A product is a combination of goods, services, and ideas. Some parts of a produc

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A product is a combination of goods, services, and ideas. Some parts of a product are tangible; while others may be intangible. After reading the "Starbucks Products - 2017" document, answer the question: What is a Product? answer must be 900 words and clear.

What Starbucks Teaches About Marketing Commodity Products It's been a while I know, but try to think back to 1992 (or ask someone who can remember), coffee was a 65 cent item that came in a Styrofoam cup. It tasted like Folgers and there was nothing romantic about it. But some people got all jazzed up about coffee and said, "Hey, if someone were to have a fantasy about coffee, what would that be like?" Great question. Brilliant, actually. What did that question produce? Seductive art-deco boutiques. Five kinds of espresso. Egg Nog Latte during the holidays. Americano Cappucino and Mocha. Flavored syrups like Vanilla, Hazelnut, Almond, Amaretto and Irish Cream. Barristas instead of clerks or waiters. A comfortable atmosphere where people could sit and talk and read. A multi-billion dollar juggernaut industry Starbucks had a very, very clear vision - to make the $2 cup of coffee the luxury that everyone could afford. Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, reasoned that if Larry Lunchbox can buy a $2 hamburger at McDonalds, then he can also buy a $2 cup of coffee- except that a hamburger is just lunch (ordinary) but that cup of coffee is a luxury (extraordinary). And today there are millions of Larry Lunchbox people who take an extra 15 minutes on the way to work e morning to give themselves a special treat at Starbucks. vcry In 1992 if you wanted to write an ad for coffee there probably wouldn't be that much to say. But companies like Starbucks dramatically increased the value of a commodity item by re-inventing it. Now there's a lot to say This re-invention of a commodity to create an extraordinary experience is what I call "widget making." Creating a "widget" with your product naturally creates a strong Unique Selling Proposition, or USP Once you have a USP, it suddenly becomes easy to market yourself, to tell your story. If you don't have a USP, you're just another guy with so many dollars per pound of coffee grounds. So here's a question for you: "If someone were to have a fantasy about your product, service or business, what would it be like?" Fantasy is always a relative term. For our purposes, it's probably not nubile young women. In the case of people you and I deal with, it's more typically a guarantee of delivered performance or satisfaction, from someone who actually keeps his promises. Combined with you doing two more things: 1. Go the extra mile to conveniently package things together so your customers don't have to go through a bunch of hassles just to do business with you; and 2. Tell them about those things. Tell them that your product already comes with that special cable they need. Or make sure the person on the phone offers to upsell it to them, tells them how convenient it will be to not worry about that too. Tell them in detail how your extra attention to the little things saves them time and money. This becomes part of your sales story And remember this, someone who's mired in an ugly situation with some vendor who can't or won't make things easy for him really does fantasize about what it would be like to deal with someone who makes it simple

Explanation / Answer

What is a product?

Product is defined as something that can have important implications on survival, profitability & firm’s growth. Products can be viewed as different perspectives like tangible, intangible, extended & generic product.

Product can also be defined as physical, psychological, sociological satisfaction that a buyer derives from purchase, ownership & consumption of it. They are also customer satisfying objects that can include accessories, packaging & servicing.

Products can also be defined as:

A product is usually defined as an item that is offered for sale. It can be a service or an item. It can be physical, virtual or cyber form. Product is usually made at a cost & sold for a price. The price for the product is charged depending on the target market, quality, marketing strategy used etc. a product exists for a particular time period after which it has to be reinvented or would require replacement.

From marketing perspective, a product is that offered to a market that satisfies someone’s want or need. In retailing, products are called as merchandise. In manufacturing, products are purchased as raw materials & sold as finished goods. Service is another type of product. In insurance, policies are considered as products

Products can be tangible & intangible. A tangible product is something that can be touched like vehicle, gadget, clothing etc. whereas intangible product that can only be perceived such as a service, an insurance policy etc.

Product can include a product concept, design requirements, specifications, features, target market, pricing points, positioning strategy etc.

A product is considered as important element of marketing mix. The customers wants can be satisfied through the product. Decisions on all other elements of marketing mix depend only on the product. For example price is set based on the efforts taken to sell the product; distribution network is prepared for the product. Product is in the center of marketing programs.

There are different types of products. This can include:

Here in starbucks, products of starbucks are considered to be consumer products namely coffee, tea, pastries, beverages, smoothies etc.

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