Product, brand and packaging Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies revision

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In plain words

The product is the heart of the marketing mix: if it does not meet a need, no price or advert will save it. It may be a good, which you can touch, or a service, which you cannot.

What a customer buys is more than the thing itself. They buy the name on it and the box it comes in too.

6 things to know

  1. Benefits of developing new products: they attract new customers, can be sold at higher prices at first, replace products that are declining, and spread risk.
  2. Limitations: research and development is costly and slow, the product may fail, and competitors may copy it.
  3. A brand is a name, logo or design that identifies a product and sets it apart from competitors'.
  4. A strong brand image builds customer loyalty, allows a higher price, and makes it easier to launch new products under the same name.
  5. Packaging protects the product, gives information (contents, instructions), promotes it with eye-catching design, and makes it easy to transport and display.
  6. A unique selling point (USP) is a feature that makes a product different from its competitors.

Tips and tricks

  • Packaging has several jobs. Give more than "to protect it": information and promotion are marks too.
  • A brand is worth money because it lets a business charge more for the same product. That is added value.
5 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

Product, brand and packaging: 5 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

  1. Which is an example of a service?
    • a bicycle
    • a loaf of bread
    • a haircut (the answer)
    • a laptop

    A service cannot be touched or stored.

  2. What is a brand?
    • the price of a product
    • a name or logo that distinguishes a product from its competitors (the answer)
    • the cost of advertising
    • a type of packaging only

    It gives the product an identity.

  3. Which is a benefit of brand loyalty?
    • lower sales
    • customers buy the product again and again (the answer)
    • higher costs of materials
    • more competitors

    Loyal customers give steady, repeat sales.

  4. Which is a limitation of developing new products?
    • more customers
    • higher prices
    • high research and development costs (the answer)
    • a wider product range

    Money is spent before any sales are made, and the product may fail.

  5. What is a unique selling point?
    • the lowest price in the market
    • a feature that makes a product different from its competitors (the answer)
    • the place where a product is sold
    • the cost of making one unit

    It gives customers a reason to choose this product.

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