Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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Chapter 10
Product Concepts
This chapter begins with the learning outcome summaries followed by a set of lesson plans for
you to use to deliver the content.
• Lecture on page 4
• Company Clips (video) on page 5
• Group Work (for smaller sections) on page 7
Review and Assignments begin on page 7
Review questions
Application questions
Application exercise
Ethics exercise
Video Assignment
Case Assignment
Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing from faculty around the country begin on page 18
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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Learning Outcomes
10-1 Define the term product
An organization’s product offering is the crucial element in any marketing mix. A product may
10-2 Classify consumer products
Consumer products are classified into four categories: convenience products, shopping products,
specialty products, and unsought products. Convenience products are relatively inexpensive and
10-3 Define the terms product item, product line, and product mix
A product item is a specific version of a product that can be designated as a distinct offering
among an organization’s products. A product line is a group of closely related products offered
10-4 Describe marketing uses of branding
A brand is a name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies a seller’s product
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
10-5 Describe marketing uses of packaging and labeling
Packaging has four functions: containing and protecting products; promoting products;
facilitating product storage, use, and convenience; and facilitating recycling and reducing
10-6 Discuss global issues in branding and packaging
When planning to enter a foreign market with an existing product, a firm has three options for
10-7 Describe how and why product warranties are important marketing tools
Product warranties are important tools because they offer consumers protection and help them
gauge product quality. Express warranty is a written guarantee. Whereas, an implied warranty is
an unwritten guarantee that the good or service is fit for the purpose for which it was sold.
Key Terms
Brand
Generic product name
Product line depth
Brand equity
Global brand
Product line extension
Brand loyalty
Implied warranty
Product mix
Brand mark
Individual branding
Product mix width
Brand name
Informational labeling
Product modification
Captive brand
Manufacturer’s brand
Service mark
Co-branding
Persuasive labeling
Shopping product
Convenience product
Planned obsolescence
Specialty product
Express warranty
Private brand
Trademark
Family branding
Product
Universal product code
(UPCs)
Product item
Unsought product
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Product line
Warranty
Lesson Plan for Lecture
Brief Outline and Suggested PowerPoint Slides
Learning Outcomes and Topics
PowerPoint Slides
LO1 Define the term product
10-1 What Is A Product?
1. Product Concepts
2. Learning Outcomes
3. What Is a Product?
4. Product?
LO2 Classify consumer products
10-2 Types of Consumer Products
5. Types of Consumer Products
6. Types of Consumer Products
LO3 Define the terms product item,
product line, and product mix
10-3 Product Items, Lines, and Mixes
7. Product Items, Lines, and Mixes
8. Product Items, Lines, and Mixes
9. Benefits of Product Lines
10. Adjustments
11. Product Modifications
12. Repositioning
13. Product Line Extension
14. Product Line Contraction
LO4 Describe marketing uses of branding
10-4 Branding
15. Branding
16. Brand
17. Benefits of Branding
18. Individual Brands versus Family Brands
19. Co-branding
20. Advantages of Carrying Manufacturers’
Brands
21. Advantages of Carrying Private Brands
22. Advantages of Captive Brands
23. Trademarks
24. Trademarks (continued)
LO5 Describe marketing uses of packaging
and labeling
25. Packaging
26. Functions of Packaging
27. Labeling
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Learning Outcomes and Topics
PowerPoint Slides
10-5 Packaging
28. Universal Product Codes (UPCs)
LO6 Discuss global issues in branding and
packaging
10-6 Global Issues in Branding and
Packaging
29. Global Issues in Branding and Packaging
30. Global Issues in Branding
31. Global Issues in Packaging
LO7 Describe how and why product
warranties are important marketing
tools
10-7 Product Warranties
32. Product Warranties
33. Product Warranties
34. Product Warranties (continued)
35. Key Terms
36. Key Terms
37. Summary
Suggested Homework
• The end of this chapter contains assignments for the Zappos video and for the Google case.
