Where all the other ads today set out to show the car through different angles and its features, The new Honda City sets out to focus on the car owner. Honda clearly wants to outline its brand personality for viewers.

Honda city car owners are people who lead a busy life, are focused and dedicated for their work, are conscious about looks and fashion, but ultimately they are considerate and warm hearted people who know how to fall in love.

By this ad, Honda looks to be targeting more towards WHO should be buying the car rather than why you should buy the car. I am not sure whether this is the right strategy.

But then again, Honda City is a brand name in itself. It has gained trust from the day the original Honda city rolled out. So no doubt that the new Honda city will cash in on this trust.

Plus, Honda is synonymous to comfort and we can be sure without even looking at the car that it would be comfortable, would have a good mileage and will have an amazing pick up. Its a Honda after all.

Ultimately, if we critically review this ad, then it does not seem to attract the viewers attention. It might just be able to remind him, that amongst other cars even the Honda city is out there. But lets remember, Volkswagen and Hyundai are doing some amazing advertising out there and are gaining market share. Plus theres always Maruti in the background. So hoping that this commercial of Honda is enough to attract more customers to its showroom.

What do you think of this ad? Would love to have your comments.

So as per this understanding what can be shopping products? Shopping products generally involve more time, cost and efforts from the consumers part as they are considered as a higher risk proposition by the consumer. Lets take a TV for example –  Before buying a TV, a customer will have a look at all different brands, products and product features. Once the customer knows what kind of features he is looking for, he would compare the costing of each brand. Finally after he has been convinced of one particular product and its value for money, he will go ahead with the purchase.

Even in shopping products, there are two types. Heterogenous shopping products as well as homogenous shopping products. Lets have a look at both the types of products individually and understand how they are bought as well as consumer buying behavior towards these shopping products

1) Homogenous shopping products –  Homogenous shopping products are ones which fall in same product categories. As they are in the same category, they are considered by the customers to be quite alike. Thus there are only certain features which can differentiate between 2 homogenous shopping products. The consumer is always on the lookout for such features so that he can come to a decision. These features are therefore considered as USP’s –  unique selling propositions. In case of homogenous shopping products, the more USP’s a product has, more is its competitive advantage.

An example of Homogenous shopping products was mentioned above –  Television. Similarly there are several product categories which fall under homogenous shopping products. Electronics like television, dvd players as well as home theater systems are perfect example. On the other hand, durables like refrigerator, cupboards etc can be a second example.

Each of these products has the same basic qualities, however they are differentiated by some extra features incorporated by the company in the marketing mix of the product. Due to these features the consumer can make a decision of what kind of product he is looking for and what should be its features. Therefore in case of homogenous shopping products, consumers are always on the lookout for differentiating product features.

2) Heterogenous shopping products –  To understand heterogenous shopping products, just imagine yourself shopping for clothes. How many options do you have and how much they vary just on the basis of price vs quality. There’s informal clothes, formal clothing, ethnic clothing, mens clothing, women clothing so on and so forth. The difference between homogenous and heterogenous shopping products is that, where in homogenous the product features vary, in heterogenous the product itself keeps varying. There is still a possibility of comparing price vs quality. You can compare a Raymonds with a Peter England. But the quality of cloth even in these 2 brands will be different.

Thus, heterogenous shopping products are products which are considered to be unlike and non standardised. There is no one particular standard for clothing. A college going kid and an adult will buy a similar television (homogenous) but their choice of clothes (heterogenous) will be completely different. Some other examples of heterogenous shopping products includes jewellery (varying quality of same product), cars, furniture etc. Each and every one of these products belongs to one category, but every product is different from each other in not only features but the basic make as well.

1) Services are sold exclusively on the basis of benefits they offer –  Why is it that Accenture has such a high brand equity? This is because of one single thing which they have commanded over time –  Trust. Thus this is one benefit to the service of Accenture which other companies can hardly give. Therefore, word of mouth publicity and a good reputation are some benefits which are critical to make a service brand over time. The first restaurant you try, is one recommended by your friend.

