8 Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value
Symmonds Inc., a company manufacturing breakfast cereals, has extended its special Crispo cereal brand into a full line of breakfast cereals plus protein shakes, fruit and sandwich spreads, butter, and doughnuts. This is an example of ________.
Brand extension
________ refers to how consumers feel if a brand meets their needs.
Brand relevance
________ represent(s) consumers' perceptions and feelings about a product and its performance.
Brands
________ are consumer products and services that customers usually buy frequently, immediately, and with minimal comparison and buying effort.
Convenience products
Which of the following is a potential drawback of multibranding?
Each brand might obtain only a small market share, and none may be very profitable.
Which of the following is an example of a pure tangible good?
a bag of potato chips
A company cannot stretch its product line downward.
False
A product line consists of unrelated products that are sold to diverse customer groups.
False
Co-branding occurs when retailers and wholesalers create their own store brands.
False
Line extension refers to extending an existing brand name to new product categories.
False
Product mix width refers to the total number of items a company carries within its product lines.
False
Product quality is harder to define and judge than service quality.
False
Service inseparability means that the quality of services depends on who provides them, as well as when, where, and how they are provided.
False
Style is a larger concept than design. Design simply describes the appearance of a product.
False
The strongest brands do not engage customers on a deep, emotional level.
False
Unsought products are products that the customer usually buys frequently, immediately, and with a minimum of comparison and buying effort.
False
________ means that service quality depends on the quality of buyer-seller interaction during the service encounter.
Interactive marketing
The ________ requires sellers to provide detailed nutritional information on food products.
Nutritional Labeling and Educational Act of 1990
________ refers to the characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied customer needs.
Product quality
Which of the following is true with regard to products?
Products include services, events, persons, places, organizations, ideas, or a mixture of these.
________ are consumer products and services with unique characteristics or brand identification for which a significant group of buyers is willing to make a special purchase effort.
Specialty products
Which of the following is true with regard to store brands?
Store brands are created and owned by resellers of a product or service.
________ is an approach in which all the company's people are involved in constantly improving the quality of products, services, and business processes.
Total quality management
A company's product mix has four important dimensions: width, length, depth, and consistency.
True
A service refers to an activity, benefit, or satisfaction offered for sale that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything.
True
Attributes are the least desirable level for brand positioning because competitors can easily copy attributes.
True
Branding decisions include selecting a brand name and developing a brand strategy.
True
For many companies, the package itself has become an important promotional medium.
True
Good service recovery can turn angry customers into loyal ones.
True
In a service business, the customer and the front-line service employee interact to co-create the service.
True
Labels range from simple tags attached to products to complex graphics that are part of the packaging.
True
Multibranding offers a way to establish different features that appeal to different customer segments, lock up more reseller shelf space, and capture a larger market share.
True
Product line filling is overdone if it results in cannibalization and customer confusion.
True
Service companies can differentiate their service delivery by having more able and reliable customer-contact people.
True
Shopping products are less frequently purchased consumer products and services that customers compare carefully on suitability, quality, price, and style.
True
Sometimes, companies stretch upward to add prestige to their current products.
True
The augmented product is the actual product plus the various services and benefits offered with it, such as a warranty, free delivery, installation, and maintenance.
True
Within a given hotel reputed for its superior service, one registration-desk employee may be cheerful and efficient, whereas another may be irritable and slow. This exemplifies service variability.
True
________ are consumer products that the consumer either does not know about or knows about but does not normally think about buying.
Unsought products
________ involves the use of a successful brand name for new or modified products in a new category.
A brand extension
Which of the following product offerings is intangible?
a taxi ride
Product planners need to consider products and services on three levels. At the final level, product planners must build ________.
an augmented product
Style simply describes the ________ of a product.
appearance
A ________ is a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of these, that identifies the maker or seller of a product or service.
brand
While advertising campaigns can help create name recognition, brand knowledge, and perhaps even some brand preference, brands are not maintained by advertising but by ________.
brand experiences
Product planners need to consider products and services on three levels. Each level adds more customer value. The most basic level is the ________, which addresses the question, "What is the buyer really buying?"
core customer value
The advertising slogan, "We bring good things to life," used by General Electrics to market themselves, is an example of ________ marketing.
