Principles of marketing
Session-23, 24
Differentiation
Differentiation Strategies
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Product
Channel
Personnel
Image
Product Differentiation
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Product form
Features
Performance
Conformance
Durability
Reliability
Reparability
• Style
• Design
• Form. size, shape, or physical structure of a product
• Features. Features are the characteristics that supplement the
product’s basic function.
• Performance quality. Performance quality is the level at which the
product’s primary characteristics operate.
• Conformance quality. the degree to which all of the produced units
are identical and meet the promised specifications.
• Durability. Durability, a measure of the product’s expected operating
life under natural or stressful conditions,
• Reliability. measure of the probability that a product will not
malfunction or fail within a specified time period.
• Repairability. Repairability is a measure of the ease of fixing a
product when it malfunctions or fails.
• Style. Style describes the product’s look and feel to the buyer.
• Design. To the company, a well-designed product is one that is easy
to manufacture and distribute. To the customer, a well-designed
product is one that is pleasant to look at and easy to open, install,
use, repair, and dispose of.
Services Differentiation
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Ordering ease
Delivery
Installation
Customer training
Customer
consulting
• Maintenance
• Delivery refers to how well the product or service is
delivered to the customer, covering speed, accuracy,
and customer care.
• Installation refers to the work done to make a product
operational in its planned location.
• Customer training refers to how the customer’s
employees are trained to use the vendor’s equipment
properly and efficiently.
• Customer consulting refers to data, information
systems, and advising services that the seller offers to
buyers..
• Maintenance and repair describes the service
program for helping customers keep purchased
products in good working order.
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Personnel Differentiation
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Competence
Courtesy
Credibility
Reliability
Responsiveness
Communication.
Channel Differentiation
• channels’ coverage
• expertise
• performance
Image Differentiation
• Identity comprises the ways that a company
aims to identify or position itself or its product
• image is the way the public perceives the
company or its products
• For the image to work, it must be conveyed
through every available communication
vehicle and brand contact, including logos,
media, atmosphere and special events.
Strategies for Sustaining
Rapid Market Growth
• Improve product quality, add new features,
and improve styling
• Add new models and flanker products
• Enter new market segments
• Increase distribution coverage
• Shift from product-awareness advertising to
product-preference advertising
• Lower prices to attract the next layer of pricesensitive buyers