DMM 08
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Assignment – I
Assignment Code: 2017DMM08B1 Maximum Marks: 100
Last date of Submission: 15th November 2017
Section-A
Each question carries 25 Marks.
1. a. Elucidate why Product Life Cycle is a useful tool for helping managers organizes their
thinking about the product strategy and management.
b. Give a detailed account of product lifecycle stages of the following product (a) Laptops
(b) Digital camera (c) luxury watches. Justify the position giving appropriated information.
2. a. “Positioning is the fountainhead from which flows the decision of marketing mix”
Substantiate this statement with examples.
b. Discuss the positioning adopted by one brand in the following product category
(a) Soap (b) medium size car (c) Smartphone
Section-B (50 Marks)
Case Study
Tropicana
Tropicana is a very famous brand that sells fruit juice worldwide. PepsiCo experienced great success with its Tropicana brand, acquired in 1998. Then in 2009, the company launched a redesigned package to “refresh and modernize” the brand. The goal was to create an “emotional attachment by ‘heroing’ the juice and trumpeting the natural fruit goodness.” Arnell Group led the extreme makeover that led to an entirely new look, downplaying the brand name, raising the prominence of the phrase “100 percent orange pure & natural,” and replacing the “straw in an orange” graphic on the front of the package with a close-up of a glass of orange juice.
We thought it would be important to take this brand and bring it or evolve it into a more current or modern state.” stated Peter Arnell, director of the creative agency Arnell in his speech explaining the strategy chosen for the Tropicana product.
“Historically, we always show the outside of the orange. What was fascinating was that we had never shown the product called the juice.”
The agency decided then to take the orange and move it to the lid of the bottle. The idea is creative and interesting, as we can see that the cap really has the shape and texture of half an orange that you can squeeze to obtain a fresh orange juice. This message goes along with the new advertising campaign launched by the same time, and both the packaging and the ad include the statement “Squeeze, it’s a natural”.
Tropicana invested 35 million dollars in an advertising campaign that promoted the new packaging for the fruit juice brand. Both the packaging design and the advertising campaign were created by the same agency; Arnell. On January 8th 2009, Tropicana launched the new packaging for its best-selling product in North America – Tropicana Pure Premium, with sales revenues reaching more than 700 million dollars per year.
A few days later, consumers started criticizing the new design, especially on social networks. Consumer response was swift and negative. The package looked “ugly” or “stupid,” and some even confused it with a store brand. Two months later, sales dropped by 20%, and this spectacular decrease in sales represented a loss of 30 million dollars for Tropicana.
Meanwhile, Tropicana’s competitors took advantage of the “Tropicana crisis” and gained the sales lost by the fruit juice brands. After only two months, PepsiCo management announced it would revert to the old packaging On February 23rd 2009, Tropicana announced that it would return to its original packaging design, and within a few months, the old packaging was back for good on all supermarket shelves. In total, this initiative cost Tropicana more than 50 million dollars.
As per product and marketing experts, after the company designs its packaging, it must test it. Engineering tests ensure that the package stands up under normal conditions; visual tests, that the script is legible and the colors harmonious; dealer tests, those dealers find the packages attractive and easy to handle; and consumer tests, that buyers will respond favorably. Eye tracking by hidden cameras can assess how much consumers notice and examine packages.
Case Questions:
1. Discuss the importance and the process of concept testing.
2. Describe the factors that contribute to the failure of new product packaging of Tropicana.
3. Study the current packagings used by Tropicana on internet, and critically evaluate the effectiveness in Indian market.
DMM 08
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Assignment – II
Assignment Code: 2017DMM08B2 Maximum Marks: 100
Last date of Submission: 15th November 2017
Section-A
Each question carries 25 Marks.
1. How does the idea of a product portfolio relate to that of an investment portfolio? Is this analogy useful?
2. What are the main components of a business analysis foe new product?
Section-B (50 Marks)
Case Study
The global auto industry is in the midst of dramatic growth and change, the likes of which it hasn’t experienced since the industry’s inception. In 2010, a shift in the balance of power within the global auto industry occurred when the world’s emerging growth market led by China, India, Brazil, and Eastern Europe accounted for slightly more than one-half of the 73.2 million light vehicles sold worldwide. Unlike some of the other emerging markets where market shares are more fragmented, the Indian small vehicle segment has been dominated by three major players – Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors and Tata Motor’s. These players with their strong product portfolio, particularly in the small car segment, extensive distribution and servicing reach and strong brand franchise (created over several years) have maintained their market position for years together.
