Production Concept
The Production Concept is maybe the easiest of all Marketing Concepts. It is just about producing, and does not spent much effort on knowing something about the customer. It follows the idea that consumers will favour products that are available and highly affordable. Therefore, the aim of the organization is to improve production and distribution efficiency. The Production Concept is one of the oldest orientations. It may work in some cases, but entails the risk of focusing too much on the own operations and losing sight of the real objective of marketing – satisfying customer needs and building relationships.
Product Concept
The Product Concept can also be considered as one of the simplest Marketing Concepts. It focuses totally on the product: nicer, better, cheaper…, but not on the customer and what he might need. In other words, it starts with a product and then tries to sell this product to customers, instead of starting with a customer and considering the needs and wants of this customer. An example is a TV remote control which has more than 50 buttons and is capable of everything, but does the customer really need and want it? It is based on the idea that consumers will favour products which offer the most quality, performance and features. Therefore, the aim is to improve the product. However, focusing too much on the product may also lead to missing the actual aim of marketing: Imagine you are a manufacturer of mousetraps. You design and produce the best mousetrap the world has ever seen, expecting that everyone will buy it. But does the world actually want to see your product, does it need this mousetrap, only because it is nicer, better, cheaper? The solution people are looking for might be a spray, an exterminating service or something else. So focusing only on improving your products does not mean success.