Strategic Marketing Basics

The concept of product in marketing differs greatly from the concept of the generic object. Instead, product will be defined as a complex set of satisfactions in the customer’s eyes. In other words,  a product only has a meaning from the perspective of the final user : only he/she can judge the value of a product, in function of the benefit he/she can enjoy from it.

 

Theodore Levitt, in a well-known article, designed a very simple, very clear and very practical model. He called it the Total Product. This model is conceived as a set of concentric layers around a core, which represents the generic product (see graph). Within every layer, we find tangible attributes (features) or intangible attributes (services) that :

 

      correspond to the minimum expectations of the customer (expected product) 

      or add value and exceed the customer’s expectations (augmented product)

 

Continuous research should be carried out to constantly bring extra attributes that will constitute tomorrow’s product (potential product).

 

In the past, product differentiation was performed mainly on the generic product ; today, marketers are mostly working on filling the outer rings (augmented/potential products).