Tata Motor’s targeted this segment for itself in the Indian automobile industry with its Tata Nano. Tata Nano a small car from a big idea attained immortality the moment it was unveiled at the Auto Expo in New Delhi, causing a seismic shift in the automotive world. The creation of Tata Nano is a result of innovation leading to new market creation to tap latent opportunities lying at the bottom of the pyramid in the automobile, four wheeler segment. The car has been widely publicized as the world's cheapest car at Rs.1 lakh that would bring greater mobility to the masses of India and, eventually, the world. The financial times reported- "If ever there were a symbol of India’s ambitions to become a modern nation, it would surely be the Nano, the tiny car with the even tinier price-tag.
Tata Motor’s wanted to develop the effective positioning strategy for Tata Nano in India. Since one of the most important aspects of successfully marketing a product is “Positioning. In fact, brands can succeed – or fail – depending on how they are positioned. As the target customers for Tata Nano were lower and middle income families, who aspire to upgrade to 4- wheelers from being 2-wheeler users and since many of such families stay away from purchasing 4- wheelers primarily due to the affordability factor .Management at Tata Motor’s tried to focus on the price factor and developed “Price Positioning Strategy” for Tata Nano. Tata Nano tried to position itself as the most Affordable Car in the world. The former Chairman of Tata, Mr. Ratan Tata, has envisioned Tata Nano to become a “People’s car.” The car was positioned as a people’s car since it offers comfort and affordability to every person but inadvertently Tata Nano got positioned as the “Poor Man’s Car” and “Cheap Car”.
Combining the predictions about car ownership in India with the growth in GDP per Capita in India, predicted that automobile sector, especially the small car market is one of the most competitive sectors in India. In a market like this, a car like Tata Nano had the potential to sell like hot cakes. But those ambitions stalled. Despite a booming economy and strong consumer outlook, Tata Nano failed to leverage this opportunity to gain a foothold in this segment and after four years it was repositioned.
Too Many Crises – Since its launch with great fanfare in 2009, the Nano has swerved from one crisis to another. There was opposition to Tata’s original plans to site the factory in West Bengal, forcing a last-minute scramble to switch the site to Sanand. The orders then petered out. To make matters worse, a few cars burst into flames, raising fears about the Nano’s safety. Sales, which had been predicted to be 20,000 a month, fell as low as 509 in November 2009. Sales recovered to 10,000 a month in the spring, but fell back again to 3,260 in July, 2010 amid a slump in the Indian car market caused by rising interest rates and fuel prices.
As per experts, Nano was a consumer behavior assessment failure. The brand managers positioned the car as the next upgrade for a family of four with a two wheeler. But every such household had an aspiration to move to something better and not necessarily cheaper. Even if the consumer was in that income bracket, he aspired for something cooler. This point was not taken into consideration while the brand managers were coming up with the positioning.
The next campaign focused on the tier 2 cities with bad roads and little or no inclination to move things along. This further hit the car sales. Finally now the Nano has been positioned as a cool car to have fun with. Also the colors and the powerful AC are being positioned as the differentiators along with the classic adage of better fuel efficiency that has helped its sales. The road ahead for Tata Motor’s continues to be challenging, yet full of opportunities but Tata Motor’s is committed to improve its customer-centricity, to better understand customer needs and translate them into exciting and appropriate products for their markets in order to increase the "perceived value" of its aspirational venture Nano .
After four years of it commercial launch Tata Nano, decided to create a new niche for itself in august 2013 , by managing to move away from tag like the “world’s cheapest car to "smart city car". Thus they are repositioning Tata Nano as a "smart city car" by focusing on the youth to rejuvenate its image. Tata Motor’s have repositioned Tata Nano by boasting of some “intelligent features” like power steering option, improved interior and exterior of the car and improved fuel efficiency and additional features like remote keyless entry, twin glove boxes, and a four-speaker Amphi Stream music system with Bluetooth, USB and auxiliary connectivity. The new Nano is available with new personalization kits- Jet, Alpha, Remix, and Peach. Focusing on the youth to rejuvenate its image because, its buyer profile has been getting younger since the launch of the 2012 edition. About 45% of the buyers are younger than 35 years. Thus moving away from the concept of being an affordable four-wheeler. With the upgrades, Tata Motor’s is trying to increase the value for money proposition it offers to customers.
Although Tata Motors have developed proper repositioning strategies this time that will make the product cater to a larger number of customer segments. Changing perceptions of consumers is not so easy and it will take time. And Jack Trout, one of the world’s leading international marketing strategists has given the Tata Motor’s unsolicited advice to just ‘kill the brand’.
CASE QUESTIONS:
1. Do you think this repositioning will transform the Tata Nano's fortunes? - Is there a future for the product?
2. What could have been done to position the car better? Discuss 2 alternative positioning stands.
3. Should the company “kill the brand” as advised by Jack Trout, critically discuss and justify.
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Assignment – I
Assignment Code: 2017DMM08B1 Maximum Marks: 100
Last date of Submission: 15th November 2017
Section-A
Each question carries 25 Marks.