• This chapter’s online study tools include flashcards, visual summaries, practice quizzes,
and other resources that can be assigned or used as the basis for longer investigations into
marketing.
Lesson Plan for Video
Company Clips
Segment Summary: Zappos
Zappos discusses how the company builds its product offerings and enters into new fields.
Zappos also has a limited line of private label offerings that it creates to fill a perceived gap in
the market. Choosing the correct products is the starting point for Zappos to offer its great
customer service and “deliver happiness.”
These teaching notes combine activities that you can assign students to prepare before class, that
you can do in class before watching the video, that you can do in class while watching the video,
and that you can ask students to complete as assignments after watching the video.
During the viewing portion of the teaching notes, stop the video periodically when it is
appropriate to ask students the questions or perform the activities listed on the grid. You may
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even want to give the students the questions before starting the video and have them think about
the answer while viewing the segment. That way, students will be engaged in active viewing
rather than passive viewing.
Pre-Class Prep For You
Pre-Class Prep For Your Students
• Preview the Company Clips video segment
for Chapter 10. This exercise reviews
concepts for LO1–LO5.
• Review your lesson plan.
• Make sure you have all of the equipment
needed to show the video to the class,
including the DVD and a way to project the
video.
• You can also stream the video HERE.
• Have students review and familiarize
themselves with the following terms and
concepts: product; types of consumer
products; product items, lines, and mixes;
branding; and warranties.
• Refer students to Exhibit 10.1, “Campbell’s
Product Lines and Product Mix.” Encourage
students to think of other companies that
have multiple product lines.
Video Review Exercise
Activity
Warm Up
Begin by asking students the following question: “What is a product?”
In-Class
Preview
• Discuss the types of consumer products.
• Review Exhibit 10.1 with students. Ask them to offer examples of product
items and product lines from other companies, making sure they understand
the difference between product items, lines, and mixes.
• Discuss the difference between a product line extension and the addition of a
new product line, and discuss the difference between mix width and line
depth.
• Review the Company Clips questions below with students, and make sure
they’re prepared to answer them after viewing the video.
Viewing
(Solutions
below)
1. What type of products does Zappos offer? How would you classify their
products?
2. When Zappos began offering couture products, it is classified as which type
of move? What about working with vendors to sell more of its product?
Follow-up
Outside of class, have students create a chart or written statement that lists the
items in the product and/or service lines the college or university “sells.” The
chart or list should place related products and services into specific product
lines, to be turned in at the following class or in a discussion section.
Solutions for Viewing Activities
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1. What type of products does Zappos offer? How would you classify their products?
Recycling offers consumer products. Students may argue for the products as convenience
2. When Zappos began offering couture products, it is classified as which type of
decision? What about working with vendors to sell more of its product?
Adding couture is adding a product line, which affects the width or breadth of the product
Lesson Plan for Group Work
In most cases, group activities should be completed after some chapter content has been covered,
probably in the second or third session of the chapter coverage. (See “Lesson Plan for Lecture”
above.)
• For “Class Activity—Brand Names,” provide the information and the questions asked by
the class activity.
• Applications questions 1and 2 lend themselves well to group work. For these activities,
divide the class into small groups of four or five people. Each group should read the
question and then use their textbooks, or any work completed previously, to perform the
exercise. Then each group should discuss or present their work to the class.
Class Activity—Brand Names
The use of branding on the Internet has become an important topic as more consumers turn to the
Internet for information and purchase. Ask students to list the five best known search engines on
the Internet. They should then explain what financial impact brand recognition has for those dot
coms.
Review and Assignments for Chapter 10
Review Questions
1. Although major appliances, like washers and dryers, are usually considered
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homogeneous shopping products, the high-efficiency front-loaders that boast many
more features than standard machines are gaining in popularity. Do you think high–
efficiency technology is enough to make washers and dryers heterogeneous shopping
products? Explain.