2) Services cannot be made available in advance –  If you were running a restaurant, can you make all the dishes one day in advance and then serve the customer when he comes? No you cant. All you can do is make the ingredients. Even fast food restaurants take care that the food is replenished every single day. The simple reason behind this is that services cannot be stored. They cannot be given in advance. They can be given only when a purchase of the services has been made.

3) Time utility is critical –  If you were a doctor, and you gave half an hour to each patient, talking idle talks just to make him comfortable, you will probably lose the 10 customers sitting in your lobby. In services, you charge by the amount of time a person consumes. Thus the way you utilise your time is critical to the profitability of your business. A restaurant which does not have any customers today, will have lost a lot of money in keeping the restaurant open, in labour charges etc.

4) Services cannot be transferred –  Outsourcing is the best example of non transference of services. If you wanted to outsource your calls, can you bring the call centre to your country? You cant. Because again the costing will go high. That is why call centres are in cheaper countries. You cannot separate the process from the source. You will have to keep the call centre services in one place and provide these services in another.

5) Services perish –  The point is similar to perishability of services marketing. The concept is simple –  if you do not watch the movie now, you wont get a refund of the ticket. If you do not board your plane or your train, you cannot ask back for the charges of the ticket. A service once order, perishes, if it is left unused.

6) A service once consumed cannot be returned –  You pay a doctor for consultation and medicines. But your illness does not get cured or he is unable to find the source. Can you ask your money back? You cannot. He gave you the service which you asked for. He might not ask for money anymore or you can return the medicines and receive the money for the medicines. Medicines are not a service. They are a product. The bottomline –  you cannot return a service once it has been consumed. In restaurants, you can return the dish if you dont like it, and ask for another same one. But you cannot walk out of the restaurant without paying for the services.

7) Controlling the quality of services is difficult –  My local auto service centre has one rule for loyal customers –  Do not give your bikes on weekends. The reason is quite simple. He has a heavy workload on weekends as a result of which the quality of service is low. This is human factor and the owner can hardly do anything. Even in a restaurant, the quality of food served or the service given will vary during peak hours. Furthermore, as services are intangible, it is not possible to measure the quality of service given. Thus controlling the quality of services over time is very difficult as long as the human element is involved.

Overall these seven characteristics define a service. A hint here for a marketer / entrepreneur. Go through each of these characteristics and find out where you can bring about an improvement in your organization. I am sure even if you are meeting your customers satisfaction goals, there is scope for exceeding customer expectations by analysing these seven characteristics of services.

The doctor to whom you go every time you have an illness, the accountant who helps you with tax planning and your company lawyer are an example of Specialty product. These are people whom you search. They are not people who search you. Off course, there is competition in this sector too. But is there any competition for the best surgeon out there? Or the best tax consultant? No. The consumer themselves approach them.

Just like the above service products, there are several consumer products which enjoy this kind of loyalty. Imagine a BMW, Mercedes, Rayban, or johnny walker whisky. Each and every one of these brands today enjoy the specialty product status. Being a specialty product does not mean that there would be no competition. It just means that the consumer wants to purchase a product from your product category.

Building a specialty product takes time or innovation. When the light bulb was made, it sold on its own. That was an invention and it was a specialty product when it was invented. However, look at the status of a light bulb today. It is being sold as commonly as any other household product. Thus it is now a convenience product. Similarly, desktop computers were in great demand during IBM and Microsoft time. But now they are available everywhere and are more of a shopping product rather than a specialty product.

So what does this teach you? If you are a budding entrepreneur, you know that you need to target the specialty products sector. Its not possible for every entrepreneur out there to start a specialty product as it needs a thinking process which is beyond everyone’s capability. But yes, the one who comes out with the unique specialty product is the one who can generate profits for his business very soon.

