Service and Services Marketing

The world economy nowadays is increasingly characterized as a service economy. This is primarily due to the increasing importance and share of the service sector in the economies of most developed and developing countries.

No longer are goods considered separate from services. Rather, services now increasingly represent an integral part of the product and this interconnectedness of goods and services is represented on a goods-services continuum.

The American Marketing Association defines services as - “Activities, benefits and satisfactions which are offered for sale or are provided in connection with the sale of goods.”

The defining characteristics of a service are:

• Intangibility: Services are intangible and do not have a physical existence. Hence services cannot be touched, held, tasted or smelt. Also, it poses a unique challenge to those engaged in marketing a service as they need to attach tangible attributes to an otherwise intangible offering.
• Heterogeneity/Variability: Given the very nature of services, each service offering is unique and cannot be exactly repeated even by the same service provider. While products can be mass produced and be homogenous the same is not true of services. In the case of Kissan Jam, each has different way of having it, some might spread it on a roti while another might spread it on a biscuit and thus it characterizes Variability.
• Perishability: Services cannot be stored, saved, returned or resold once they have been used. Once rendered to a customer the service is completely consumed and cannot be delivered to another customer. eg: A customer dissatisfied with the services of a barber cannot return the service of the haircut that was rendered to him. At the most he may decide not to visit that particular barber in the future. In the case of Kissan Jam, if the customer doesn't like it, probably once the packet opened cannot return it back to the shop-keeper, probably from the next time would not purchase this brand

The above was the generic view on services. But in my case of Kissan Jam, the service isn't much, its just about delivering the right flavour and consistently maintaining it.

Also, if we see the jar of Kissan Jam, there is usually a mail id or phone number given, in case there is any problem or spoilage, we can contact that. This is a kind of service. 

Product Mix

Product mix, also known as product assortment, refers to the total number of product lines that a company offers to its customers. It may be defined more narrowly in specific cases to mean only that set of products in a particular product line or a particular market.  It is basically the variety of products the company has to offer.

The four dimensions to a company's product mix include width, length, depth and consistency.

Width.

The width of a company's product mix pertains to the number of product lines that a company sells. For example, if a company has two product lines, its product mix width is two. Small and upstart businesses will usually not have a wide product mix. It is more practical to start with some basic products and build market share. Later on, a company's technology may allow the company to diversify into other industries and build the width of the product mix.

Length

Product mix length pertains to the number of total products or items in a company's product mix. For example, ABC Company may have two product lines, and five brands within each product line. Thus, ABC's product mix length would be 10. Companies that have multiple product lines will sometimes keep track of their average length per product line. In the above case, the average length of an ABC Company's product line is five.

Depth

Depth of a product mix pertains to the total number of variations for each product. Variations can include size, flavor and any other distinguishing characteristic. For example, if a company sells three sizes and two flavors of toothpaste, that particular brand of toothpaste has a depth of six. Just like length, companies sometimes report the average depth of their product lines; or the depth of a specific product line.

Consistency

Product mix consistency pertains to how closely related product lines are to one another--in terms of use, production and distribution. A company's product mix may be consistent in distribution but vastly different in use. For example, a small company may sell its health bars and health magazine in retail stores. However, one product is edible and the other is not. The production consistency of these products would vary as well.

In case of Kissan Jam, the product depth is 30, as they have six different flavours and are available in five different sizes.

Product Life Cycle

A company's positioning and differentiation strategy must change as the product, market and competitors change over the Product Life Cycle (PLC). To say that a product has a life cycle is to assert four things:

1. Products have limited life

2. Product sales pass through different stages, each posing a different challenge and opportunity.

3. Profits rise and fall at different stages of life cycle.

4. Products require different strategies in different life cycles.

The process wherein a product is introduced to a market, grows in popularity, and is then removed as demand drops gradually to zero.

There are four stages in the product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

Introduction

After all research and development has be done it is time to launch the product and begin its lifecycle. The introduction stage of the product life cycle is when the marketing team emphasizes promotion and the product's initial distribution. Often the product will have little or no competitors at this point. Nonetheless, sales may remain low because it takes time for the market to accept the new product. At this stage of the life cycle, the company usually loses money on the product.

Growth

In the growth stage of the product life cycle, the market has accepted the product and sales begin to increase. The company may want to make improvements to the product to stay competitive. At this point, there are still relatively few competitors.

Maturity

In the maturity stage of the product life cycle, sales will reach their peak. Other competitors enter the market with alternative solutions, making competition in the market fierce. The company that introduced the new product may begin to find it difficult to compete in the market.

Decline

In the decline stage of the product life cycle, sales will begin to decline as the product reaches its saturation point. Most products are phased out of the market at this point due to the decrease in sales and because of competitive pressure. The market will see the product as old and no longer in demand.

