Product Management

Product Management MKT 750 Dr. West

Agenda • Discuss “Marketing Yourself Memo” • Projection Techniques • Keys to Building a Strong Brand • Product & Brand Life Cycle • Product Positioning & Differentiation • Case Tivo (discuss on Wednesday)

Marketing Yourself • This is the most important marketing plan you will ever right. • Companies update their marketing plan on an annual basis, so should you. • To write an effective marketing plan for yourself go back to the outline we discussed on Day 2.

Step 1: Situation Analysis • Who is the Company? • You • Who are the Consumers? • Employers • Who are your Collaborators? • Career services, friends, family, • People who work in the industry

Step 1: Situation Analysis • Who are your Competitors? • Other potential employees • What environmental factors need to be considered? • Economy • Shifting demographics • Industry and technological changes shape what jobs are available

Illustration • I need a volunteer who is willing to go through this process for-the-sake of illustration? Who will help? • I could also use someone who has gone through this process and has a job lined up to provide advice. Anyone willing?

Marketing Yourself • Personal Assessment (Company) • What are my strengths & weaknesses • Character traits and skills • Interests and goals • Opportunity Assessment (Customers) • Who are my target employers? • Industry or Position? • What are their needs?

Commentary • Each of these steps needs to be thought through very carefully. • Consider what you have to offer that will be valued by employers (your benefits) • Remember you are looking for features that will differentiate yourself from others

Commentary • Be sure to do your homework so that you know as much as you can about what employers are looking for in terms of skills • Set up an informational interview with one or two people who work in the industry or position you aspire to collect this kind of information

Marketing Yourself • Finding Leads (Collaborators) • Networking • Don’t be shy about talking to others • Listen and show appreciation • What you’re up against (Competitors) • Recognize that you are competing with many other well qualified individuals • Seek to differentiate yourself

SWOT • Once you have gone completed your situation analysis it can be summarized in the form of a SWOT table. (Include as an appendix)

Step 2: Strategy • Just as firms select a target market you need to identify target employers who will be most receptive to the skills (benefits) you have to offer. • It is important that you have thought through how you want to be perceived by these employers (positioning)

Step 3: Tactical Plan • Once you have identified your target employers and how you want to be perceived you need a plan of action to get the word out that you are in the market for a job.

Commentary • Remember what marketers do to get the word out to their target market. • You have to think about the same stages they do: • Exposure  Attention  Comprehension  Yielding  Retention • What does that mean in this context?

Commentary • If you rely on the same avenues that others are using you are not likely to get attention. • How are you going to make a good impression once you have got attention?

Marketing Yourself • Exposure • Personal: Career events/job fairs and networking • Impersonal: Career services resume bank and direct mailing/cold calling • Which do you think works better and why? • What is the parallel to marketing products?

Commentary • The personal route is about face-to-face contact and personal experience • This can enhance your chance of being remembered if you use the opportunity wisely to make a good impression

Commentary • The impersonal route can not be dismissed altogether. • This entails working through career services to get your resume in front of recruiters, sending your resume to targeted employers, etc. • However, here you are facing the same challenge marketers do when they try to advertise their product. Clutter can keep your message from getting through.

Marketing Yourself • Gaining Attention • Personal: Impression formation • Impersonal: Positioning and differentiation • How can this be effectively managed? • How can you get attention without being offensive?

Marketing Yourself • Retention • Personal: establish connections, stories • Impersonal: internships, experiences, interests • How do you get someone to remember who you are?

Properties of Memory • Associative Properties • Our long term memory is a network of “nodes” and “linkages” • Understanding a perceptual map can tell us a lot about what a consumer thinks about a brand, or what a recruiter will remember about you

Properties of Memory • Associative Properties • Marketers assess what consumers think about their brand by asking them to engage in a free recall task • The task is a simple one. You give a person a piece of paper and pencil present a brand name and ask them to right down what comes to their mind in an ordered list. (The brand logo is often presented with the name)

Associative Network for Fast Food hungry food energy junk food convenience fast food take-out hamburger the Colonel fried chicken Burger McDonald’s Kentucky King Fried Chicken Ronald french McDonald fries hearty meal greasy fast clean service

An Associative Network of Perfume

What would you like to be associated with? Smart Analytical Skills Creative Business Honors Degree Student Marketing Major Hard Worker YOU OSU Volunteer Good Caring Citizen

What I want others to think of me:       Connection to reinforce desired attributes:       Worksheet:

Commentary • Consider the following as you approach writing Memo 3.

What is your brand building strategy? • Who are your target employers? Why? • How do you want to be perceived in the hearts and minds of potential/current employers? • Desired attributes & skills

What is your brand building strategy? • How will you differentiate yourself from other potential employees? • Skills • Character traits • What is your competitive advantage and how do you intend to sustain it? • Remember to strive to exceed expectations • Product improvement is vital (education)

Product Management:New product introductions and product life cycle

Product Management • Building a strong brand: • Product Life Cycle versus Brand Life Cycle • Positioning your brand • Differentiation • Keeping the brand alive and exciting

PLC • The next slide will illustrate the product life cycle from introduction through extinction (decline) • As the product moves through its life cycle the challenge for marketers changes and it is important to know where you on the curve.

Profit Product Life Cycle Decline: harvest or rejuvenate Time Decelerating Growth: new segments, brand extensions Sales Accelerating Growth: build share, WOM Maturity: control costs, increase efficiency, monitor competitors and trends Emergence:create awareness and induce trial Name of stage Challenges

Commentary • The product life cycle is directly linked to product adoption • The next slide will illustrate different groups of consumers who differ in their propensity to adopt a new product. • Membership differs by product category • For example, I might be an early adopter for computer technology but a laggard for autos (my current car is 12 years old).

Product Adoption Process Types of Consumers 13½% Early Adopters 2½% Innovators 34% Early Majority 34% Late Majority 16% Laggards

Commentary • This adoption cycle is important in the case of Tivo.

Factors Affecting Adoption • Advantage – the degree to which the product appears superior • Compatibility – matches the values and experiences of users • Complexity– ease of understanding and usage • Observability– the benefits of use observable and describable to others • Riskiness – negative outcomes can be foreseen • Divisibility – can the product be tried on a limited basis

Launching TiVo • Analyze the situation from the consumers standpoint. • What is TiVo? • What factors facilitate or inhibit TiVo’s adoption? • Who is TiVo best suited for?

Launching TiVo • Adopt the standpoint of the networks, the advertisers, and the cable/satellite companies: • What do these stakeholders want TiVo to be?

Launching TiVo • Think about the competition • What are Microsoft’s potential strengths and weaknesses in this market? • Evaluate Tivo’s action plan as given at the end of the case?

PLC versus BLC • How is a product life cycle different from a brand life cycle?

Brand Life Cycle Time Sales PLC

Commentary • A savvy marketer will track their products and update the brand with new product introductions to avoid the decline stage of the product life cycle • New products can restart the clock.

Commentary • How can the notion of a product life cycle be related to your career?

Career Life Cycle Time Retirement Acquire new skills Income Reputation building and advancement Share what you’ve learned Job search and interview process

Assignment • Memo 3 “Marketing Yourself” is due on Friday

Product Management