Similarly, for a marketer the lesson is simple. Look at what the consumers in your product category are seeking. And make changes to provide them the same. You might have to cut down on the volume of business that you do (Specialty products rarely do high volume sales) But by cutting down the volume, you are guaranteed high margins on every product sold if it achieves Specialty product status.

As the competition rises, it is becoming difficult to stand apart from the crowd. Several specialty products over the years have become so common that they have now been demoted to being shopping products. But there is still a lot of potential left to explore, thereby providing various opportunities of growth. As consumers become technologically sound, i am sure there would be more and more such speciality products needed. That’s when you should leverage the power of the specialty products.

A product portfolio is comprised of all the products which an organization has. A product portfolio may comprise of different categories of products, different product lines and finally the individual product itself. Management is needed on all the three levels of a product portfolio. You need managers for managing individual products, managing product lines and finally the top level management which manages the complete portfolio.

Lets look at an organization from a macro angle. An organization is comprised of a number of different departments, all focused towards one goal – the betterment of the organization. In the same manner, your product portfolio should be such that each and every product in the portfolio is focused towards one goal – Bringing the organization on top by optimally using the resources available.

As an organization is comprised of different products, it becomes difficult to manage all of them. Thus there needs to be a hierarchy. This is where product portfolio management steps in.

How do we classify the products in a product portfolio?

Product classification is done on the basis of the BCG matrix. The BCG matrix classifies products on the basis of the market share of the product as well as the growth rate which a product may have. On the basis of this classification, a product manager can decide what level of investments a particular product might need and what would be the returns from such a product. As the other goal of product portfolio management is cash flow management, the BCG matrix propagates balancing the cash flow between all products equally. In harsh words –  no extra revenue should be given to products which cant give the revenue back to the organization.

The number of products you have today determines the strength of your organization tomorrow. This is why the field of product portfolio management is gaining importance. Although product portfolio management is not an important task for small businessmen, portfolio management is a must for enterprises and it leads to a strong organization with planned goals and optimum resource allocation.

Further reading on Product portfolio

Classification of a product portfolio –  BCG matrix

Secrets of managing a product portfolio.

Infosys Technologies SWOT

Strength: Early positioning as high end differentiated player thanks to Nandan Nilekani and NR Narayana Murthy, investors and customers prefer the company for its established processes and predictability.

Weakness: Lagging peers in making strategic, ‘game-changing’ acquisitions, consulting business has not delivered the results, losing price premiums, lost its No.2 position in the US market to Cognizant last year.

Opportunity: Best positioned to replicate the Accenture model from offshore, a game-changing acquisition in a new geography could help the company raise its profile.

Threat: Ongoing visa abuse case and federal investigations in the US could affect brand and business, management transition from founders to professionals, rival Cognizant could overtake the No. 2 position.

Tata Consultancy Services SWOT

Strength: Ability to win and execute large, billion-dollar outsourcing contracts, increasingly viewed by customers in the same league as IBM and HP.

Weakness: Made progress in commoditised services, but still lags some peers and multinational rivals in high-end consulting offerings.

Opportunity: Best positioned among all Indian vendors to disrupt the global league of IBM-HP-Accenture.

Threat: People-led linear growth means Cognizant can beat it, and there are no visible leaders beyond N Chandrasekaran. That could pose a big challenge.

HCL Technologies SWOT

Strength: Shiv Nadar made it aggressive. Vineet Nayar’s deal-making capabilities has brought in incremental business higher than rivals. Customers like Boeing and Deutsche continue to give more business, Axon acquisition considered a silver bullet.

Weakness: Overly aggressive acquisition brings risks of additional staff in high-cost geographies. Profit margin lowest among all India-based vendors, back-office business still in transition.

Opportunity: Sacrificing margins should help gain more business. Best positioned to rival TCS in terms of scale.

Threat: High-risk contracts could affect cash flow and dent profit. Post-Nayar leadership issue can be a tricky to solve.

