Providing Value to Customers

Key Takeaways

• Developing and implementing a marketing program involves a combination of tools called the marketing mix (often referred to as the "four Ps" of marketing): product, price, place, and promotion.
• Before settling on a marketing strategy, marketers often do marketing research to collect and analyze relevant data.
• First, they look at secondary data that have already been collected, and then they collect new data, called primary data.
• Methods for collecting primary data include surveys, personal interviews, and focus groups.
• A brand is a word, letter, sound, or symbol that differentiates a product from its competitors.
• To protect a brand name, the company takes out a trademark by registering it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
• There are three major branding strategies:

1. With private branding, the maker sells a product to a retailer who resells it under its own name.
2. Under generic branding, a no-brand product contains no identification except for a description of the contents.
3. Using manufacture branding, a company sells products under its own brand names.

• When consumers have a favorable experience with a product, it builds brand equity. If consumers are loyal to it over time, it enjoys brand loyalty.
• Packaging – the container holding the product – can influence consumers' decisions to buy products or not buy them. It offers them a glimpse of the product and should be designed to attract their attention.
• Labeling – the information on the packaging – identifies the product. It provides information on the contents, the manufacturer, the place where it was made, and any risks associated with its use.