In the next edition of Essentials of Marketing (publishing in early 2020), we created a neat new photo exhibit that clearly distinguishes between the terms individual product (“a particular product within a product line”), product line (“a set of products that are closely related”) and  product assortment (“the set of all product lines and individual products a firm sells). We used Coca-Cola as the example. A thumbnail of that image is shown in this post.

While we are on the topic though, I saw an interesting article in my USA Today this morning. Over the last year, Ford Motor Company has been dropping some individual products and trimming product lines as it tries to rationalize its product assortment. Did I really just write that sentence? You know what I mean. And you will know more after you read “Ford kills the Flex,” (October 28, 2019). You may find this gives some interesting examples to share with the class when you cover Product.

It is always fun to show students product failures. Especially like those shown here. I think intuition alone would tell most of us that these were not such good ideas. But it is good for students to see that even big companies, with lots of money and smart people, can make mistakes.

You might want to add a few of these images to your coverage of product (Chapter 8) or new product development (Chapter 9). Colgate Lasagna (really?) could be used with the growth opportunity matrix in Chapter 2 as an example of why diversification is so risky. Or the Bic Her (pens designed for women) might be an example of segmentation and targeting gone too far.