Managing Product Lines

of four major companies? One example is Kraft Food Corporation, which has so many different product lines such as Wishbone salad dressing, WheatThins, Oreos, and even Tang!

Each of these products is it's own product line, with many side products and complementary products. Oreo's alone has over 15 different cookie products in the Oreo line!


Did you know that most food products are produced by one
It would be far too much to expect one manager to look after ALL the products and be able to handel them and foresee problems. Instead each product line has it's own manager to overlook the line and ensure quality and customer satisfaction. The manager makes decisions regarding whether to add a new product to the product line mix, (this is called stretching) or to get rid of a few product in the product mix (this is called contraction).
There are also upward and downward line stretches, where a line creates a less expensive addition to their existing line to capture a lower income market, and not allow their competetors to gain control over that market. An upward expansion is when a company creates a luxery line or more expensive version of their product. This is made to appeal to a higher end demographic, and can help elevate an entire product line.
In the case of Volvo, the foreign car, their product line is narrow, as they only offer a few options or products. But in the case of Oreo's, the product line is full, meaning they offere as much as possible! If I had a choice, I would chose to be the marketing head of a wide product line, because there are so many more options to choose from, and different angles one could try to promote products. You could use cross marketing and have Oreo cookies include a coupon for Oreo candy bars, or you could build an entire campaign around the bevy of Oreo products. All in all, the more a product line has to offer, the more challenging and interesting it would be to manage.