Question

discuss any products you are able to identify that falls under the category as product differentiation.

Answer 1

Due to the advancement in technologies and the variety of choices provided to customers, the market is getting more crowded & competitive to standalone from the competitors. Therefore to curb such competition & be the survival of the fittest the marketer can adopt the single own strategy as Product differentiation which bear to be cost leadership that help in attracting more conscious customers and enforce good brand positioning, word of mouth marketing strategies by getting more loyal customers for their business in the market.

Before going into the product that falls in such marketing strategy it's important to understand the overall concept as explained below:-

Product differentiation strategy in the marketing process/strategy that differentiates the product that is offered from others in the market to make it more appealing/promising to target customers or groups of audiences. This helps in offering a unique position by pinpointing a unique selling proposition to make it standalone in the market.

Product differentiation is important for any marketer in towards advanced and most global competitive environment. Therefore not only making the product survive in the market but also it has some other importance as stated below:-

1) Here this strategy helps in translating the product attributes into benefits and answers the question of - what is in for me.

2) Here such strategy helps in increasing the recall value of the product and brand loyalty by building brand equity of their products in the market.

Following are some type and factors of product differentiation which depends on customer perception and how brand sees its products by making the customer recognizes it.

• Product differentiation as Horizontal:- Here it distinguishes its products that cannot be evaluated in terms of quality as for example mineral water brands.
• Product differentiation as Vertical:- Here it distinguishes its products that can be evaluated in terms of quality as in case where it is possible that one good is better than others.
• Product differentiation as Simple or Mixed:- Here it distinguishes based on numerous factors such as Price, features, product & quality, Reliability, Looks, Channels of distribution, Complexity, Location, marketing efforts & after-sale services.

So to understand the types and the explanation of the concept of product differentiation it can be best understood by following examples on the product:-

• Some products the customer can identify the product differentiation in grocery stores and even when it is chosen by Facebook or Google and so on.
• Here the iPhone over android as the customer he chooses iPhone to be a status symbol and belives it is an easier interface compared to android, Tag Heuer watch over titan the customer will prefer swiss watchmaker and also belives that Tag Heuer is a better brand than a titan, the product that chose on Amazon than to visit Walmart as a customer don't want to leave the house for purchase. Here these all product category falls under the simple product differentiation.
• Here the products like mineral water brands, two ice cream stalls selling similar ice-cream but the customer choose to be one that is closer to them based on the differentiation. Here such product category falls under Horizontical product differentiation.
• Here the products like Intel i3 or i5 the customer clearly knows the difference of the two and chooses according to his preference, choosing Duracell over the batteries customer it lasts longer all such category falls under Vertical product differentiation.

Therefore, these are the following above products that fall under the different category as product differentiation which can be best explained and understood conceptually as well as it's important for the marketer to know when to adopt such strategy and when not by proper having the knowledge of thier competitor's offering of products and thereby choose an appropriate product differentiation strategy for survival /standing alone in the market.