corporate image
The fundamental asset underlying brand equity is ________, the value of customer relationships that the brand creates.
customer equity
Product mix ________ refers to the number of versions offered for each product in the line.
depth
Which of the following is an example of a convenience product?
fast food
Titan Inc., an automobile manufacturer based in Utah, recently added two new models to its existing line of sedans in order to increase profits and satisfy dealers. This is an example of ________.
line filling
Installations consist of ________.
major purchases such as elevators
Which of the following strategies involves weeding out weaker brands and focusing marketing dollars only on brands that can achieve the number one or number two market share positions with good growth prospects in their categories?
megabrand strategies
According to the service profit chain, superior internal service quality results in ________.
more satisfied, loyal, and hardworking employees
A good design begins with ________.
observing and understanding customers and shaping their product-use experience
Lubricants, coal, paper, and pencils are examples of ________.
operating supplies
Alex Smith rents storage space to college students who go home for the summer but do not want to haul all of their property home and back. The business is profitable during the summer months, but when the storage space is unoccupied in the off-season, Alex loses money. Which of the following characteristics of service is most likely the source of Alex's problem?
perishability
Elmo Inc., a Michigan-based manufacturer of athletic shoes, uses professional athletes in its ad campaigns to help sell its products. This is an example of ________ marketing
person
A company that uses well-known celebrities to help sell its products is using ________.
person marketing
Rhodia invites tourists from all over the world to experience its pristine nature, clear skies, and beautiful summertime climate. This exemplifies ________.
place marketing
Tourism Australia's global marketing campaign, "There's nothing like Australia" is an example of ________.
place marketing
Costco's Kirkland Signature products are an example of a ________.
private brand
An increasing number of retailers and wholesalers have created their own ________, also called store brands.
private brands`
Developing a product or service involves defining the benefits that it will offer. These benefits are communicated and delivered by ________.
product attributes
Which of the following is the lowest level on which marketers can position their brands in target customers' minds?
product attributes
A ________ is a group of products that are closely related because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same type of outlets, or fall within given price ranges.
product line
The major product line decision involve(s) ________, the number of items in the product line.
product line length
Proton Corp. is an automobile manufacturer known for producing efficient, durable, and low-priced cars. Recently, the company launched a new range of luxury cars to broaden its market appeal and to add prestige to its existing line of cars. This is an example of ________.
product line stretching
A ________ consists of all the product lines and items that a particular seller offers for sale.
product mix
Consumer products refer to ________.
products and services bought by final consumers for personal consumption
Which of the following actions is a restaurant owner most likely to take in order to reduce problems associated with service intangibility?
provide clean tablecloths and fresh napkins for each new customer
Public health campaigns designed to reduce alcoholism, drug abuse, smoking, and obesity are all examples of ________ marketing.
social
Advertising campaigns involving issues ranging from health care, education, and environmental sustainability to human rights and personal safety can be classified under ________.
social marketing
A hickory rocking chair, handmade by an Amish woodcarver in Lancaster, Pennsylvania from locally grown wood, is an example of a(n) ________.
specialty product
Gainville Inc. manufactures android phones. Each new Gainville phone launch advances the cause of democratizing technology. Gainville, an expert in fostering customer community, engages customers at a deep, emotional level, and has been ranked one of the Breakaway Brands by the brand consultancy Kendell Associates. Gainville is most likely positioned on ________.
strong beliefs and values
The strongest brands are positioned on ________.
strong beliefs and values
The first step in designing support services is to ________.
survey customers to assess the value of current services and obtain ideas for new ones
Product planners need to consider products and services on three levels. At the second level, product planners must ________.
turn the core benefit into an actual product
A reputed cosmetic company in New York City added new product lines in order to increase its business. In other words, it ________.
widened its product mix
Product mix ________ refers to the number of different product lines the company carries
width
________ refers to freedom from defects and consistency in delivering a targeted level of performance.
Conformance quality
________ occurs when a company lengthens its product line beyond its current range.
Product line stretching
________ is the differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product and its marketing.
Brand equity
________ refers to how highly consumers regard and respect the brand.
Brand esteem
________ are industrial products that aid in the buyer's production or operations, including installations and accessory equipment.
Capital items
________ are industrial products.
Capital items
________ occurs when two established brand names of different companies are used on the same product.
Co-branding
Which of the following is an advantage offered by co-branding?
