Bundling--new products, new markets, low risk

It has long been a marketing axiom that customers buy bundles of satisfaction, not products. It follows, then, that they'll respond to certain combinations of products and services--air conditioners with free installation, combinations of software packages, or season tickets with parking privileges. The difficulty is in devising the bundles that both appeal to consumers and give cost or demand enhancing benefits to the producer. Eppen, Hanson, and Martin argue that the best approach is to treat bundles not as marketing gimmicks but as new products. They offer seven guidelines for creating competitive bundles and a framework for implementing them.