Many businesses view their product or service as the tangible item the customer receives.
So you buy a new car and that’s the product. It’s not as simple as that in marketing terms!
The product is more than what you see
Taking the car as an example the product becomes more complex than you first thought as there are three levels to this product. The Core product, the Actual product and the Augmented product.
Here’s a summary of how the three levels differ.
The CORE product is NOT the tangible, physical product. You can’t touch it. The Core product is the benefit of the product to the customer – so getting from A to B, the convenience of having a car rather than using public transport etc.
The ACTUAL product is the car itself. It’s the tangible piece of machinery that you drive and can touch an feel.
The AUGMENTED product is the non-physical part of the product. Think about adding value after the sale. It could be warranties, customer service etc.
Think about your own products and services a little deeper and see if you can identify the core, actual and augmented elements.