Core product

Core products are a company's products or services which are most directly related to their core competencies. They refer to the use, benefit or problem-solving service that the consumer is really buying when purchasing the product. They are at the first level in the model - Three Levels of a Product. These products are then integrated into a variety of end products, either by the company holding the core product or by a second company to which the core product is sold to, and the actual products are sold to users. In simple words, core products are derived by customers when they use the product.

The concept of Core Product is originated from Philip Kotler, in his book - "Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control" in the 1967. This is the first level of the concept of Three Levels of a Product.

Kotler suggested that the nature of a product can be divided into three levels, the core product, actual product and augmented product. The core part of the product is mainly focused on the benefit that the product brings to the customer, while the actual product is a tangible product which focuses on the quality and the design of the product. Augmented product consists of the measures taken to help the consumer put the actual product to sustained use. The core product is viewed as one of the most important feature within the product. If it does not have good functions, no matter how good looking the actual product is, customers would not like it. By understanding your customer which is through doing research and development, business firms can therefore create a better product that they want and mould the product to position yourself in the market using a mixture of the three levels of product.

The New Product Development (also known as NPD) process is often referred to as The Stage-Gate innovation process, developed by Dr. Robert G. Cooper as a result of comprehensive research on reasons why products succeed and why they fail. This model is linked the Three Levels of Product Model, as NPD focuses on idea generation at Stage 1, which is the function of the core product. Without the core product, firms would not be able to generate with an idea for their new product. Thus core product is essential when it comes to product and service innovation. If the core product is innovative and meets public wants and demand, the product will be successful. However, if the core product is abstract and not meeting public demands, the product will fail, leading to the failure in business.

Core products are central to the company's performance and make the most money that sustain the business. One of the marketing strategies is to deal with product issues. In a competitive market, a successful product can't be determined by the actual look of the product. The use of the product is the most important that affect customers' interest to buy a product. Even though they are other augmented products that affect the successfulness of a product, but undoubtedly the core product is the most important factor.

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