1. a. Elucidate why Product Life Cycle is a useful tool for helping managers organizes their
thinking about the product strategy and management.
b. Give a detailed account of product lifecycle stages of the following product (a) Laptops
(b) Digital camera (c) luxury watches. Justify the position giving appropriated information.
2. a. “Positioning is the fountainhead from which flows the decision of marketing mix”
Substantiate this statement with examples.
b. Discuss the positioning adopted by one brand in the following product category
(a) Soap (b) medium size car (c) Smartphone
Section-B (50 Marks)
Case Study
Tropicana
Tropicana is a very famous brand that sells fruit juice worldwide. PepsiCo experienced great success with its Tropicana brand, acquired in 1998. Then in 2009, the company launched a redesigned package to “refresh and modernize” the brand. The goal was to create an “emotional attachment by ‘heroing’ the juice and trumpeting the natural fruit goodness.” Arnell Group led the extreme makeover that led to an entirely new look, downplaying the brand name, raising the prominence of the phrase “100 percent orange pure & natural,” and replacing the “straw in an orange” graphic on the front of the package with a close-up of a glass of orange juice.
We thought it would be important to take this brand and bring it or evolve it into a more current or modern state.” stated Peter Arnell, director of the creative agency Arnell in his speech explaining the strategy chosen for the Tropicana product.
“Historically, we always show the outside of the orange. What was fascinating was that we had never shown the product called the juice.”
The agency decided then to take the orange and move it to the lid of the bottle. The idea is creative and interesting, as we can see that the cap really has the shape and texture of half an orange that you can squeeze to obtain a fresh orange juice. This message goes along with the new advertising campaign launched by the same time, and both the packaging and the ad include the statement “Squeeze, it’s a natural”.
Tropicana invested 35 million dollars in an advertising campaign that promoted the new packaging for the fruit juice brand. Both the packaging design and the advertising campaign were created by the same agency; Arnell. On January 8th 2009, Tropicana launched the new packaging for its best-selling product in North America – Tropicana Pure Premium, with sales revenues reaching more than 700 million dollars per year.
A few days later, consumers started criticizing the new design, especially on social networks. Consumer response was swift and negative. The package looked “ugly” or “stupid,” and some even confused it with a store brand. Two months later, sales dropped by 20%, and this spectacular decrease in sales represented a loss of 30 million dollars for Tropicana.
Meanwhile, Tropicana’s competitors took advantage of the “Tropicana crisis” and gained the sales lost by the fruit juice brands. After only two months, PepsiCo management announced it would revert to the old packaging On February 23rd 2009, Tropicana announced that it would return to its original packaging design, and within a few months, the old packaging was back for good on all supermarket shelves. In total, this initiative cost Tropicana more than 50 million dollars.
As per product and marketing experts, after the company designs its packaging, it must test it. Engineering tests ensure that the package stands up under normal conditions; visual tests, that the script is legible and the colors harmonious; dealer tests, those dealers find the packages attractive and easy to handle; and consumer tests, that buyers will respond favorably. Eye tracking by hidden cameras can assess how much consumers notice and examine packages.
Case Questions:
1. Discuss the importance and the process of concept testing.
2. Describe the factors that contribute to the failure of new product packaging of Tropicana.
3. Study the current packagings used by Tropicana on internet, and critically evaluate the effectiveness in Indian market.
DMM 08
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Assignment – II
Assignment Code: 2017DMM08B2 Maximum Marks: 100
Last date of Submission: 15th November 2017
Section-A
Each question carries 25 Marks.
1. How does the idea of a product portfolio relate to that of an investment portfolio? Is this analogy useful?
2. What are the main components of a business analysis foe new product?
Section-B (50 Marks)
Case Study
The global auto industry is in the midst of dramatic growth and change, the likes of which it hasn’t experienced since the industry’s inception. In 2010, a shift in the balance of power within the global auto industry occurred when the world’s emerging growth market led by China, India, Brazil, and Eastern Europe accounted for slightly more than one-half of the 73.2 million light vehicles sold worldwide. Unlike some of the other emerging markets where market shares are more fragmented, the Indian small vehicle segment has been dominated by three major players – Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors and Tata Motor’s. These players with their strong product portfolio, particularly in the small car segment, extensive distribution and servicing reach and strong brand franchise (created over several years) have maintained their market position for years together.
