Ch. 12-Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing

The core service Montblanc offers its clients is the prestige associated with the brand. The brand's logo is pictured on all merchandise, providing the consumer with a recognizable status symbol. Every piece of merchandise Montblanc sells comes with a two year warranty. One of the supplementary services available at Montblanc is their repair services for writing instruments and time pieces, with the assurance that it will be seen by a master craftsmen. Another supplementary service offered is personalization of leather goods and writing instruments. Clients are seen by the same sales specialist every time they do business with the boutique in order to create a relationship between the sales specialist and client to ensure reliability  and prompt responsiveness of the service.

As all employers in the U.S are required to provide their full time employees with health insurance, Montblanc applies internal marketing in this respect.

Ch. 11- Developing and Managing Products

product development
Montblanc started off as the Simple Filler Co. in 1906, by 1914 the company renamed its self Montblanc and released an array of products that would remain timeless until today. Heritage is at the core of all of Montblanc's product, from writing instrument, time pieces and leathers the heritage of the company is engraved into it. 2016 is Montblanc's 110 year anniversary so for this year Montblanc has released new product that intertwines 110 years of product history. Rouge Et Noir collection just launched and is almost completely sold out in the USA, you can try calling boutiques around the country and you'll get the same answer 'out of stock', why? Well the piece is almost an exact replica of their rouge et noir collect from 1914, it also has a lot so similar features as the Agatha Christie which is one of Montblanc's most iconic pieces. Montblanc of course innovated the product a modern twist and more updated uses such as ballpoint and roller ball versions but still kept the heritage at the core of the piece. Their product development has created 9 pieces that has been in the making for 110 years by reinventing a classic piece. Along with this the company release a series of leather to go with the collection. The pieces are not limited in number yet limited in production. With these pieces Montblanc has shown the even thou it has shown a maturity level of success throughout the years in the luxury world, you don't have to give up your company's heritage in order to continue to grow as a company.

Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Montblanc has always marketed their product to the upper middle, and above classes making it a demographic segmentation based on class, and income. Their target market has evolved to also include the middle class (with pieces such as the cruise collection). Since 1906 Montblanc has understood the values, needs, and lifestyles of the wealthy and has provided their services throughout the years around their clients. They also understood the benefits of having a writing instrument that wouldn't leak and would last a lifetime, these values the company has would incorporate psycographic, and benefit segmentation. One of their most iconic advertisement Montblanc release was of a gentleman, who is seen as upper middle class (you can tell by his attire) placing a fountain pen into his vest's front pocket, which back then was unheard of because it would damage you attire, especially white attire. This of course set pleased the consumers of that time period, they no longer had to worry about damaging their clothing, along with the fact that the product was made with the best sourced materials, gold, precious resin, sterling sliver, ebonite, and platinum. The creative product changed that industry, and the way people looked at writing instruments. Montblanc attributes their continued success to their products being produced with the highest quality of craftsmanship, precision, innovation and creativity, as they evolved into a more premium pricing points. Montblanc grown into an iconic symbol of success, it is considered a prestige symbol of high status that only a few get the pleasure of signing with.