Business Revision Guide: 2.4

• Product


  Goods or a service that is sold to customer or other businesses
• Customers


  Buy a product to meet a need
• Product planning


  Determining the function and style of a product
• Invention


  When a business comes up with a new product or service
• Innovation


  When a business improves a product which already exists
• Product orientation


  • Business focuses on products, develops goods based on what it is good at doing
• Market orientation


  • Business focuses on the market, responds to customer needs and wants
• Product differentiation

  • Establishing a strong brand image
  • Making clear the unique selling point (USP)
  • Offering a better location, features, functions, design or selling price than rival products
• Ways to add value to product or service

  • Branding
  • Selling point
  • Design
  • Quality
  • Convenience
• Product life cycle

  1. Introduction

  2. Growth

  3. Maturity

  4. Decline
• Uses of product life cycle

  • Identifies when to introduce extension strategies
  • Identifies when to change marketing techniques/spending
  • Identifies when a product should be discontinued
• Limitations of product life cycle

  • Doesn't consider what competitors are doing
  • Doesn't consider social trends and changes in taste
  • Past performance isn't always a good indicator of future performance