Tata Motor’s targeted this segment for itself in the Indian automobile industry with its Tata Nano. Tata Nano a small car from a big idea attained immortality the moment it was unveiled at the Auto Expo in New Delhi, causing a seismic shift in the automotive world. The creation of Tata Nano is a result of innovation leading to new market creation to tap latent opportunities lying at the bottom of the pyramid in the automobile, four wheeler segment. The car has been widely publicized as the world's cheapest car at Rs.1 lakh that would bring greater mobility to the masses of India and, eventually, the world. The financial times reported- "If ever there were a symbol of India’s ambitions to become a modern nation, it would surely be the Nano, the tiny car with the even tinier price-tag.
Tata Motor’s wanted to develop the effective positioning strategy for Tata Nano in India. Since one of the most important aspects of successfully marketing a product is “Positioning. In fact, brands can succeed – or fail – depending on how they are positioned. As the target customers for Tata Nano were lower and middle income families, who aspire to upgrade to 4- wheelers from being 2-wheeler users and since many of such families stay away from purchasing 4- wheelers primarily due to the affordability factor .Management at Tata Motor’s tried to focus on the price factor and developed “Price Positioning Strategy” for Tata Nano. Tata Nano tried to position itself as the most Affordable Car in the world. The former Chairman of Tata, Mr. Ratan Tata, has envisioned Tata Nano to become a “People’s car.” The car was positioned as a people’s car since it offers comfort and affordability to every person but inadvertently Tata Nano got positioned as the “Poor Man’s Car” and “Cheap Car”.
Combining the predictions about car ownership in India with the growth in GDP per Capita in India, predicted that automobile sector, especially the small car market is one of the most competitive sectors in India. In a market like this, a car like Tata Nano had the potential to sell like hot cakes. But those ambitions stalled. Despite a booming economy and strong consumer outlook, Tata Nano failed to leverage this opportunity to gain a foothold in this segment and after four years it was repositioned.
Too Many Crises – Since its launch with great fanfare in 2009, the Nano has swerved from one crisis to another. There was opposition to Tata’s original plans to site the factory in West Bengal, forcing a last-minute scramble to switch the site to Sanand. The orders then petered out. To make matters worse, a few cars burst into flames, raising fears about the Nano’s safety. Sales, which had been predicted to be 20,000 a month, fell as low as 509 in November 2009. Sales recovered to 10,000 a month in the spring, but fell back again to 3,260 in July, 2010 amid a slump in the Indian car market caused by rising interest rates and fuel prices.
As per experts, Nano was a consumer behavior assessment failure. The brand managers positioned the car as the next upgrade for a family of four with a two wheeler. But every such household had an aspiration to move to something better and not necessarily cheaper. Even if the consumer was in that income bracket, he aspired for something cooler. This point was not taken into consideration while the brand managers were coming up with the positioning.
The next campaign focused on the tier 2 cities with bad roads and little or no inclination to move things along. This further hit the car sales. Finally now the Nano has been positioned as a cool car to have fun with. Also the colors and the powerful AC are being positioned as the differentiators along with the classic adage of better fuel efficiency that has helped its sales. The road ahead for Tata Motor’s continues to be challenging, yet full of opportunities but Tata Motor’s is committed to improve its customer-centricity, to better understand customer needs and translate them into exciting and appropriate products for their markets in order to increase the "perceived value" of its aspirational venture Nano .
After four years of it commercial launch Tata Nano, decided to create a new niche for itself in august 2013 , by managing to move away from tag like the “world’s cheapest car to "smart city car". Thus they are repositioning Tata Nano as a "smart city car" by focusing on the youth to rejuvenate its image. Tata Motor’s have repositioned Tata Nano by boasting of some “intelligent features” like power steering option, improved interior and exterior of the car and improved fuel efficiency and additional features like remote keyless entry, twin glove boxes, and a four-speaker Amphi Stream music system with Bluetooth, USB and auxiliary connectivity. The new Nano is available with new personalization kits- Jet, Alpha, Remix, and Peach. Focusing on the youth to rejuvenate its image because, its buyer profile has been getting younger since the launch of the 2012 edition. About 45% of the buyers are younger than 35 years. Thus moving away from the concept of being an affordable four-wheeler. With the upgrades, Tata Motor’s is trying to increase the value for money proposition it offers to customers.
Although Tata Motors have developed proper repositioning strategies this time that will make the product cater to a larger number of customer segments. Changing perceptions of consumers is not so easy and it will take time. And Jack Trout, one of the world’s leading international marketing strategists has given the Tata Motor’s unsolicited advice to just ‘kill the brand’.
CASE QUESTIONS:
1. Do you think this repositioning will transform the Tata Nano's fortunes? - Is there a future for the product?
2. What could have been done to position the car better? Discuss 2 alternative positioning stands.
3. Should the company “kill the brand” as advised by Jack Trout, critically discuss and justify.
No comments:
Post a Comment