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In This Issue
· Welcome to September ’06 Issue
· Definition of Marketing
Research
· Q & A
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Welcome to September ‘06
Summer holidays are over and now
getting ready back to school, is what everyone is doing and/or talking about. You are thinking, of course back to old routine
with autumn Turning leaves into beautiful colors, which is giving us sometime ti prepared for cold and harsh winter.
Now that does not feel good right?
But it is exactly the time of the year, when the business turns around and starts picking up. How come? Ell many customers
are using their money to buy school supplies for kids and college students, and almost every store has a sale, so people aren’t
looking at the prices, but are more leaning to “who can serve me and only me,” kind of attitude, which brings
us to relationship era.
Don’t only give your customers
the products and services you offer, but give them a relationship they deserve. Tell them what you can offer from your competitors,
and build a relationship for lifetime, which will be your upper hand over your competitors.
Is Researching Product an important
factor in marketing research? Why?
Products may be highly unique (specialty products), virtually indistinguishable
from competitors’ products (commodity products), or in between these
extremes. No level of uniqueness is necessarily better than any other, but they do require different marketing strategies.
A potentially important
strategy for specialty products is differentiation, which sets them apart from the competitors’ products in the minds
of customers. A thorough understanding of how your product’s benefits compare to your competitors’ allows you
to compete effectively with them through differentiation.
- Introducing - Identifying yourself as the first to offer a
new product feature is a proven competitive strategy.
Example- specifying a product as the first organic body lotion containing
Vitamin E will position your company as a leader, at least for a while.
- Improving/Modifying-Instead of being at the head of the pack with a totally new
feature, you might modify or improve your product’s feature, which creates the impression that your company cares about
satisfying its customers.
Modifying product features is a strategy many businesses use when
a competitor has lowered prices.
Example- if the maker of one organic body lotion lowers its price, the maker
of another may add Vitamin E as a "new and improved" feature but keep its price the same. It is important to remember that
modifying features usually leads to changes in benefits. Stay aware of the evolution of perceived benefits your product
offers so you can use them in your marketing.
- Grouping - Often, features are grouped into different product
models — and prices — escalating from a basic model to a "fully loaded" model. Automobiles, electronic devices,
and vacation packages each offer features that may be added to a basic product model. Services can also be grouped in this
fashion.
Example- an accountant might offer a certain fee for preparing annual tax
returns, another fee to also process payroll, and another to manage all of a client's financial affairs.
It
is extremely important understand the products/services
·
Features-product/service characteristics
·
Size
·
Color
·
Horsepower
·
Functionality
·
Design
·
Hours of business
·
Fabric content
·
Benefits-are customer needs served by those features. Answers
the question, “What’s in it for me?”
·
Provide emotional rewards
·
Provide financial rewards
It’s not the brighter smile that the toothpaste offers that is its benefit; it’s what the smile might
bring you (a good-looking mate, a better job, etc.).
Emotional
rewards run the scale of human emotions, but basically allow the buyer to feel better in some way.
Example- sending flowers to a friend/family
member allows the buyer to feel supportive or loving. Buying products made from recycled materials offers the buyer the chance
to feel environmentally responsible.
Products that
deliver financial rewards allow the buyer to save money
Example-save or make money either in short time or future
To identify
your product’s benefits, you must consider your customers' needs. Imagine yourself in your customers’ shoes, talk
to them directly, and conduct surveys asking about their needs and perceptions.
If necessary,
hire an independent firm to conduct product/service research by surveys, focus group, and questionnaire, examine past customer
behaviors, and/or using internet to test your product for usability and desirability.
Once you have
a basic sense of your product's benefits, you can set up systems to develop and track product information:
- Ask customers
for suggestions for improvement. (don’t be too pushy, but don’t shy off)
- Pay careful
attention to customer complaints and prospect inquiries. Take every word the customer says seriously.
- Watch your competitors.
Do the changes in their product offerings suggest product benefits you hadn't yet considered?
If you understand and believe in your product/service, use features and benefits, you’ll
see the changes take place. Remember if you don’t believe in your own product/service, than why should anyone?
*http://sba.gov/starting_business/startup/productbasics.html
Q & A
FYI- Salwar kameez is
the traditional dress worn by various peoples of South Asia. Salwar are loose trousers and the kameez is a long shirt
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salwar_kameez
Thank you for your support and hope to see
you in our next issue. In the meantime, please feel free to drop any questions or comments. We will be waiting to hear from
you. |
