Product & Brand Management

Module 1
• Introduction to Product Management
• Product Management –
• Product – Definition,
• Levels of Product;
• Meaning of Product Management,
• Scope and Importance;
• Role of Product Manager;
• Product Mix – Product Line Strategies; Challenges in Product
Management
 Introduction
to
Product Management
• Product Management is becoming an important function of
marketing.
• It is no more a department of churning out promotional materials but
is has now become the nerve center of the organization.
• Effective product management is a
• practical,
• purposeful and
• positive approach
• of improving the company results, through the efforts of a competent
and committed team, coordinating manufacturing, marketing and
sales.
Product
• The word “product” can be defined in many ways. The definitions differ according
to the difference in the connotation in which it is being used.
• Technically, a product can be defined as anything that is produced, whether as
the result of generation, growth, labor, or thought, or by the operation of
involuntary causes;
• as, the products of the season,
• or of the farm;
• the products of manufactures;
• the products of the brain.
• In manufacturing, products are purchased as raw materials and sold as finished goods.
• In project management, products are the formal definition of the project deliverables that
make up or contribute to delivering the objectives of the project.
• In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want
or need.
Defining Product
• A product is a tangible (good) or intangible (service) information
offering to meet the needs, wants, and demands of the people.
• It is a value proposition, a set of benefits offered to customers
to satisfy the needs. It is a bundle of satisfaction that a
customer buys.
• A product will be successful if it delivers value and satisfaction to the
customer.
• A product is much more than its physical attributes. It is the total
concept that a customer buys. The customer judges the product
offering by three basic elements; product features and quality
services mix and quality and price.
Product Development
• Product development is the process of
• designing,
• building,
• operating, and
• maintaining a good or service.
• Product development adds things like
• pricing,
• marketing, and
• customer support to the technology to create a complete product.
• The companies world over, use a product development process to ensure that they are not just
manufacturing a product that people will want to buy but also one that people would like to
continue to use.
• To be sure, a base technology is at the heart of the product, but product development ensures
that the customer’s voice is not lost in the rush to an exciting technology.
• Product development is performed by a multi-disciplinary team whose goal is building, operating,
and maintaining the product.
• Team members may include
• product managers,
• product developers,
• project managers,
• product operations engineers,
• customer support managers,
• quality assurance managers,
• user interface design engineers,
• marketers,
• financial personnel,
• graphic Notes artists, etc.
New Product
• The dynamics of markets, technology, and competition have brought changes to
virtually every market sector and have made new product development one of
the most powerful business activities.
• The monumental changes that constantly impact commerce have forced
companies to innovate with increasing speed, efficiency, and quality.
• In turn, this has made new product development one of the most complex and
difficult business functions.
• However, firms must innovate in order to survive.
• The power of innovation is revealed in numerous studies, which show that
companies leading their industries attribute about half of their revenues to
products developed in the most recent five years.
• By comparison, companies at the bottom of their industries achieve
approximately one-tenth of their sales from new products. A new product can be
defined as a product that is new to the market.
Example:
• Sony introduced Walkman
• GE introduced Light HLL’s adult diapers,DEPEND, in Indian market.
• There are five categories of new products.
• 1. New-to-the-world products or services are new inventions. Example: In-line
skates and health maintenance organizations.
• 2. New category entries are products or services that are new to a firm Example:
Sport utility vehicles
• 3. Additions to product lines add products or services to a firm’s current markets.
Example: When a powder laundry detergent offers a liquid version it is
considered a line extension.
• 4. Product improvements are another type of new product and are common to
every product category. Example: Product improvement made in Lifebuoy Soaps
(as shown through Figure above)
Case Study
• Repositioning Maggi N estlé India Ltd. (NIL), the Indian
subsidiary of the global FMCG major, Nestlé SA, introduced
the Maggi brand in India in 1982, with its launch of Maggi 2
Minute Noodles, an instant noodles product. With the
launch of Maggi noodles, NIL created an entirely new food
category – instant noodles – in the Indian packaged food
market. During the 1990s, the sales of Maggi noodles
declined, and this was attributed partly to the growing
popularity of Top Ramen, another instant noodles product.
In order to improve sales and attract more consumers, NIL
changed the formulation of Maggi noodles in 1997. However,
this proved to be a mistake, as consumers did not like the
Case Study Cont…
• In March 1999, NIL reintroduced the old formulation of the noodles, after which
the sales revived. Over the years, NIL also introduced several other products like
soups and cooking aids under the Maggi brand. However, these products were
not as successful as the instant noodles. In the early 2000s, Maggi was the leader
in the branded instant noodles segment, and the company faced little serious
competition in this segment. In the early 2000s, NIL started introducing new
‘healthy’ products in accordance with the Nestlé Group’s global strategy to
transform itself into a health and wellness company. NIL also adopted the same
strategy for the Maggi brand with the launch of the Maggi Vegetable Atta
Noodles (Vegetable Atta Noodles), a ‘healthy’ instant noodles product made of
whole wheat flour and vegetables (instead of refined flour), in 2005. The Dal Atta
Noodles were another variant of Maggi’s healthy instant noodles. Because of its
first-mover advantage, NIL successfully managed to retain its leadership.
• Questions
• 1. Analyse three benefits that NIL derived by repositioning Maggi.
• 2. What do you learn from the case above?
• 5. Repositionings target products to new markets or for new uses.