Students’ answers will vary.
2. A local civic organization has asked you to give a luncheon presentation about
planned obsolescence. Rather than pursuing a negative approach by talking about
how businesses exploit customers through planned obsolescence, you have decided to
talk about the benefits of producing products that do not last forever. Prepare a one–
page outline of your presentation.
Students may come up with some creative reasons for producing products that do not last
Application Questions
1. Form a team of four or five. Have the team determine what the tangible and
intangible benefits are for a computer, a tube of toothpaste, a beauty salon, and a
dentist.
Computer: Tangible benefits include the storage capacity, speed, aesthetics (such as variety
of colors), and the warranty. Intangible benefits include how efficient and productive the
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
2. Break into groups of four or five. From the list of products below, have each member
of the group classify each product into the category (convenience, shopping, specialty,
unsought) that they think fits best from their perspective as a consumer (i.e., if they
were buying the product). The products include Coca Cola (brand), a car stereo, a
winter coat, a pair of shoes, life insurance, a pair of blue jeans, hamburgers,
shampoo, canned vegetables, and frozen pizza.
Students’ answers will differ. They should give reasons why they have placed each product
3. Law & Order is a popular television show with numerous brand extensions. Do you
think the brand is overextended? Explain.
The effects of overextending the Law & Order brand have already begun. Because shows
4. A local supermarket would like to introduce their own brand of paper goods (e.g.,
paper towels, facial tissue, etc.) to sell alongside their current inventory. The company
has hired you to generate a report outlining the advantages and disadvantages of
doing so. Write the report.
Although students’ answers will vary, they should address some of these points. Retailers’
private-label store brands have become more popular and are increasing their share of the
5. How does Hormel use its website (http://www.hormel.com) to promote its products?
Is the site designed more to promote the company or its brands? Check out the Spam
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website at http://www.spam.com/. How do you think Hormel is able to successfully
sustain this brand, which is often the punch line to a joke?
Students’ answers will vary.
6. Find a product at home that has a distinctive package. Write a paragraph evaluating
that package based on the four functions of packaging discussed in this chapter.
7. List the countries to which Levi Strauss & Co. markets through its website,
http://www.levi.com/. How do the product offerings in the United States selections
differ from those in Europe?
Levi Strauss markets in the United States, Canada, Europe/South Africa (38 countries),
8. Land’s End and L.L. Bean are renowned for their product guarantees. Find and read
the exact wording of their guarantees on their websites. Do you think a company
could successfully compete against either without offering the same guarantee?
All other things being equal, it would be very difficult for a company to compete head-to–
Application Exercise
What is your favorite brand of sandwich cookie? If you’re like most Americans, chances are it’s
Oreo. In fact, Oreos are so popular that many people think Oreo was the original sandwich
cookie. But they’re wrong. Sunshine first marketed its Hydrox sandwich cookie in 1908. Hydrox
thrived until 1912, when Nabisco (now part of Kraft) launched Oreo. With Nabisco’s superior
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distribution and advertising, Hydrox was soon outmatched. By 1998, Hydrox sales totaled $16
million, while Oreo’s revenues were at $374 million. Hydrox has been purchased by Keebler
(subsequently purchased by Kellogg), who are trying to give the cookie a major facelift. You are
part of the Keebler team deciding what to do with the Hydrox brand.
Activities
1. Can you re-create Hydrox through a name change? What kind of brand name could go
head-to-head with Oreo? (Most people unfamiliar with Hydrox think it is a cleaning
product.) Make a list of three to five possibilities.
2. How can you package your renewed sandwich cookie to make it more attractive on the
shelf than Oreo? What about package size? Draft a brief packaging plan for the new
Hydrox (or whatever name you chose).
3. Can you modify the original formula to make something new and more competitive? Will
a brand extension work here? Why, or why not?
