Which is more important, products or marketing?

**Blurock** · 20-Mar-12, 07:57 AM

Without a product, what would you be marketing?

A product satisfies a specific need in the market. The marketer only marries the product to the need.

**robinsonwang** · 24-Mar-12, 10:52 AM

So most of the time, both of the products and marketing methods are important to some condition. If at a right time, they can help each other!

**shani** · 24-Mar-12, 12:14 PM

in my opinion,products is most important.

**BusNavig8** · 26-Mar-12, 09:46 AM

This is how the story goes - There was a well known shampoo manufacturer that launched a new range and the graphic designer (bored) added in the label - enriched with say (Cant remember the exact names) QE10. The labels were printed before he (did I really say HE!) could correct his error and remove it. It was shipped out all over. Then the label was corrected for the next batch. The toll free consumer line was backed up with complaints that the product no longer worked, that their hair lost it s lustre etc. They, due to consumer pressure had to reinstate the initial label. NOW the point is, is this a marketing or a product issue?

**BusNavig8** · 26-Mar-12, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by Blurock

Although both are important, no amount of marketing will support a bad product.

There was the case of the dog food manufacturer in the USA. Huge marketing campaign and smart packaging resulted in all stock being sold out within 2 weeks. It obviously appealed to the dog owners.

Second batch delivered, but it just sat on the shelves. Research then revealed that the dogs did not like it!
This is also a lesson in identifying your target market.

Dont know if this is so much a marketing problem as much as a lack of research into what the demand would be for the product and what that need would be . I.E did they give it to dogs to eat before they manufactured it. Or it they werent the manufacturers, and merely took the product to market, should have ensured that there was a want for the product - In this case not the owners but the dogs! - so the question still begs surrounding the research issue.

I believe that it is an error of perception to say for eg, if you are promoting online sales of airtime, to say "there are 10 million users of the product". That may be true, but what part of that market do you have ACCESS to. Marketing is all about your accessible market and not about the market size, after taking into account that the market size is big enough for you to operate in. (I often use the Brand Development Index to calculate this)

**Just Gone** · 26-Mar-12, 11:26 AM

The labels were printed before he (did I really say HE!)

lol ....... no I'm sure you didnt and just made a mistake

**jasonpat** · 27-Apr-12, 11:17 AM

In the trade world the most important thing is product because this is the thing which make customer satisfaction but for this you guys need marketing so both depend upon each others.

**Blurock** · 28-Apr-12, 10:54 AM

A Product satisfies a particular need in the market. A lot of research and development goes into the product before it is ready to go to market.

Only once you have a saleable product can you really start marketing that product. What will you market if there is no product? Thin air?

**BusNavig8** · 29-Apr-12, 06:50 AM

I have thought about this subject quite a lot lately and come to the conclusion that you cannot separate these two issues. They go together and ate equally important and one does not rank higher than the other. Whilst it is true without a product there would be nothing to market, it is also true that marketing has been the failure of many a company with a good sale able product. The essence of commerce is to have a good/service and profit out of it. Now if this was true then there is no or it is an AND and therefore equally ranked

**Blurock** · 30-Apr-12, 01:06 PM

The answer in my humble opinion is; make a good product that can compete with anything out there, then find a good marketer to promote and sell the product for you. Chances are if you are a good manufacturer, you will not be a good marketer or sales person. It requires different disciplines and capabilities. Very few people or companies have mastered both.

As a marketer, you need to find a solid, reliable product to market and sell, or else it will come back to bite you. With a reputation in tatters, you will find it very hard to survive in a dog-eats-dog world!

Analyse this and you will find that you will never be able to sustain a bad product with good marketing. A good quality product is therefore essential in the long run.