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Carma Labs incorportated sold only lip balm and WD-4C company sells only spray lubricants, although these two examples, there are few firms that rely on a single product, on the contrary, most of them sell more products . The set of assets that a company offers to the public is called the product mix.

The structure of a mixture has breadth and depth. The amplitude is measured by the number of lines it sells and its depth range of sizes, colors and models included in each of the lines.

Product Line eight is a large group of products that are designed for applications that presents essentially similar physical characteristics also similar. The company designed a line of products in various forms such as: Robin company with its line of products that syrup ROBITUSSIN pediatric drops flavored cherry on the same brand but with different functions but with different packaging. A large supermarket all brands of cough medicine is not only ROBITUSSIN, represents one of many product lines it sells.

Strategies for the product mix.

The point is that if you want to succeed in marketing, both manufacturers and brokers, need carefully planned strategies to manage its product mix.

Product Positioning:

The company’s revenues and profits depend largely Medici, the ability of executives to draw attention to the product and differentiate it favorably from other similar products. From there the need to carry out the positioning, ie creating a product image projected in relation to competing products and the company.

Positioning in relation to a competitor:
As some products the most effective strategy is to position a product directly against the competition gives excellent results when it is a solid company that has a distinct advantage or is trying to strengthen it.

For example: Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, directly competing in almost all aspects of the marketing mix (up to the participation of celebrities promoting their soft drink)

For other products, direct positioning is exactly what not to do, especially when the competitor has a strong market position.

Positioning in relation to a class of goods or an attribute:

Sometimes the positioning strategies of a company requires to relate the product with a product class or an attribute. (Or disassociate from them.)

This strategy applies a lot to food eg vegetables, soups, cereals and other foods common denominator.

Price and quality positioning:

Some manufacturers and retailers are famous for the high quality of its products and its high prices. In the field of automotive industry, positioning it as a price and quality, have recently sold proliferating luxury cars that emphasize quality and sold at relatively high prices.

Positioning in relation to a target market:

Regardless of the positioning strategy used must always be taken into account the needs of the target market. This strategy does not suggest that others ignore it simply states that the target market, and no other factor as the competition is the central point to position the product.

Expansion of product mix, expanding the product mix is ??achieved by increasing the depth of a line or the number offered to consumers. When a company adds a product similar to an existing line with the same brand name it is called line extension.

The strategies of line extension also applied to services companies such as American universities now offer programs that appeal to older people and for its part, the Catholic Church expanded its line of religious services celebrating Masses on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Another way to expand the product mix, called the extension of the mix, is adding a new line of products currently available.

· Products related, same brand, Kleenex bath towels (no doubt a complement of Kleenex)
· Product disjointed same brand: forshner group in, the original manufacturers swhiss army knives.
· Product Related, different brand, Procter & Gamble entered the market to complement its lous disposable diapers.
· Product disjointed different brand: a Canadian supermarket chain called Lobiaws a new banking service within the store.

Increasing lines of high prices and low prices : these two types of strategies require a change in product positioning and expansion of the line. Increasing the high price line means adding higher-priced product to attract a wider market,

Increased low price line , is to incorporate a cheaper product line of a company. This expectation that people can not purchase the product to its original price because it is too expensive to buy it new and cheaper price

Modification of existing products , to provide an alternative to the development of n entirely new product managers with a different perspective are the products of the company (product modification) is a more profitable and less risky than a completely new design.
Contraction of the product mix, the strategy is put into practice to delete an entire line or to simplify their content through the contraction of the mixture was looking for higher profits with a smaller number of products.

Product Life Cycle : The cycle consists of four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline (aging) the concept of product life applies to a generic category of products. The life cycle of a product is the aggregate demand for a long period for all brands comprising the generic category of products.

Characteristics of each stage:

• Introduction: a product is launched through a comprehensive marketing program.
• Growth: It is also called market acceptance stage grow sales and profits, often and quickly.
· Maturity: sales continue to rise, but less rapidly, when sales decline stake intermediate producer profits.
· Disclaimer: the general product delineation stage estimated by the volume of total category sales.

The life cycle is related to a market : when we say a product is in a stage of their cycle are implicitly deferring to a particular market.

