Functionality and Pricing
Part A: With Products, Is It Form or Function?
Strong brands influence purchase behavior (Dyson, 2016). Marketers must, therefore, focus on triggering motivating impressions amongst the consumers. Particularly, they must ensure that as consumers contact the brands, news, gossip and publicity will be inevitable (Gassmann, 2010). To achieve this, the functionality of the product should be unrivaled. Simply, product functionality is the key to brand success.
With the massive expansion of credit availability since the 1970’s, consumers have been allured into making impulse purchases (Pusvasiu, 2015). They are therefore likely to be attracted to the design of the product and in the process fail to consider its functionality. Nevertheless, when the consumer is not fully satisfied with the functionality element, remorse will be the result. Therefore, a company that wants to achieve longevity and sustainability must consider the functionality aspect of the products.
Indeed, whereas the form factor in a product creates a rewarding experience for the consumer, a company may, in the long run, fail due to a lack of repeat business. The competition may in the process come up with products of superior
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The process involves adding value to products to enable a firm to charge different prices for a category of products. Besides, as Board of Metropolitan Montreal (2009) explains, consumers do not just purchase a product, but rather the benefits that they achieve from the product. A firm that markets the perceived benefits of a product is, therefore, likely to be successful when compared to the one marketing a product based on the cost of production. For instance, Mercedes-Benz and Rolex watch are purchased because of the perceived benefits marketed to the consumer (Callander,
Companies realize what people need and they take it as sources to produce commodities. However, companies which have famous brands try to get people’s attention by developing their products. Because there are several options available of commodities, people might be in a dilemma to choose what product they looking for. In fact, that dilemma is not real, it is just what people want. That is what Steve McKevitt claims in his article “Everything Now”. When people go shopping there are limitless choices of one product made by different companies, all choices of this product basically do the same thing, but what makes them different is the brand’s name. Companies with brands are trying to get their consumers by presenting their commodities in ways which let people feel impressed, and that are some things they need to buy. This is what Anne Norton discussed in her article “The Signs of Shopping”. People are often deceived by some famous brands, which they will buy as useless commodities to feel they are distinctive.
As we learned from Chapter 12, price must be carefully determined and match with firm’s product, distribution, and communication strategies. (Hutt & Speh, 2012, p. 300) Therefore, there should be a strong market perspective in pricing. In order to build an effective pricing policy, marketers should focus on the value a customer places on a product or service. One of the most effective ways to do so is differentiating through value creation.
One of the initial of most common reasons why designs and products fail is due to the lack of having a set product vision. Many designers often chase behind the factor of having a good feature for their product design and neglecting the main idea of having a set vision and strategic thinking. Also, another reason for a design to fail is the lack of learning for the culture of the product. A good design can be created w...
For instance, Primark 's products offer customers clothing as a base product, of witch actual benefits are being to be cheap and trendy, and they may have some return policy as augmented benefit in case of defects. Each product may be realised following a new product development process to improve its success rate (Harris and Schaefer, 2015, p.43-47).
Moving up the pyramid, the next level includes brand meaning – what are you? This incorporates performance and imagery. The product itself is at the heart of brand equity, and designing and delivering a product that satisfies the consumers’ needs and wants is crucial for successful marketing. In order to reach resonance at the top of the pyramid, the product must (at least) meet, if not surpass, customer expectations and functional needs. The goal here is to identify and communicate brand meaning. Performance dimensions consists of five categories: primary characteristics and supplementary features; product reliability, durability and serviceability; service effectiveness, efficiency and empathy; style and design; and
Marketers assert to develop branding and packaging strategies that signify the brand’s products in a way that establishes lasting impressions in consumers’ thoughts. Because brands distinguish the many product offerings in the marketplace, brands help consumers choose between product offerings. When branding and packaging strategies clearly illustrate worthy product expectations, and products remain true to branding messages, positive consumer perceptions ensue, and brand value is strengthened.
⑥ Buyers. Buyers’ benefit from quality products, which is related to corporate profitability, repayment capacity and operational capabilities.
In order to sell a product, a company must transform a product and turn its use value into an exchange value. The company needs to make their product seem more valuable than it is actually
With the rise of the economy, consumers have become more and more knowledgeable on selecting their favourable product as a result the organization cannot focus on what it sells but on the side focus on what the customer wants to buy.
In today’s world virtually all businesses are born into competition. There are situations in which multiple organizations offer similar products, a limited number of firms seek the same consumers, and other organizations offer the exact same product just at a different price or in a different variation. So how do firms attempt to outperform their competitors and sustain profits? They create a competitive advantage. A competitive advantage is a business concept that allows firms to outperform their competition by generating greater sales margins/profits or retaining a larger number of consumers. In knowing that different customers are attracted to different attributes companies use a variety of competitive dimensions in order to set themselves apart, these include: cost or price, quality, delivery speed and reliability, and flexibly and new product introduction. Each of these dimensions can be strategically used by an organization to outperform its competitors and ultimately result in giving that firm a distinct competitive advantage.
A new product on the market may look all shiny and new and be appealing to customers but what is the story behind the product and what is the underlying future for this product. Where were the original materials from? Is it all legalised? Where did the manufacturing take place? How was the product manufactured? These are all questions that are never properly addressed in the design industry and are just simply overlooked. They are the aspects of designing and producing a new product that need to be carefully looked at to make a good design, and to make sustainable products.
The source of the brand features is in a connection between customers and companies that sell services or products. Consumers who choose a specific company fundamentally acknowledge to prefer that brand more than other brands rooted from the recognition of the brand’s worth.
Consumers have expectations In terms of a good quality product that should be availed at a reasonable price. Consumers don’t only want the business to be socially responsible towards them in this manner of reasonable prices but way beyond this. They should meet the needs of consumers in ways of convenience and appearance. But business should also consider other aspects like environmental impact when packaging is disposed.
He listed these five factors as follows: “(1) informing, (2) influencing, (3) reminding and increasing salience, (4) adding value, and (5) assisting other company efforts.” (p.246). To clarify that, the first most important aspect is informing people, which means company needs to enhance the awareness of the consumer about their products by mentioning its advantages and features. Advertising also affects the products in two ways. Firstly, by basic demand, which builds consumer desires for old products of the company and secondly, refers to a new brand of the company.
Even with commodities, there are quite a few parameters which brands can use to position themselves to capture a place in the consumer’s memory and consequently in their shopping basket. A few of the more widely accepted of them are: Consistency of Product Quality, Customization of the product to the extent possible, Providing a wider range of products, Identifying the most profit generating segments of the market and modifying or adding an offering to cater to their specific needs, Unique packaging, Emotional Branding and even basing branding on building a unique image to the extent of professing to have a brand personality. In fact focusing on getting consumers to build an emotional identification with the brand and its personality has a far longer lasting effect and builds far greater loyalty than focusing on just functional and utility attributes which a competitor would also able to easily match if not surpass.