ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the wide-ranging nature and scope of product and service strategies. Products convey to customers more about a company than any other marketing activity. The chapter considers product strategy as a hierarchy of related decisions ranging from product item to product mix elements. Individual product items that are closely related are classed as product lines. Management of the product line means frequent appraisal of the range of product items in each product line to determine whether they are too extensive or too constrained. The product mix constitutes all the individual product items and product lines the company markets. Analysis of the product mix examines every aspect of the company. The product lifecycle is a ubiquity in marketing terms, the chapter examines its uses and limitations in strategic market planning. Innovation strategies have a major bearing on the focus of new product development and the means of achieving product innovation.