The marketing mix — Product

The four Ps — Product, Price, Promotion, Place — are the levers a business pulls to take its products to market. AQA expects you to know each in detail. Product covers what a business sells, how it's designed, how its sales evolve and how a portfolio is managed.

What is a product?

A product can be:

• Tangible goods — coffee, cars, clothes.
• Services — banking, hairdressing, music streaming.
• Experiences — theme parks, concerts.
• Digital — apps, games, software.
• Hybrid — Apple iPhone + iCloud + Apple Music.

The aim is to satisfy a customer need or want better than competitors.

The design mix

Three considerations balance:

1. Function

• Does it work as expected?
• Is it reliable, durable?
• Does it solve the customer's problem?

2. Aesthetics

• Look and feel — colour, shape, finish.
• Brand and packaging.
• Sensory appeal — Apple's iconic minimalist design.

3. Cost

• Cost to manufacture (materials, labour).
• Cost to design (R&D, prototyping).
• Cost to ship and store.

The "ideal" product hits the sweet spot of all three. Designers trade off — extra aesthetics often raises cost; cheaper materials may compromise function.

Product life cycle

Most products go through four stages:

1. Introduction

• New product launches.
• Heavy promotion to build awareness.
• Low or no profit (high marketing and R&D costs).
• High prices (skim) or low prices (penetration).

2. Growth

• Sales rise rapidly.
• Profits start.
• Competitors enter.
• Marketing shifts to differentiation.

3. Maturity

• Sales peak; growth slows.
• Most profit made here.
• Heavy competition; price wars common.
• Brand and customer loyalty key.

4. Decline

• Sales fall.
• Substitutes/new tech replace it.
• Price cuts, less marketing.
• Eventual withdrawal.

A diagram is a hump curve: low → rising → peak → falling.

Extension strategies

When a product enters maturity/decline, businesses extend life via:

• New markets — Coca-Cola entering new countries.
• New uses — baking soda for cleaning.
• New features — annual iPhone updates.
• New packaging — Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons.
• Promotion — special editions, anniversary marketing.
• Lower prices — reach value-seekers.

The Boston Matrix

Tool to evaluate a product portfolio. Two axes:

• Market share (high vs low).
• Market growth (high vs low).

Four quadrants:

Stars (high share, high growth)

• Market leaders in fast-growing markets.
• Big investment but high returns.
• E.g. Apple iPhone (2008–14), Tesla Model Y today.

Cash cows (high share, low growth)

• Mature, dominant products.
• Generate steady cash with little reinvestment.
• E.g. Coca-Cola Classic, Cadbury Dairy Milk.

Question marks (low share, high growth)

• Small players in fast-growing markets.
• Could become Stars or Dogs.
• Need investment.
• E.g. early Apple Vision Pro.

Dogs (low share, low growth)

• Failing products.
• Drop, divest or harvest.
• E.g. BlackBerry handsets.

A balanced portfolio has cash cows funding stars, with a few question marks for the future.

Product differentiation

How does a product stand out?

• Brand — Coca-Cola vs supermarket cola.
• Quality — Burberry trench vs supermarket coat.
• Features — Tesla autopilot vs basic EV.
• Design — Dyson vacuum's striking look.
• Service — John Lewis warranty.
• Price — Aldi's value position.
• Customer experience — Apple Stores.

A product without differentiation competes only on price, eroding margin.

Branding

A brand is the identity of a product/business — name, logo, packaging, values, reputation. Strong brands:

• Charge premium prices.
• Inspire loyalty.
• Allow line extension (Apple → iPhone, iPad, Watch, AirPods).
• Reduce marketing cost over time (customers seek you out).

Real-world examples

• iPhone life cycle — Introduction (2007); Growth (2008–14); Maturity (2015 onwards). Maintained via annual model launches and the iOS ecosystem.
• Cadbury Dairy Milk — cash cow. Steady billions in sales worldwide; little needed for re-launch.
• Tesla Model Y — star. Top-selling EV globally; growing market.
• Sony Walkman — dog by 2000s as MP3s and phones killed the cassette/CD walkman.

Examiner tips

For 6+ mark questions, name a product, place it on the life cycle and Boston matrix, and recommend strategies.