Purpose: To show students how important branding can be to product success. Students try to
relaunch the Hydrox cookie brand (the original chocolate sandwich cookie) by investigating
branding issues (including brand name and brand mark), determining the role of packaging, and
assessing the feasibility of brand extensions.
Setting It Up: This exercise will work best in teams or as a group project. It could also serve as
the basis for a marketing plan project.
This exercise was inspired by the following Great Idea in Teaching Marketing.
Alice Griswold, Clarke College
The Oreo Debate
This exercise can be effectively used in the chapters relating to “product” as it deals with issues
pertaining to brands (national versus private), packaging, brand loyalty, and image.
I come to class with three packages of chocolate sandwich cookies—Oreo, Hydrox, and a
private-label brand. I then ask the students which brand is their favorite. Invariably, most of the
class chooses the Oreo cookie. At this point, we launch into a taste test where each student
selects one cookie from each package and “blindly” tastes them. Most are able to identify the
Oreo cookie, but struggle to differentiate between the other two. I then ask them which is the
“original” sandwich cookie. Oreo is always the answer, which is incorrect. The Sunshine Hydrox
cookie first came on the market in 1908 and thrived until 1912 when Nabisco launched the
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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remarkably similar Oreo. Given Nabisco’s marketing superiority (distribution and advertising),
Hydrox never had a chance. In 1998, sales of Hydrox totaled $16 million against Oreo’s $374
million. Hydrox, now owned by the Keebler elves, is undergoing a major facelift.
• New name: Keebler Droxies. What did the Hydrox name mean? It came from a mix of
hydrogen and oxygen to signify pure ingredients, but consumer research studies revealed it
sounded more like a cleaning fluid.
• Updated packaging
• Reformulated cookie
• Differentiated selling point—”The original cookie” won’t work, nobody believes it.
Not only does Hydrox face a huge challenge trying to catch up to Oreo, but they face challenges
from the private label cookies with their improved quality and lower price.
Price comparisons will show the private label at almost half the price of Oreo with Hydrox
somewhere in between. Recently, Oreo has dropped their price to be more competitive.
Packaging comparisons show all three packages using the same blue tones, so as to perhaps
confuse the customer. This exemplifies the stimulus generalization concept in consumer behavior
studies.
Students enjoy this exercise because it allows them to personally test a favorite product and
apply numerous marketing and consumer behavior concepts as well.
Ethics Exercise
A product that a potential buyer knows about but is not actively seeking is called an unsought
product. Is the marketing of unsought products unethical? Discuss your answer in terms of the
AMA Code of Ethics, found at http://www.marketingpower.com.
1. Is the marketing of unsought products unethical? Discuss your answer in terms of the
AMA Code of Ethics, found at http://www.marketingpower.com.
Marketing unsought products is not unethical, because consumers may have needs and
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The AMA Code of Ethics does not prevent the marketing of unsought products.
Video Assignment: Zappos
1. Zappos sells all four categories of consumer products.
a. True
b. False
2. When Steve discusses the “buyer for outdoor” and the “buyer for running,” what does he
mean?
a. These are the people responsible for determining how people buy these items from
Zappos.
b. These are the people who determine the product mix for each of these categories.
c. These are the people who buy products that have been modified specifically for
Zappos.
d. These are the people who decide when to reposition their category.
3. Zappos offers consumers and brands things that traditional stores may not. Which of the
following is true?
a. Zappos offers specialty products at a steep discount to consumers, while helping
brands grow their equity through awareness.
b. The use of captive brands by Zappos allows companies to branch into new areas with
minimal risk to their other brands. Customers benefit from captive brands because
they get high quality without always paying the highest price.
c. Zappos offers consumers the ability to compare shopping products with the one-stop
shopping of convenience products, while offering brands the ability to leverage their
brand equity while still being available in a wide product mix.
d. Zappos offers a unique co-branding strategy for its vendors that allow them to