DEFINITION OF MARKETING O - P

O
Offering

The total benefits or satisfaction provided to target markets by an organization. Consists of a tangible product or service plus related services such as installation, repair, warranties or guarantees, packaging, technical support, field support, and other services.
Offering mix or portfolio

The complete array of an organization’s offerings including all products and services.
Operating leverage

The extent which fixed costs and variable costs are used in the production and marketing of products and services.
Operations control

The practice of assessing how well an organization performs marketing activities as it seeks to achieve planned outcomes.
Opportunity analysis

Identifying and exploring revenue enhancement or expense reduction options to better position the organization to realize increased profitability, efficiencies, market potential, or other desirable objectives.

Opportunity cost

Resource-use options that are forfeited as a result of pursuing one activity among several possibilities. This can also be described as the potential benefits foregone as a result of choosing another course of action.
Original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
The process that is facilitated through licensing or other financial arrangements where the initial producer of a product or service enters into an agreement to allow another entity to include, remanufacture, or label products or services under their own name and sell through their distribution channels. This approach typically results in a “higher volume, lower margin” relationship for the original producer, and offers access to a broader range of products and services the buyer can offer their consumers at more attractive costs.
Outsourcing

Purchasing a service from an outside vendor to replace accomplishing the task within an organization’s internal operations.

P
Payback period

The amount of time required for an organization torecapture an initial investment. This may apply to anentire business operation or an individual project.
Penetration pricing strategy
Setting a relatively low initial price for a new product or service to generate increased sales volumes, resulting in greater market share.

Perceptual map

A market research based two- or three-dimensional illustration of customer perceptions of competing products and comparisons of select key attributes that influence purchase decisions.
Perceived risk

The extent to which a customer or client is uncertain about the consequences of an action, often relating to purchase decisions. Personal selling The use of face-to-face communication between the seller and buyer.
Point of purchase (POP) advertising
A retail in-store presentation that displays product and communicates information to consumers at the place of purchase. Positioning Orchestrating an organization’s offering and image to occupy a unique and valued place in the customer’s mind relative to competitive offerings. A product or service can be positioned on the basis of an attribute or benefit, use or application, user, class, price or level of quality.
Premiums

A product-oriented promotion that offers a free orreduced-price item based on the purchase of an advertisedproduct or service.
Price elasticity of demand

The change in demand relative to a change in price for a product or service.

Price inelastic

The low influence that a price change has on the buyer’s decision to purchase a product or service. An appendectomy is an exaggerated example of a price inelastic purchase.
Product definition

A stage in a new product development process in which concepts are translated into actual products for additional testing based on interactions with customers.
Product development strategy
A product-market strategy whereby an organization creates new offerings for existing markets innovation, product augmentation, or product line extensions.
Product life cycle (PLC)

The phases of the sales projections or history of a product or service category over time used to assist with marketing mix decisions and strategic options available. The four stages of the product life cycle include introduction, growth, maturity, and decline, and typically follow a predictable pattern based on sales volume over time.
Product line

A group of closely related products with similar attributes or target markets offered by one firm.
Pro forma income statement
An income statement containing projected revenues, budgeted fixed and variable expenses, and estimated net profit, product, or service during a specific planning period, usually a year.

The setting of prices for all items in a product line involving the lowest-priced product price, the highest price product, and price differentials for all other products in the line.
Public relations

Communications through the “press,” often in the form of news distributed in a non-personal form which may include newspaper, magazine, radio, television, Internet or other form of media for which the sponsoring organization does not pay a fee.
Pull communication strategy
The practice of creating interest among potential buyers, who then demand the offering from intermediaries, ultimately “pulling” the offering through the distribution channel.
Push communication strategy
The practice of “pushing” an offering through a marketing channel in a sequential fashion, with each channel focusing on a distinct target market. The principal emphasis is on personal selling and trade promotions directed toward wholesalers and retailers.