• Firms can obtain new products internally or externally. External sourcing

means the company acquires the product or service, or obtains the rights
to market the product or service, from another organization. Internal
development means the firm develops the new product itself. This is riskier
than external development because the company bears all of the costs
associated with new product development and implementation.
Collaborations, which include strategic partnerships, strategic alliances,
joint ventures, and licensing agreements, occur when two or more firms
work together on developing new products.
Product Management:
Meaning:
• Product management is an organizational life cycle function within a
company dealing with the planning or marketing of a product or
products at all stages of the product life cycle.
• Product management and product marketing are different yet
complementary efforts with the objective of maximizing sales
revenues, market share, and profit margins.
• Product Manager’s primary role is to serve as the “voice of the customer”.
• Thus product management includes indirect management and cooperation
with other members of various groups other members of various groups.
• The day to day work revolves around executing four main tasks:
• 1. Developing the market requirements document
• 2. Managing the product feature list
• 3. Coordinating activities of different functional groups
• 4. Participating in and/or running the launch and post-launch marketing
activities for a product.
• The goal of product management is to:
• 1. Ensure a market-driven “whole” product offering
• 2. Establish competitive and profitable pricing models
• 3. Ensure the existence and support of product distribution
• 4. Create effective marketing promotions that generate revenue.
Aspects of Product Management
• Depending on the company size and history, product management
has a variety of functions and roles.
• Sometimes there is a product manager, and sometimes the role of
product manager is held by others.
• Frequently there is Profit and Loss (P&L) responsibility as a key metric
for evaluating product manager performance.
• In some companies, the product management function is the hub of
many other activities around the product. In others, it is one of many
things that need to happen to bring a product to market.
Product Planning
• Product Planning is the ongoing process of identifying and articulating
market requirements that define a product’s feature set.
• Defining New Products:
• It is important to define the products and services you want to
promote. Ideas for new products can be obtained from basic research
using a SWOT analysis and/or brainstorming of new product, service,
or store concepts.
• Gathering Market Requirements: This is helped by analyzing market
and consumer trends, competitors, focus groups, corporate spies,
trade shows, or ethnographic discovery methods.
• Building Product Roadmaps, Particularly Technology Roadmaps:
• A great roadmap walks the fine line between being too narrow (“a
one-trick pony”) and too wide (“all over the map”). Demonstrate
focus by building your plan and presentation to spend the most time
on your initial products. Size the markets conservatively, and pick
realistic penetration rates. Roadmaps are always subject to change.
• Product Life Cycle Considerations:
• The idea of a product life cycle acknowledges the fact that designing
and selling a product is only part of the story. In fact, every product
goes through a series of steps between the time it is first conceived
and the time the manufactured product is retired or discarded.
• Product Differentiation:
• Product differentiation (also known simply as “differentiation”) is the
process of distinguishing the differences of a product or offering from
others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market. This
involves differentiating it from competitors’ products as well as one’s
own product offerings.
Product Marketing
• Product marketing deals with the first of the “4P’s” of marketing,
which are Product, Pricing, Place, and Promotion.
• Product planning, as opposed to product management, deals with
more outbound marketing tasks.
• Product Marketing is based on identifying, anticipating and satisfying
customer needs effectively and profitably. It encompasses market
research, pricing, promotion, distribution, customer care, your brand
image and much more.
• Example: Product planning deals with the nuts and bolts of product
development within a firm, whereas product marketing deals with
marketing the product to prospects, customers, and others.
• 1. Product Positioning and Outbound Messaging: Positioning is a process that focuses
on conveying product value to buyers, resulting in a family of documents which drive all
outbound communications. Yet in recent years, it seems as if positioning has ‘devolved’
into a document of vague superlatives that convey nothing as they attempt to trick the
customer into buying the product. The best positioning clearly states how the product
will solve specific customer problems.
• 2. Promoting the Product Externally with Press, Customers and Partners: Launching a
new product on the market, to gain sales and exposure for it can be a challenge. There
are many other ways to promote and sell a new product, but the most important of
them all include packaging, trade shows, exhibitions, promotional videos, internet
marketing, etc. Each of the marketing method includes liaison with press, customers and
partners.
• 3. Monitoring the Competition: The old adage, “keep your friends close, and your
enemies closer”, is applicable not only to personal relationships but business
relationships as well. While it does not mean that you befriend your competitors, it is
important that you are cognizant of your competitors’ business ventures and methods.
There are several ways to
Product Management: Scope
• Product management as a discipline is about what the product should
be.
• Product managers are advocates for the customer’s needs and
desires.
• A large product might have numerous product managers working
towards its success at a variety of levels,
• All the way from the junior product manager writing specifications
about single feature sets to a product strategy director who has
overall responsibility to executive management for the product
direction.
 A product manager’s responsibilities include
the following:
• Defining and planning product lines and product enhancements
• 2. Managing product contracts and sales. Setting strategic direction based on customer needs and business goals
• 3. Interpreting strategic goals into operational tasks
• 4. Making proposals to senior management regarding implications of proposed plan
• 5. Serving as a representative to internal and external clients. Taking the leading establishing tactical plans and objectives
• 6. Developing and implementing administrative and operational matters ensuring achievement of objectives
• 7. Evaluating risks and trade-offs
• 8. Proposing contingency plans
• 9. Analyzing business processes and creating applications to improve or support those processes
• 10. Branding
• 11. Working with graphic designers to create look and feel
• 12. Defining navigational flow and user experience
• 13. Defining feature sets and scooping releases.
• People not familiar with the discipline of product management frequently get a product
manager confused with other players.
• It’s useful to look at what a product manager is not:
• A developer – Developers are focused on the technology and not the overall product.
Some great product managers are former developers, but it is difficult to do both at
once. There is a natural tension between developers and product managers that should
be maintained to create a balanced product.
• A software manager – the software manager is a functional manager and usually not
focused on the product or the customers.
• A project manager – project managers are about how and when, while the product
manager is about what. Project managers work closely Notes with product managers to
ensure successful completion of different phases in the product life cycle.
• Marketers – while product management is usually seen as a marketing discipline,
marketers are focused on the marketing plan and are usually not driving the overall
product direction.
• Product managers are accountable to executive management for
overall product direction, key decisions, product budget (and
sometimes even the complete product P&L), ensuring that final
product meets specifications, and evangelizing product to internal
and external stakeholders. Product managers also have accountability
to users for feature sets, navigation, quality, and overall experience.
Role of Product Manager
• A product manager plays an utterly important role in an organization.
Being at a very responsible position,
• He/she has to guide a team that is charged with a product line
contribution as a business unit.
• This extends from increasing the profitability of existing products to
developing new products for the company.
• A product manager builds products from existing ideas, and helps to
develop new ideas based on the industry experience and his contact
with customers and prospects.
• He possesses a unique blend of business and technical savvy;
• a big-picture vision, and the drive to make that vision a reality.
• He spends time in the market to understand the problems of the customers,
and finds innovative solutions for the broader market.
• The role of a product manager :
• Has becomes important because he has to communicate with all areas of
the company.
• The product manager works with an engineering counterpart to define
product release requirements.
• He also works with marketing communications to define the go-to-market
strategy, helping them understand the product positioning, key benefits,
and target customer.
• He serves as the internal and external evangelist for his product offering,
occasionally working with the sales channel and key customers.
• A product manager’s key role is strategic, not tactical.
• The other organizations will support your strategic efforts; you won’t
be supporting their tactical tasks.
• The key responsibilities of a product manger may include:
• 1. Managing the entire product line life cycle from strategic planning to tactical
activities
• 2. Specifying market requirements for current and future products by conducting
market research
• 3. Driving a solution set across development teams (primarily
Development/Engineering, and Marketing Communications) through market
requirements, product contract, and positioning.
• 4. Developing and implementing a company-wide go-to-market plan, working
with all departments to execute.