Management lifecycle : oddly enough we can control the curves of sales and profits of a product. The shape the collective actions of firms offer competitive products within the same category.

Strategy of market entry : a company enters a new market will say whether it does during the introduction stage. Another option would be to wait and enter the first part of the growth stage, after the pioneers have shown that it is a viable market.

The strategy to enter during the introduction stage of the desire for an early dominance in the market and they reduce the interest of potential competitors and the effectiveness of current competitors, this strategy gave good dividends to sony with his walkman, aiwa, Letton, with microwave ovens, the Perrier bottled natural water and Nike running shoes. No doubt should take a head start when marketing a new type of product.

Administration : During the growing season when sales are growing at a significantly and earnings are important in a product category, one would assume that the sales manager does nothing but calculate the bonus you receive. Unfortunately not. During the growth stage, a company must design strategies supported for your brand or brands that are in that category. Promotion will design that makes the public want the mark of the company. Wide distribution and discusses the desirability of improving the product in several respects. decisions taken in this influence:

A. as some competitors enter the market.
B. The performance that gives a brand within a company within the next few years and in the future.

Administration in adulthood : different strategies contribute significantly to maintain or increase sales in a product d during the maturity stage of its life cycle. Of course, the excellent result of a product with a product can be a real fiasco to another.

• Among the most common include the modification of the product design of a new promotion and to develop new applications. Such measures encourage increased purchases by existing users, and may even attract other purchased. To stall sales of the cruise industry in the U.S. Some companies changed their services incorporating fitness programs and offering special cruises (sometimes associated with a professional sports team) found a new market among people who had suffered a heart attack The reason? It was found that aspirin significantly reduced the chances of another attack.

How to survive in the decline stage , probably at this stage when a company faces the greatest challenges of managing the life cycle of their products eg camrecorders the advent of video and film cameras without perhaps foreshadow the disappearance of film as a product.

Planned obsolescence and fashion : U.S. consumers give the impression of being in search of something new, but not too new, I love the new, new products, new styles, new colors. But gradually you want to kick their habit patterns not suddenly and sharply as a result, many manufacturers follow a strategy of planned obsolescence to make a product it is outdated and thus increase the market for substitute products. Often the public satisfies the taste for it again through fashion and fashion producers rely heavily on planned obsolescence.

Nature of the style and fashion : while the words style and fashion are generally used interchangeably, there is a clear distinction between them. A style is a specific form of construction or presentation in any art, product or activity (singing, playing, behavior), then, is style cars (sedans, trucks) or in bathing suits (swimsuits and bikinis one piece ) in furniture (Provencal, French, American carly) and dances (waltz, lambada)

A fad is any style that enjoys general acceptance and buying successive groups of people over a fairly long period. Not all styles and fashion are converted to a style is cataloged as a fad or claims to be the fashion. It must be accepted by many.

Making process of fashion:
This process reflects the concepts of:

1. influences exerted by large and small groups on the purchasing behavior of consumers.

2. diffusion of innovation. The human being is the issue that is in the same socio-economic or other higher groups. One way is to purchase a product that enjoys the preference of the group you want to look like.

Marketing considerations or fashion.

When a company’s products are subject to the fashion cycle, managers must know where the stage was also found at some point have to decide at what point to enter the cycle and when to get out of the adventure team of new products .. 3M Company, Dow, Westing house, general mills, usually assigned the job of new product development teams from major adventure. A team of adventure is a group of staff from various operating departments and is responsible for the development of a specific product or business. Are relieved of their other functions, are given a budget and within the framework for their maneuvers.

In companies where there is poor record on the success of new products, the cause is often a lack of organizational teamwork. The traditional model of innovation requires that the R & D acquired a brilliant idea and investigate, then a team of engineers to design and pass it to the production department to make it a product that it sells to the sales department. But this model and serial innovation create many problems. The production person usually work out the design engineers, concluding that they can not produce the expected cost and engineers make up time by redesigning the product. When the sales force then shows the product to the teeth, they realized that they can not be sold to the target price. Since not meet the needs and desires of customers. People desperate to return sales engineers and R & D people called incompetent sales force and dominate mutual indictments.