Co-branding allows a company to expand its existing brand into a category it might otherwise have difficulty entering alone.
________ contribute(s) to a product's usefulness as well as to its looks.
Good design
Which of the following is true with regard to brand equity?
High brand equity provides a company with many competitive advantages.
Which of the following questions is most important for product designers to consider while developing a product?
How would customers use and benefit from the product?
________ are those products purchased for further processing or for use in conducting a business.
Industrial products
________ occurs when a company introduces additional items in a given product category under the same brand name, such as new flavors, forms, colors, ingredients, or package sizes.
Line extension
________ consists of activities undertaken to create, maintain, or change the attitudes and behaviors of target consumers toward an organization.
Organization marketing
________ involves designing and producing the container or wrapper for a product.
Packaging
________ consists of activities undertaken to create, maintain, or change attitudes toward particular people. People ranging from presidents, entertainers, and sports figures to professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and architects use it to build their reputations.
Person marketing
________ involves activities undertaken to create, maintain, or change attitudes toward particular cities, states, or regions.
Place marketing
________ are the major marketing factors in the sale of most manufactured materials and parts.
Price and service
________ involves adding more items within the present range of the product line.
Product line filling
________ means that services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before they are bought.
Service intangibility
________ means that services cannot be stored for later sale or use.
Service perishability
________ means that the quality of services depends on who provides them as well as when, where, and how they are provided.
Service variability
________ are a form of product that consists of activities, benefits, or satisfactions offered for sale that are essentially intangible and do not result in the ownership of anything.
Services
Which of the following is true with regard to services?
Services are a form of product that consists of activities, benefits, or satisfactions offered for sale.
________ are less frequently purchased consumer products and services that customers compare carefully on suitability, quality, price, and style.
Shopping products
After a brief stay at a luxury hotel in Paris, Benjamin Sanders noted that the hotel had kept every promise it made when he booked the room, meeting all his needs. He added that it was a "thoroughly comfortable and opulent experience." According to Young & Rubicam's Brand Asset Valuator, this reflects ________.
brand relevance
Which of the following is one of the four consumer perception dimensions used by ad agency Young & Rubicam to measure brand strength?
brand relevance
Marketing mix planning begins with ________.
building an offering that brings value to target customers
________ of the product mix refers to how closely related the various product lines are in end use, production requirements, distribution channels, or some other way.
consistency
What are the two dimensions of product quality?
consistency and level
A good brand name should most likely be ________.
distinctive
Apollo Couriers, a company providing international express mail services, has a proactive customer communications team. The primary job of this team is to identify situations that led to customer dissatisfaction, and then provide quick remedies to fix the problems. This has helped Apollo in winning customer loyalty to a great extent. In this instance, Apollo has benefitted from ________.
good service recovery
Service companies can differentiate their service delivery by ________.
having more able and reliable customer-contact people
Fin canned tuna has higher sales than its unbranded rival, even though the unbranded tuna costs $0.45 less per can than BlueFin tuna. BlueFin most likely has ________.
high brand equity
Through ________, a service firm orients and motivates its customer-contact employees and supporting service people to work as a team to provide customer satisfaction.
internal marketing
A product's ________ identifies the product or brand, describes several things about the product, and promotes the brand.
label
Product mix ________ refers to the total number of items a company carries within its product lines.
length
Some companies obtain the rights to use the names or symbols previously created by other manufacturers for a fee. This process is known as ________.
licensing
Which of the following exemplifies a service?
retail
Tristan and Juliet, a newly married couple who intend to go to Egypt for their honeymoon, bought a Europe travel package on Jizo Inc., an online travel site. As they have never seen Europe or used the services of Jizo before, they were largely dependent on other customers' feedback and signals for service quality. Which of the following characteristics of service is highlighted in this instance?
service intangibility
The customers of Parry's Hair Salon have noticed that the quality of a haircut depends on who provides it as well as when, where, and how the service is provided. Which of the following characteristics of service is evident in this instance?
service variability
Erica wants to replace her old washing machine with a new one. In order to get the maximum value for her money, she plans to spend substantial time and effort in gathering information and making product comparisons before making the actual purchase. In this instance, Erica is planning to buy a ________ product.
shopping