Екзаменаційний білет №3

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING

The number of new products coming into the market of western countries every year is overwhelming. The major part of these products is not new, but adaptations. It means that these products are 'not new, they are existing items to which a modification has been made. Only few products are really original or innovations. For instance a clock- television is an adaptation, but TV-set itself, the refrigerator - each was an innovation. A great number of innovations and adaptations are designed, produced and marketed by small businesses. Very often a new product is formed on the basis of the new business. Sometimes there is a patent to make the business more successful. But it happens very often that market research hasn't been done carefully.

Even in case larger scale producers do more research and testing there is no sure success. A promising new product may be also robbed of success by unreasonable prices, inadequate promotion and poor selling methods. Generally less than one fifth of all new products turns out to be profitable.

In software, developers often produce a final test version, where users are asked to point out bugs (problems) before the software is finalized.

Car designers use CADCAM (computer-assisted design / computer- assisted manufacturing) to help develop and make products and test different prototypes.

Researchers in laboratories may take years to develop new drugs, testing or trialing them in trials to show not only that they are effective, but also that they are safe. Drugs need to be made on an industrial scale before they can be sold.

Rollout is the process of making a product available, perhaps in particular places, to test reaction.

Product launch is the moment when the product is officially made available for sale. This is the 'big moment'.

If a design defect or design fault is found in a product after it has been launched, the company may have to recall it, asking those who have bought it to return it, perhaps so that the defect can be corrected.

Екзаменаційний білет №4

PRICING

All products and all services have prices. The prices depends on different things. Pricing factors manufacturing cost, market place, competition, market condition, quality of product. From the marketers' point of view, an efficient price is a price that is very close to the maximum that customers are prepared to pay. In economic terms, it is a price that shifts most of the consumer surplus to the producer. A good pricing strategy would be the one which could balance between the Price floor (the price below which the organization ends up in losses) and the Price ceiling (the price beyond which the organization experiences a no demand situation). The effective price is the price the company receives after accounting for discounts, promotions, and other incentives.

Prices can be determined in different ways. Agricultural prices can be set in large central markets. This is pure price competition. The prices on industrial products are usually decided by large companies (competing sellers). Prices for public services: railroads, electricity, gas, bus services, etc. can be set by the government.

The price/quality relationship refers to the perception by most consumers that a relatively high price is a sign of good quality. Premium pricing (also called prestige pricing) is the strategy of consistently pricing at, or near, the high end of the possible price range to help attract status- conscious consumers. A few examples of companies which partake in premium pricing in the marketplace include Rolex and Bentley. People will buy a premium priced product because they believe the high price is an indication of good quality; it indicates their success and status - it is a signal to others that they are members of an exclusive group. However there are other important approaches to pricing. Psychological Pricing. This approach is used when the marketer wants the consumer to respond on an emotional, rather than rational basis. For example 'price point perspective' is 99 cents not one dollar. Promotional Pricing. Pricing to promote a product is a very common application. There are many examples of promotional pricing including approaches such as BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free).