The solution is clear, effective product development requires teamwork and R & D, engineering, production, purchasing, marketing and finance from the beginning. The product idea should be investigated from a commercial standpoint and a marketing team to advise on the idea during development. Design engineers and production people must work together to peacefully pass the design to production. Companies and Japanese studies indicate that the success of new products is largely due to the structuring of many more computer work. It is also important that Japanese companies customers come early to ascertain their views on what is developing.

According to studies by Booz, find & Hamilton, companies have had more success among the innovations have made a consistent committed resources to develop new products, have developed a new product strategy that is linked with the process of strategic planning and organizational measures in place formal and complex to manage the process of developing new products.

stages of the development of new products are eight
generating ideas, screening, concept development and testing, marketing strategies, business analysis, product development, market testing and commercialization.

Generation of quality:
- Sources of ideas for new products, new product ideas can come from different: scientific customers, competitors, sales of businesses, channel member and senior management.

The marketing concept holds that the needs and desires of the clients are the ideal place to start looking for ideas for new products. The company can identify needs and wants of customers through customer surveys and tests, group discussions led projective and written complaints and suggestions from customers.

Many of the best ideas come from asking customers to describe their problems and current products.

The companies also depend on its scientists, engineers, designers, and other employees to get ideas for new products.

Companies can find good ideas to review products and services competition. They can learn what competition is doing through distributors, suppliers and sales representatives. You can discover what they like and dislike to customers on new products from competitors.

Sales representatives and brokers of the company, vide a source of new products particularly good. They have first hand information and needs and complaints of customers and are often the first to find competitive developments. Senior management may be another important source of ideas for new products.

The new product ideas can arise from other sources, including inventors, patent attorneys, laboratories, universities and trade, industry consultants, advertising agencies, marketing research firms and industry publications.

- Techniques for the generalization of ideas: the really good ideas come from inspiration, perspiration technicians. Good number of technical creativity can help individuals and groups to generate better ideas.

Attribute Value: This technique requires, first, is make a list of the key attributes of an existing product and then modify with attributes in the search for an improved product. They consider a screwdriver. Are attributes: a round steel bar, a wooden handle is manually operated and the action is provided by the action of propulsion to turn.

Forced relationships: here are listed several items and each project is considered a relationship with the rest. Several items were installed. A desk, a television, a watch, a computer, copier machine, a rack etc.

Morphological Analysis: mafologia means structure and this method requires the identification of the structural dimensions of a problem and examining the relationship between them. Suppose that the problem is like taking something from one place to another through a vehicle of power.

The identification of needs / problems: precede creativity techniques do not require the consumer to generate ideas. He questioned the technicians can be used in reverse. Consumers receive a list of issues and say what products come to mind with these problems.

Brainstorming: group creativity can be encouraged through brainstorming technique developed by Alex Osborn. The brainstorming sessions are conducted when a company needs to generate many ideas related to a need or purpose.

The ideas start flowing one idea after another hour and a hundred or more ideas can come to the recorder.

For a maximum efficiency conference, listed four principles osborn

- Criticism, is outside the rules. Negative comments about the ideas should be left for later.

- Spontaneity is welcome. The more original an idea is, the better it is easier to polish to invent it.

- Encouragement of the amount, the more ideas, more likely exploitable ideas.

- Encouragement of the combination and improvement of ideas. Participants must follow the fame that the ideas of others can still join as new ideas.

Screening of an idea:
- Instruments classifications: Most companies require you to write the ideas of new products in a standard form that can be reviewed by a committee of new products. The presentations described the idea of ??the product, target market and competition, and makes a stimulation of market size, product price, cost and development time and the rate of return.

If the executive committee reviews each new product idea against all criteria. In the case of the company KAO of Japan, the committee considered such questions as the product is actually useful to consumers and society? Is the cost of performance is superior to competing products? Is it easy to advertise and distribute?

Concept development and testing:
The idea of ??a product is a possible product that the company could offer in the market. The concept of a product is an elaborated version of the idea, expressed in terms understandable to the consumer, the image of a product is a specific picture of the product that formed the consumption of a real or potential.