• 5. Analyzing potential partner relationships for the product

LEVEL OF PRODUCTS
• At the heart is “core or generic” part, the fundamental benefit or service
that the customer is really buying, and •
• what marketers must see as a benefit providing. A
hotel guest is buying “rest and sleep”, an airline traveller is
buying “fast transport” and the purchase of a drill is like buying “holes”. At the
second level, the marketer turns the core benefit into a
basic product. A hotel room includes a bed, • bathroom,
towels, desk, dresser, and a closet. At the third level is the expected product, which is a set of
attributes and conditions, buyers expect when they • buy a product. Hotel room should
have a clean bed, fresh towels, working lamps, a telephone, a TV and this is the minimum
expected. At the fourth level, is the enlarged product that exceeds customer expectations. A wide
variety of service and • facilities are added. At the fifth level is the
potential product, which encompasses all the possible
augmentations and transformations • the product may undergo in the
future. Companies will look for new ways to satisfy customers and distinguish their offer.
Delighting the customer will • be the key. It is to be noted that each level adds more customer
value.
Six Challenges Product Managers Face
• 1 – Overwhelming Time Constraints.
• 2 – Temptation to Be a Reactive Instead of
Proactive Product Manager.
• 3 – Lack of Control in Product Management
• 4 – Tension Between Your Short and Long-Term Product Management
Objectives
• 5 – Varying Opinions About the Direction to Take Products.