Marketers spend much of their time focused on Promotion, the communication dimension of their job. Often we take for granted the most important of the 4Ps - Product. You can create the best advertising campaign in the world, but you'll still fail if your product isn’t up to scratch.
Don’t neglect your Product Strategy. To help shape it, here are the four questions you need to ask yourself.
Question 1. Do I have a great product?
Your product must be at least as good as your competitors. It doesn’t need to be the most expensive, premium or especially unique. However, it needs to perform well on elements that are most important to consumers.
Look for ways your product can stand out. It needs some ‘wow’ factor. Something your brand could be famous for. This should be the foundation of your marketing communication.
The Apple iPhone, Spotify, Guinness, Airbnb, Cadbury’s Chocolate, Lego, Google. Great brands, but at the heart, great products.
Question 2: How many products do I need in my range?
A brand rarely has a single product. There’s usually a range. So what’s the ideal number? It depends of course, but here’s what to think about.
a) It needs to feel complete. As with most things in life, 3 is the magic number.
b) Beware the paradox of choice. Don’t overwhelm people.
c) Consider different needs in the market. Have enough breadth.
d) Consider different buying points. Have a range of sizes, formats, and prices.
e) The size of your business. Think about how many products you can afford to support.
f) Think about expanding your range as your business grows, to appeal to more people.
Most brands have too many products in their range. If in doubt, pair back. Focus on the core lines. The best sellers. Don’t be afraid to cull products that aren’t performing.
Question 3: How do I make it easy for consumers to navigate MY range?
Work with great designers to create distinctive brand assets. A recognisable logo. Clear colour coding. Powerful, simple descriptors. Thoughtful materials. Make your products clear and memorable. Once you’ve found something that stands out, don’t change it. Marketers are often guilty of modifying their brand elements too frequently.
In some cases, it helps if you create a sub-brand to signal that parts of your range are different from the others. A sub-brand sits alongside the main brand. It draws equity from the main brand, but should also add equity back. It needs to be a virtuous circle,
The role of the sub-brand
A sub-brand can help you in several ways.
a) It can help you attract a new target audience. For example Gillette, a deeply masculine brand created Venus as sub-brand to appeal to women.
b) It can bring youthful energy. For example Sony with PlayStation.
c) A sub-brand can help you premiumise your offer. All supermarkets have their upmarket ranges nowadays eg Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’ etc.
d) It can also help you broaden your appeal to a more mainstream audience. Fashion houses do this with their more affordable ranges such as Emporio Armani.
There are a few watch-outs when creating sub-brands.
Over-complexity: are you making range navigation confusing rather than helpful?
Affordability: can you support your sub-brand(s)?
Dilution: are you detracting from the main brand?
Question 4: How can I improve my product?
Never rest on your laurels. Always look to upgrade your product on an ongoing basis. I’d heard this described as ‘old product development’.There’s intense competition in most markets and the world doesn’t stand still. You have to move with it.
Consider…
Is there anything you can do to improve the product quality?
What about its functionality - the product usage?
Could you upgrade the packaging? Could you make it more sustainable?
What about customer service and support?
To help you do this, listen to and respond to feedback. What is the sales data telling you? What’s the customer feedback from social media comments or reviews? Are there internal sources of feedback such as from the sales team?
Another way to evolve your product is to respond to trends. What’s happening in my category? What are my competitors up to? What are the cultural trends that I need to be sensitive to?
Summary
Marketing people spend a huge amount of their time on brand communication. However, be sure to focus your energy on the most important of the 4 Ps. Your Product Strategy. Taking the product for granted is the path to ruin.
These are the 4 questions you must keep asking yourself.
Question 1. Do I have a great product?
Question 2: How many products do I need in my range?
Question 3: How do I make it easy for consumers to navigate my range?
Question 4: How can I continually evolve /improve my product?
Without a thoughtful product strategy, you won't build a successful business, even if you create a great advertising campaign. Equally a great product can overcome mediocre advertising.