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25. Bundle Marketing
Aggregation Bundling
This concept involves producing a bundle that will appeal to a number of customer segments. Suppose you have four items: A, B, C, and D. One segment strongly prefers the first three, and a second segment strongly prefers the last three. It may be possible to combine all four items into one bundle and price it so that both segments will purchase it, albeit for different reasons. That is, by bundling, you are combining segments of the market with different tastes and preferences into an aggregate segment with a similar valuation for the bundle. The goal is to attract a large market and reduce complexity by having fewer products. The secret is in pricing the bundle so that your comprehensive offering is more attractive than specialized bundles offered by competitors. A corollary of the basic strategy is to produce, in addition, special bundles (or individual items) for smaller market segments at higher prices.
Credit card firms use this strategy. The typical credit card includes a wide variety of services. It is unlikely that a large segment of subscribers actually are interested in all of these services. Customers who travel frequently may value car rental insurance or access to traveler's checks in foreign countries. Others may value a purchase protection plan. They all buy the same card.
This apparently has been a winning strategy for credit card companies. American Express introduced it in 1966 for the gold card, and Visa and MasterCard followed closely. American Express continues to aggregate differing customer segments by wooing college students and increasing the number and types of locations that accept its cards. Currently places like Shoney's family restaurants and Cineplex movie theaters accept American Express.4 How this expansion will affect its standing in the prestige segment of the market remains to be seen. In an effort to cater to this segment, American Express offers the platinum card for $300 per year.
Restaurants are also heavy users of aggregation bundling. Standard dinner packages include soup, salad, and entree. Restaurateurs hope that most of their clientele will order the dinner package. However, to satisfy both large and small appetites, the á la carte menu offers individual items at premium prices. This mixed approach to bundling is especially valuable for restaurants. Because of the social nature of their service, the same menu must accommodate all members of a party.
The rapid changes in the health maintenance organization (HMO) industry show that customer pressures can frustrate attempts to maintain a single aggregate market bundle, and that companies sometimes can unbundle. Historically, HMOs have been a prime example of a pure bundle; all of an individual's health care needs are met at one fixed price. But customers are demanding alternate bundles. Employers feel they must offer something for all of their employees. Non-local sales staff, long distance commuters, and employees with unusual medical needs are hard pressed to use the standard HMO plan. Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) have little difficulty in handling these individual needs. Thus, to meet the PPO competition and to retain employer contracts, HMOs must customize reduced or altered health care plans. These are usually priced at a substantial premium.
Loyalty Bundling
Here the basic idea is to expand sales by reducing customer incentives to sample and perhaps switch to a competitor's product. CitiCorp has used its CitiOne financial account successfully to this effect. Customers who purchase this account receive a reduced price on a bundle of services. For example, a minimum balance in a money market account gives the customer check writing privileges at no charge. CitiCorp also wins. First, it gains operating efficiencies. It costs about the same amount to open one or several accounts for a customer at the same time. A bundled account opens several accounts simultaneously. Second, Citicorp's research shows that customers who purchase two or more products from the same institution are unusually loyal. Once the accounts are open, the transaction cost to the customer is very low. A person is more apt to move funds from the checking account to the money market fund during a cash transaction than to initiate a new transaction with a competing bank. Thus for no increase in its operating cost, CitiCorp obtains a sales advantage.
Consumer goods firms also package products in order to build manufacturer loyalty, or at least to encourage switching only among their own offerings. Cereal manufacturers offer different "variety packs" geared to adults and children. Each pack has between six and twelve different brands of cereals. Firms satisfy consumer desire for variety while retaining their customers under the broad umbrella of one manufacturer.
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发表于 2015-12-4 16:26:15
