Page 152 - DMGT509_RURAL MARKETING

Unit 8: Rural Product Strategy

1. Product Quality: Quality is one of the marketer’s major positioning tools. Product quality Notes
has two dimensions – level and consistency. In developing a product, the marketer must
first choose a quality level that will support the product’s position in the target market.
Here, product quality means performance quality—the ability of a product to perform its
functions beyond quality level, high quality also can mean high levels of
quality consistency. Here, product quality means conformance quality—freedom from defects
and consistency in delivering a targeted level of performance. All companies should strive
for high levels of conformance quality.
2. Product Features: A product can be offered with varying features. A stripped-down model,
one without any extras, is the starting point. The company can create higher-level models
by adding more features. Features are a competitive tool for differentiating the company’s
product from competitors’ products. Being the first producer to introduce a needed and
valued new feature is one of the most effective ways to compete.

How can a company identify new features and decide which ones to add to its product?
The company should periodically survey buyers who have used the product and ask these
questions: How do you like the product? Which specific features of the product do you like
most? Which features could we add to improve the product? The answers provide the
company with a rich list of feature ideas. The company can then assess each feature’s value to
customers versus its cost to the company. Features that customers value little in relation to
costs should be dropped; those that customers value highly in relation to costs should be
added.
3. Product Style and Design: Another way to add customer value is through distinctive product
style and design. Some companies have reputations for outstanding style and design. Design
is a larger concept than style. Style simply describes the appearance of a product. Styles
can be eye catching or yawn producing. A sensational style may grab attention and produce
pleasing aesthetics, but it does not necessarily make the product perform better. Unlike
style, design is more than skin deep—it goes to the very heart of a product. Good design
contributes to a product’s usefulness as well as to its looks. Good style and design can
attract attention, improve product performance, cut production costs, and give the product
a strong competitive advantage in the target market.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) goods are popularly named as consumer Finished
goods.

2. The Indian FMCG sector with a market size of US$14.8 billion is the fourth largest sector
in the economy.
3. The consumer durable market is set to grow by up to 45 per cent in rural and semi-urban
India.
4. Raw materials are sold in a different way from normal consumer products like chocolates,
which require no personal selling.

5. Quality is one of the marketer’s major degrading tools.

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