There is no set schedule for the stages of a product life cycle. Differences will occur depending on the type of product, how well it is received by the market, the promotional mix of the company, and thof the competition.

 In 1947, Mitchell brothers of UK set up a manufacturing unit in Bangalore for Kissan and India’s first fruit and vegetable processing unit was set up. Therefore Kissan has the largest market share in jams with Rs 176 crore of the Rs 264-crore market. Therefore it is in the Maturity stage of the Life Cycle.

Competition Analysis

Competitor evaluation not only gives more insight into the strategies and goals of the competition but it also provides a bird’s-eye view of the trends and future of the industry in which the firm operates.  Competitor analysis begins with identifying present as well as potential competitors. It portrays an essential appendage to conduct an industry analysis.

Michael Porter in Porter’s Five Forces Model has assumed that the competitive environment within an industry depends on five forces.

These five forces should be used as a conceptual background for identifying an organization’s competitive strengths and weaknesses and threats to and opportunities for the organization from it’s competitive environment.

·         Threat of new potential entrants: The new entrants will have a tough time to overcome the barrier as there is tough existing competition. This might affect the survival of the new entrant. Since Kissan jam is already so much dominant into the market, the new entrant might face problems in establishing itself.

·         Threat of substitute product/services: There are few other existing brands which have similar products but their market share is not as strong as Kissan. Honey stands to be a strong contender in this category since few health conscious people might opt for honey which has healthier composition.

·         Bargaining power of suppliers: Since Kissan jam is a FMCG product therefore it has enough suppliers who cannot break the flow, so this segment remains quite attractive.

·         Bargaining power of buyers: Customers can force down prices, demand more service or better quality, and even pit competitors against one another. But again Kissan jam having very limited competitors, it faces very rare scenario of the bargaining power of buyers. Though bulk purchase from the supplier might force down the price for end customers.

·         Rivalry among current competitors: There are few existing competitors like Sil jam, Mala jam, Mapro jam, Druk jam. These leads to price wars and ad wars. But Kissan stands out as it has strong brand name, excellent advertising and visibility, good product distribution and availability and lots of flavours and varieties. 

     Competitors should be analyzed along various dimensions such as their size, growth and profitability, reputation, objectives, culture, cost structure, strengths and weaknesses, business strategies, exit barriers, etc.

Buying Decision Process

Successful marketing requires that company fully connect with their customers. A customer's buying behavior is influenced by several factors:

• Cultural, Social and Personal factors: The cultural factors exerts the broadest and deepest influence. Culture is the fundamental determinant of a person's wants and behavior. Kissan jam has closely attended to cultural values and have seeped into the breakfast table. With the constant urbanisation people are becoming more inclined towards a swift and healthy breakfast. Therefore it has a very strong foothold in this segment. the younger generation too is quite familiar with the brand and tends to recognize it well over others. The same can be said for the social factors.

In case of the personal factors, the advertisements are mostly targeted towards the kids and the youths, inspite of this, kissan jams are well associated with all age groups belonging to varied socio-economic group and occupations. Thus they are successful in establishing a "connect" with their consumers.

• Psychological Processes: Though Kissan jam is a FMCG product, still a good amount of thought goes while purchasing it. It has to enter the customer's consciousness and combines with certain consumer characteristics to result into decision process and purchase decision. 

Maslow's theory sought to explain why people are driven by particular needs at particular times.

Emotions and memory also plays significant role in the buying decision. 

• The buying decision process: The Five stage Model

Problem Recognition: Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need by gathering information from a number of consumers. The need of a healthy and tasty breadspread for a swift breakfast. This is where the customer must have felt a need where kids would love something so colourful with varied fruity flavours to savour their tastebuds. The different squeezy tubes that were introduced lately had the advantage of being an easy one to carry along.

Information Search: Kissan is already a very well established brand and one of the biggest player of its sector, therefore I don't feel there is much need for information search. Moreover the information is very easily available which will lead to quick decision making.

Evaluation of Alternatives: There are limited players in this market along with some local products. Already being a well recognised brand, it has imbibed certain belief in its consumers which contributes to a positive attitude towards the brand and its products. It offers a wide range of choice in terms of flavours and quantities. 

Purchase Decision: The consumers always intend to buy the most preferred brand, and in the above stages the consumer has already built a perception about the same brand. With the presence of different packagings in various quantities in mouthwatering flavours and different pricing options, it will thus help the customer to make a final decision an buy the product.

Postpurchase Behaviour: Marketers must monitor postpurchase satisfaction, postpurchase actions, and postpurchase product uses and disposal. If the consumer is satisfied and delighted then they would come back to the same product again and will favourably about it. So it has to maintain the same quality and taste because consistency also plays an important role in customer retention. If any query or complaint comes along, it should be taken care of with immediate effect to hold the consumer's belief and trust.