2.1.3.1 Product
A product can be defined as anything that can be offered for want or
need satisfaction that is the term include an object, activity, person,
place organization or idea (Kotler, 2006).
In developing a product strategy, the meaning of a product to the
consumer must be borne in mind; the product should be seen as a bundle
of satisfaction and not just a physical thing. Products must provide
some benefits, which will prompt the purchase. These benefits though
psychological in outlook create a new phase in competition.
Covey (2004) opined that a “product” is what the product does; it is
the total packaged benefits the customer receives when he buys it. This
includes the utility of the goods, the product service that the
manufacturer provides, the technical assistance he may give his customer
and the assurance that the product will be delivered when and where it
is needed and in the desired quantities. He stressed that a product
should not be concerned narrowly in terms of its primary functions; even
if it is not differentiable, the seller may differentiate it from
competitive offerings through special services, distribution or band
image.
Levitt (1969) added that the new competitions is not between what
companies produce in their factories but between what they add in their
factory output in form of packaging, services, advertising, customers
advice, financing delivery arrangements, warehousing and other things
that people value.