emand curve outward), but simply shifts demand from one supplier to another. When marketing associations promote a specific good (such as milk or cheese) without mentioning any brand names, the goal is to shift the demand curve so that there is greater demand throughout the market as a whole; this, in turn, translates to increased demand for companies within that market (Gorski, 1998, p. E).
At the heart of advertising is the belief that any product can be differentiated from any other product even when there do not appear to be significant differences during the initial analysis. Traditional marketing lifecycle analysis holds that products which enter the mature phase of the lifecycle are often perceived as being commodities, meaning that consumers perceive little difference from one brand to the next. Other products are, by their nature, considered commodities offering their producers little or no control over marketing except to compete on price. Theodore Levitt suggests that this interpretation is incorrect and that all products, including fruits and vegetables (products traditionally viewed as commodities) can benefit from product differentiation. According to Levitt, any product can have its demand boosted, or at least separated, from other brands (Levitt, 1980, n.p.).
Levitt suggests that even dealers who sell such undifferentiated products as pork bellies are in fact selling their own services. Issues such as packaging, distribution, delivery, accounting practices and similar "intangibles" can be used by marketers to differentiate themselves from the competition even when the product's characteristics are not sufficient to differentiate it from the competition. By recognizing what the company is truly selling, and by recognizing factors which may be significant in the minds of the consumers, companies can create a marketing strategy which enables them to compete on more than just price. The result is that they are ...