Marketing Essentials

Chapter 30: Product Planning

Chapter Summaries

Section 30.1

• Product planning has seven steps: (1) generating ideas, (2) screening ideas, (3) developing a business proposal, (4) developing the product, (5) testing the product with consumers, (6) introducing the product (commercialization), and (7) evaluating customer acceptance.
• Companies constantly review their existing product mix to decide what it should delete or modify, what lines it can extend, and how it could add new products.
• A product mix strategy is the plan for how the business determines which products it will make or stock. Businesses can use different product mix strategies depending upon their resources and their objectives.

Section 30.2

• The product life cycle has four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
• The goal of product positioning is to set the product apart from the competition. Products can be positioned by price and quality, features and benefits, in relation to the competition, or in relation to other products in a line.