Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

The product offering, the essential element of an organization’s marketing program, is generally the foundation when constructing a marketing mix. Product consists of everything, favorable and unfavorable, that a person receives in an exchange.

Types of consumer products

Products can be classified as either business (industrial) or consumer products, depending on the buyer’s intentions. Chanel products are consumer products that are bought to satisfy an individual’s personal wants. There are several ways to classify consumer products according to how much effort is normally used to shop for them. The most popular approach includes these four types: convenience products, shopping products, specialty products, and unsought products. Chanel products classify in to shopping products, specialty products, and unsought products. Chanel glasses, fragrances, and cosmetic products are considered as shopping products, which requires comparison shopping.  Those products are more expensive then the convenience products and are found in only Chanel retail stores and few department stores. Some of Chanel products, like clothing, handbags, fragrances, are specialty products because some Chanel consumers see Chanel products as symbol of their identity; they are reluctant to accept substitutes. Chanel’s new products fall into the category of unsought products until Chanel advertise and promote them.

Product items, lines, and mixes

Product line is a group of closely related product items, and the product item is a specific version of a product that can be designed as a distinct offering among an organization’s products. Chanel has deep product line; for example, the fragrance, Chanel has variety of product items such as: N^。5, N^。Eau Premiere, Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, Chance, N^。19, N^。19 Poudre and etc. Chanel product mix width is also broad, which is the number of product lines an organization offers; they offer clothing, handbags, glasses, watches, jewelries, fragrances, and cosmetic products.

Branding

Marketer uses of branding is vital in distinguishing their products from those of the competitions. A brand is a name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies a seller’s products and differentiates them from competitors’ products. A brand name is the part that can be spoken, including letters, words, and numbers. Chanel is a brand name. The brand mark is the elements of a brand that cannot be spoken. Chanel’s brand mark comprises of two interlocked and opposing letters “c”. The benefits of branding are product identification, repeat sales, and new product sales. Branding allows Chanel to distinguish its products from all others. Branding also helps Chanel's consumers to identify its products that they wish to buy again. Lastly, branding is extremely useful to Chanel when introducing new products.