Wipro SWOT

Strength: Billionaire-founder Azim Premji’s early alliances with global leaders like Jack Welch helped the company establish its credibility, among the most diversified IT conglomerates with businesses ranging from soaps to hydraulic pumps and embedded software.

Weakness: Lags peers in sales and marketing spend and initiatives, lack of articulated strategy and vision, strategy focussed on traditional IT capabilities.

Opportunity: New CEO TK Kurien’s strategy to create a leaner, sharper organisation could result in more profits and wallet share of large customers, shift from pure tech positioning to a more broad-based vendor focussed on solving business problems.

Threat: Life after Premji continues to be a worry, too much focus on cost reduction could come at cost of long-term strategic direction.

Cognizant SWOT

Strength: Fastest growing in the business of outsourcing, US-centric model helps in positioning, high wallet share of fewer large customers ensures growth even during crisis, blends IBM’s depth with Accenture’s front-ending capabilities in its model.

Weakness: Nearly 75% of business from the US could turn risky, a laggard in BPO business, also lags peers in infrastructure management business.

Opportunity: At this pace, and having overtaken Wipro last year, the company is already setting sights on Infosys’ position; TCS could be next, growing Europe business to mitigate US risks.

Threat: Pace of growth could cause fatigue among leaders, over-dependency on US could affect prospects during recession, will make for a good acquisition target for an IBM or Accenture in the coming years.

Credit goes to - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/how-infosys-tcs-hcl-wipro-cognizant-fare-against-each-other/articleshow/11404118.cms

To make it simple, compare two products of completely unrelated categories. Coca Cola and Apple. Coca cola has had numerous competitors, direct or indirect,  in the cola market over years (Pepsi being strongest amongst them). But the reason it is still the top brand is because of the value it provides, its brand equity along with its distribution network. This becomes an example of a product which wants to differentiate itself from its competition. On the other hand we have a company like Apple. Apple too has direct and indirect competition. But apple is known to make innovative products such that it has a completely unique selling proposition. Apple’s product are differentiated directly at the core level. This is the reason why Apple receives so much respect in the technology market and so much love from its users.

Thus you can differentiate a product on any level. Core, actual or augmented. With the markets evolving, each sector is slowly showing saturation in the number of products it has, be it consumer durables, IT, FMCG or any other. Thus to come out of this saturation level, companies generally opt for Product differentiation. There are several ways to achieve product differentiation.

Form –  A product can be differentiated based on the form of the product. The physical structure, size and shape of the product can be used to differentiate it from others. Take an example of any medicine. A medicine can be differentiated from that of its competition by the means of its potency, its usability, the way it can be taken (intravenous or oral) so on and so forth. Thus the way the product is made can be a type of product differentiation.

Features –  Any additional features being offered on top of the product becomes a plus point for the customer. The best example for differentiation based on features is Mobile phones, handsets or any technology product. They are differentiated mainly by the number of customizations or the additional features that they offer. Thus features can be a form of Product differentiation.

Performance quality –  Why is a BMW costlier than other cars? Because it has superior performance. Why is a formula 1 racing car costlier than a BMW? Because an F1 car has an even higher performance as compared to a BMW. Thus performance increases price. Similarly, your competition can present a product which does not perform as well but is available at half the price. Naturally, some of your customers might shift to the competition. This is not true for all customers. Some customers will be looking out for the superior quality products only. Thus you can do product differentiation on the basis of the performance of your product.

Durability –  In the tough and competitive laptop market, there are some laptops which stand out. These are the ones made for mountaineers and harsh environment researcher. Their cost is very high as compared to normal laptops. But by producing such a product, they have completely differentiated themselves from the market. Kitchen equipment’s, vehicles, sometimes even the shoes you wear, people want things which are durable and can be used for a long term.

