Long time coming... Kaminey!!

Thank god and God bless my friend Gautam for having compelled me, in fact coerced me, into accompany him in watching a movie. Which one did he want to watch? – the critically acclaimed and extolled Bollywood cinema Kaminey. It is after a long time that I enjoyed a Bollywood movie which is quite diverse in its own sense. The last one I loved was Dev D.

I am glad I watched this movie, simply because of the fact that I can now believe that there is someone who is capable of producing a gangster movie which is unlike the mundane and persistently boring string of Indian gangster films majorly given birth to by Ram Gopal Verma. And that someone is Vishal Bharadwaj. Indian gangster cinemas needed innovation in storytelling, much like the way Guy Ritchie writes and directs his movies. The manner in which the movie is presented subtly in the first half and the second half taking off with an alarmingly brilliant screenplay making the audiences sit at the edge of their seats, reminds you of Guy Ritchie’s presentation style followed in the movie especially Snatch.

Albeit, this film would not impress the masses which is quite alright since it is not intended for the masses, instead it would and has been appreciated by particular TGs for whom it was made. In fact, there were a couple of people who left the movie hall and I could hear them grumbling that they couldn’t comprehend the movie at all. This has not disheartened the makers because these movie goers who prefer typical gangster films do not fall into their TG and that is great marketing for you!!

It needs to be understood that defining a suitable target market would take proper research and more importantly precise judgement on who would fall into the TG. It takes an even greater deal of courage not to be worried about leaving the masses out. Marketers needn’t be too ambitious in considering the entire mass market as their TG, which is where most film makers fail. So, kudos! to Vishal for his courageous effort and his excellent storytelling to both the movie buffs and to marketers respectively.

Can’t wait for Vishal’s next named Ishqiyaa!!

The Futuristic Level

Last but not the least - the futuristic level; and one that shouldn't be negated by marketers. The futuristic level of the product gives an idea about the trends which are taking place in the market in a specific product category. In the two-wheeler category; there may be some on-going research related to solar-powered two-wheelers.

New concept products require marketers to be cautious. There is a need to create awareness of the concept rather than just of the brand when new concept products are introduced. The introduction of washing machine in India is a very good example. Videocon created awareness of the concept of washing machines during the earlier phase of introduction of washing machines. Hence, a futurisitc view must be embedded in marketers' brains, in order to predict future trends which exactly what happened in the case of Videocon.

I hope the posts on 'The Product Level Concept' serves a reminder that even though the concept is quite basic, there needs be an understanding of it, that enables marketers to create wholly - a product that offers value to consumers eventually gaining a brand image and entering into the consideration set of the entire target group.

The Augmented Level

Considered majorly to be the most essential of all levels – Augmented Level values those attributes, which could be either functional or emotional, that successfully differentiates a product offering or a service offering from closely fought substitutes. This is the level which helps marketers to effectively visualize and develop a brand positioning and thump the same in consumers’ minds in a way which earns the brand a successful image. It is quite apparent that the augmented features would be added to a product only after it meets the first three levels; Core, generic, and the expected levels.

A consumer buys a ‘Brand’ only when he scans across all these levels. Click here to know the process of brand selection. This brand selection is influenced majorly by the augmented level which not only entails the functional and emotional attributes but also delivers certain symbolic benefits.

To quote an example let us deviate from the mobile phone illustration explained in previous posts, and look at the car industry. Owning a sedan would give immense emotional + functional benefits. However, owning an Audi would bestow the same along with a symbolic benefit – being the symbol of wealth and also synonym with quality and style in the world of automotives. This is what premium brands have successfully been able to pull off – creating symbolic values and benefits that appeal to the niches. That does not mean, other not-so-premium products do not entail any symbolic features; consider Tata’s Nano, which covers both emotional + functional features along with the symbol of being ‘The people’s car’.

Augmentation is possible with every product category and is considered the most important of all other levels of ‘The Product Concept Level’

The Expected Level

At the third stage is what we call the expected level, which usually signifies what consumers generally expect from the product. Now, now, do not be fooled or confused by this level and conceive it to be similar to the core level that simply symbolizes and satisfies the basic purpose for which the product is manufactured. Also, the expected level should not be confound to mean the augmented level which represents those features that are not usually anticipated by the consumers (will be better explained in the next post). This level comprises of all the features or attributes and benefits that a particular product or service is supposed to render to its target group.

However, it must be noted that these features are at the basic level and are offered by most competitors. It therefore becomes important for marketers to abide by this level through effective scanning of competition in order to see if they have overlooked any feature or benefit offered by a similar or substitute product.

Continuing with the example quoted in my previous post, the expected level in the Mobile Phone category would comprise of the General features and benefits like Radio, MP3 player, SMS (text messages), Camera, video and audio recording, etc. These are the most sought after features that need to be incorporated in mobile phones. I know, I know, you’d be thinking – Hey! Aren’t these the extra benefits that mobile phones have got to offer? Well, think again. Cause, most if not all mobile manufacturers consider these as their most basic product features without which they might lose a huge share in the market.

Keep reading to know the next two levels that help in formulating a differentiation strategy for marketers.

The Core Level and the Generic Level

Today, we shall look in detail at the first two levels of the Product Concept being – The Core level and The Generic stage or level. Though it may seem quite basic for many marketing students and professionals, there are certain instances wherein the same set of people fumble in explaining as to what the Product Levels are and what they exactly represent. Thereby, it would be appropriate to bring out the meaning of this basic concept with examples that could help its understanding.

Simply put the core level represents the product category, in that it would give a clear description of what the purpose of the product is and what product category would fulfil this purpose. This is the key aspect that every Product or Service offering must entail to be even called as a product or service. Consider the example of communication to be the core need, and this need would be satisfied by a devise that helps people connect and communicate to each other which defines the product category – Mobile phones. Hence, the core product here is the mobile phone which accomplishes the core need of communication.

Now, the Generic Stage of the Product level concept comprises of the sub-categories that represent main product category. These sub-categories denote the variants that are available in that particular product category. In our quoted example, where the mobile phone epitomizes the main product category, the various sub-categories would include different kinds of phones like GSM cell phones, CDMA phones or it could even represent the various mobile phone manufacturing firms like Nokia, Samsung, Sony, etc.

These two simple concepts if understood well in relation to the current market and consumer needs would help start-up companies to go a long way in mastering the art of innovation that would lead to the elaboration of the Product Conept onto the next three levels.

The Product Level Concept

We as marketers always tend to classify the product levels into three major heads – the Core level, the Actual Product, and the Augmented Product. It would be best, though to understand the concept of Product by categorizing it into Five Levels and broaden our understanding of the product concept.

A list of the five levels could be viewed in the figure given above, and to make our understanding have more clarity I would be quoting certain examples. To avoid a very lengthy and monotonous reading I would segment this explanation level wise, by elucidating one or two levels in the coming days. Keep reading to get enlightened with a realistic view on the concept of Product Levels.