution,witha verylimitedwarrantyat oneendofthecontinuumand
extendedwarrantiesattheother.Anexampleoftheformerisa VCRmanufac-
turerthatprovidesa 3D-daywanantyonthemotordriveandnoothercoverage.
TheCraftsmantoolsdivisionofSearsRoebuckreflectstheotherextreme.Abro-
kenshovelwillbereplaced,noquestionsasked,aftera fullsummerofuse.A good
jewelrystorehasa warrantybackingupeverydiamondringtheysell. - Money-backguarantees.Theultimatewarrantyis themoney-backguarantee.To
thecustomer,a money-backguaranteereducesriskalmosttotally. Therearecer-
tainmarketsegments(e.g.,~owrisktakers)thatperceivethisserviceasveryimpor-
tant.Jt .isobviousthatthisserviceiseffectiveonlyiftheproductissuperiorand