Reliability –  Do you know why a Volvo sells in the market? The name of Volvo is almost synonymous with safety. Volvo manufactures the most safe and reliable vehicles in the world. That is why their buses are so famous. Therefore it is not surprising that Volvo also sells at a premium. This is because, here the product differentiation is on the basis of Reliability, one of the most valued assets a brand can have.

Style –  Harley Davidson. Gucci. Tommy hilfiger. Lamborghini. Ferrari. Longines. Omega. when i take these names, you know what quality i am talking of. Each brand has a style of its own and that is why each brand has a differentiation of its own. You will never find a Harley davidson guy wearing a tommy hilfiger. Its not that they aren’t rich. Its just that the two brands don’t go together in style. This is where these brands are able to achieve product differentiation.

Service –  In all the above examples i have been talking of tangible products. But what about the intangible ones. Well even the services need to be differentiated. This is mainly done by the use of People, physical evidence and the processes used in a service organization. For more knowledge on these, read my article on service marketing mix. The bottom line is this –  have the right people with the right ambiance and the right kind of service and you are sure to do well and differentiate yourself from the crowd.

Thus overall there are several ways you can differentiate a product. Based on this differentiation, a suitable strategy can be followed. Market penetration, Market skimming and other such marketing strategies are derived only after product differentiation is achieved.

How would you like it if your sugar seduces you with a sexy voice? You would definitely love it wont you. I am sure that this excellent ad by Sugar free natura would be reminding all the diabetics out there that you need to ignore that sexy seductress –  Sugar. And you can do that only with the Sugar free natura diet sugar.

As a product, sugar free natura has a lot of value in the market. Consumers are becoming health conscious. Thus the branding of this product was very important. The branding is being done excellently by taking Sanjeev kapoor as a brand ambassador. This move has ensured that Sugar free will have an autheticity due to brand association. After all, you dont need another ad promoting fitness secrets by bollywood actresses. Using Sanjeev kapoor also maintains the budget of the ad as a high amount would have gone in celebrity endorsements.

The message in the ad is humorous but it tingles your brain as you get a little empathy for the diabetics to whom sugar is the ultimate attraction. You cant help but think about the poor actor to whom the sugar was rejected. This would be in the mind of every women out there who cooks in her own home. By using Sugar free natura, you dont deny anyone the pleasure of having sweets. You just make sure that the sweets are healthy.

A lovely message, with a lovely execution. I feel this ad will go a long way in cementing Sugar free natura’s position in the health market.

Marketing professional services is a book by Philip kotler which covers all aspects of Services marketing in depth with several chapters dedicated to the numerous strategies and tactics of Services marketing. Due to its intangible nature, services marketing is much more tougher than marketing a product. As with any Philip Kotler book, this book too takes the reader through case studies, lessons and live examples.

The best thing i like about this book is the comprehensive manner in which each topic of services marketing is explained. With usual panache, Kotler takes you slowly through the basics of service marketing, first explaining what is required to build a powerful marketing plan for service products and subsequently how to differentiate it. This is followed up by the initial strategizing and organizing for the service product.

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Once the basics are covered, Kotler moves on to the more advanced topics such as understanding clients, segmenting markets, maintaining the services mix and deciding the IMC for services. Some strategies such as online marketing and customer retention on which marketers are specially focusing nowadays too are covered in detail. All in all, Marketing professional services is an excellent book for Services marketing professionals. The chapters of the book are mentioned below and the ones which are excellent are formatted in bold.

1. The Marketing of professional services
2. Twelve keys to effective professional services marketing
3. Delivering quality service
4. Building and reinforcing the firms marketing efforts
5. Acquiring and using market information
6. Strategic planning and organization
7. Segmenting, Selecting and appealing to markets
8. Understanding the individual client
9. The service mix
10. Pricing professional services
11. Making services accessible
12. Integrated marketing communications for services
13. Marketing services online
14. Retention and relationship strategies
15. Future directions of professional services marketing

On Amazon, the ratings of this book has sought a full five stars which is good for any book in the market. I recommend it as a must buy.

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