chapter 15
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Copyrights are the exclusive right of a creator (author, composer, designer, or artist) to reproduce, publish, perform,
display, or sell work that is the product of that person’s intelligence and skill.
Trade dress describes the elements of a firm’s distinctive operating image not specifically protected under a trademark,
patent, or copyright. Trade dress is the “look” that a firm creates to establish its marketing advantage.
116. A brand is a verbal and/or symbolic means of identifying a product and has both tangible and intangible
components. The tangible aspects of a brand are its brand name (something that can be spoken) and brandmark
(something that cannot be verbalized). The brand image is the intangible aspect of the brand and reflects the overall
perception of the brand by consumers.
After these aspects of the brand are determined, a logo may also be developed as a firm’s special signature to symbolize
the firm. The logo may be the brandmark in combination with words to reflect the company.
The brand name, brandmark, and logo should be unique, easy to remember and related to the product or service. Then the
entrepreneur should run a search to determine if the brand name and/or symbol are in use. If not, this aspect of a company
should be legally protected by licensing a brand name and brandmark and also filing either for trademark or a service
mark. A trademark is a legal term indicating the exclusive right to use brand names and brand marks to promote a
product; a servicemark offers a similar protection for services.
117. Josiah now needs to complete product testing which will determine if his product is acceptable, safe, effective and
durable for use. The kits should be tested in the market to gauge consumer reaction. From the results, he may change his
prototype.
118. Ollie needs to develop a sustainable competitive advantage, a value-creating position that is likely to endure over
time. To incorporate sustainability into his business strategy, Ollie should use the unique capabilities of the firm and his
product in a way that competitors will find difficult to imitate. However, since rivals will discover a way to copy any
value-creating strategy sooner or later, it is important to think about and plan for its transformation over the long
run. Ollie and his company should plan now for the hidden curves and the corrective actions needed before the current
invention has slipped into the decline stage of the competitive advantage life cycle.
119. The characteristics of tangibility, amount of time separating production and consumption, standardization, and
perishability create differences between marketing a product versus marketing a service.
Services have intangible, standardized products where the consumption occurs when it is produced and has greater
perishability. Products are tangible products with different consumption and production times. Standardization is
increased but perishability is decreased for products.
The major implication of this distinction is that marketing services obviously present unique challenges that are not faced
when marketing goods.
120. Intermediaries can often perform marketing functions better than the producer. While the producer can perform its
own distribution functions if the market geographic area is small, customers’ needs are specialized, and risk levels are
low, intermediaries generally provide more efficient means of distribution if customers are widely dispersed or if special
packaging and storage are needed.
Merchant middlemen take ownership of the goods they distribute which helps a company decrease risk. Agents or brokers
do not take ownership and assume less market risk than do merchant middlemen.
121. The six strategies are:
*One product/one market