Product management is an organizational lifecycle function within a company dealing with the planning, forecasting, or marketing of a product or products

at all stages of the product lifecycle. The role is comprised of Product development (inbound-focused) and product marketing (outbound-focused), which are different yet complementary efforts with the objective of maximizing sales revenues, market share, and profit margins. The role of product management spans many activities from strategic to tactical and varies based on the organizational structure of the company. Product management can be a function separate on its own and a member of marketing or engineering. While involved with the entire product lifecycle, product management's main focus is on driving new product development. According to the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), superior and differentiated new products ones that deliver unique benefits and superior value to the customer is the number one driver of success and product profitability.[

Classification of Products
Products and services fall into two broad classes based on the tupes of consumers that use them A - (1) Consumer Product B - (2) Industrial Product 01. Consumer Product:- Product bought by final consumer for personal consumption Its includes or consumer products divided into four classes. i. ii. iii. iv. Convenience product Shopping Product Specially Products Unsought Product

i) Convenience Product:-

Consumer product that the customer usually buyers frequently, immediately, and with a minimum of comparison and buying effort consumer products can be divided further into staples, impulse products, and emergency products. Staples Products are those product that consumers buy on a regular basis, such as ketchup, tooth path etc., impulse products are those product that purchased with little planning or search effort, such as Candy bar, and magazine, emergency product is those when consumer need is urgent, e.g. umbrellas during a rainstorm etc. ii) Shopping Product Consumer good that the consumer, in the process of selection and purchase, characteristically compares as such bases as suitability, quality, price, and style. Example: Furniture, clothing, used cars, major appliances and hotel and motel services. iii) Specialty Products Consumer product with unique characteristics or brand identification for which a significant group of buyers is willing to make a special purchase effort. e.g. Specific brands and types of cars, high-priced photographic equipment, designer clothes etc. iv) Unsought Products:Unsought products are consumer products that the consumer either does not knows about or knows about but does not normally think of buying. Most major new inventions are unsought until the consumer become aware of them through advertising. Classes example of know but unsought products and services are life insurance and blood donations to the Red Cross.

Industrial Products

Industrial products are those intended for use in making other products or operating a business or institution. Thus, industrial products are differentiated from consumer products on the basis of their ultimate use. If a consumer buys a air conditioner for use at home, the air conditioner is a consumer product. If the same consumer buys the same air conditioner for use in his factory, the air conditioner is an industrial product. There are three classes of industrial products: (a) materials and parts, (b) capital items, and (c) supplies and services. A brief discussion of these different types of industrial product can be presented as under: Materials and Parts: Materials and parts become a part of the buyers product through further processing. They include raw materials and manufactured materials and parts. Raw materials include farm products and natural products such as, jute, cotton, wheat, fruits, crude petroleum, coal, iron ore and natural gas. Farm products are supplied by many small producers who sell them to intermediaries. These intermediaries then process and sell. them. Natural products are of big bulk and low unit value and to be transported from producer to user. Producers of natural products are few in number and large in size. They market their products directly to industrial users. Manufactured materials and parts include component matters such as, iron, yarn, cement and wires and component parts such as small motors, tires and casting. Component materials usually are processed further. For example pulp is made into paper. Component parts enter into the finished product wholly. For example, amplifiers are fixed in CD players. Generally, manufactured materials and parts are sold directly to industrial users. In marketing manufactured materials and parts, more emphasis is given on price and service are given more attention than branding and advertising. Capital Goods: Capital goods are industrial products that are directly used in production. Capital Goods consist of installations and accessory equipment. Buildings plant and machinery are the examples of installations. Installations are usually bought directly from the producer. Accessory equipment includes workmans tools and office equipments like calculators, fax machines etc. Accessory equipments are marketed through middlemen because the buyers of those products are scattered over a large geographic area and individual purchase volume is small. Supplies and Services : Supplies and services are industrial products that do not enter the finished product although they are used in different phases of production process. Supplies include operating supplies like office stationery, repair and maintenance items. Supplies can be treated as convenience products of the industrial

market as they are purchased with a minimum effort. Business services include maintenance and repair services, factory premise cleaning, and office equipment repair and business consultancy services. These services are generally provided through contract by small producers and manufacturers of the original equipment.

Brands - Building a Brand

What factors are important in building brand value? Several factors are crucial in building successful brands, as illustrated in the diagram below:

Quality Quality is a vital ingredient of a good brand. Remember the core benefits the things consumers expect. These must be delivered well, consistently. The branded washing

machine that leaks, or the training shoe that often falls apart when wet will never develop brand equity. Research confirms that, statistically, higher quality brands achieve a higher market share and higher profitability that their inferior competitors. Positioning Positioning is about the position a brand occupies in a market in the minds of consumers. Strong brands have a clear, often unique position in the target market. Positioning can be achieved through several means, including brand name, image, service standards, product guarantees, packaging and the way in which it is delivered. In fact, successful positioning usually requires a combination of these things. Repositioning Repositioning occurs when a brand tries to change its market position to reflect a change in consumers tastes. This is often required when a brand has become tired, perhaps because its original market has matured or has gone into decline. The repositioning of the Lucozade brand from a sweet drink for children to a leading sports drink is one example. Another would be the changing styles of entertainers with above-average longevity such as Kylie Minogue and Cliff Richard. Communications Communications also play a key role in building a successful brand. We suggested that brand positioning is essentially about customer perceptions with the objective to build a clearly defined position in the minds of the target audience. All elements of the promotional mix need to be used to develop and sustain customer perceptions. Initially, the challenge is to build awareness, then to develop the brand personality and reinforce the perception. First-mover advantage Business strategists often talk about first-mover advantage. In terms of brand development, by first-mover they mean that it is possible for the first successful brand in a market to create a clear positioning in the minds of target customers before the competition enters the market. There is plenty of evidence to support this. Think of some leading consumer product brands like Gillette, Coca Cola and Sellotape that, in many ways, defined the markets they operate in and continue to lead. However, being first into a market does not necessarily guarantee long-term success. Competitors drawn to the high growth and profit potential demonstrated by the market-mover will

enter the market and copy the best elements of the leaders brand (a good example is the way that Body Shop developed the ethical personal care market but were soon facing stiff competition from the major high street cosmetics retailers. Long-term perspective This leads onto another important factor in brand-building: the need to invest in the brand over the long-term. Building customer awareness, communicating the brands message and creating customer loyalty takes time. This means that management must invest in a brand, perhaps at the expense of short-term profitability. Internal marketing Finally, management should ensure that the brand is marketed internally as well as externally. By this we mean that the whole business should understand the brand values and positioning. This is particularly important in service businesses where a critical part of the brand value is the type and quality of service that a customer receives. Think of the brands that you value in the restaurant, hotel and retail sectors. It is likely that your favourite brands invest heavily in staff training so that the face-to-face contact that you have with the brand helps secure your loyalty.