Product and service bundling is growing in popularity as a business-building tactic, especially in the sectors that have traditionally relied upon it: automotive, computers and telecommunications.

But marketers in those industries say bundling could be just as effective in other categories – as long as the packaging of products and services makes sense and provides value to customers.

Thomas Turner, vice-president of sales and marketing for Rogers Cantel Paging, says simply putting two products or services together and sticking a single price tag on them doesn’t accomplish anything.

‘We don’t bundle things just for the sake of bundling. We’re looking for those packages that really add value.’

Making offers flexible for consumers is important, he adds, and like any other marketing-driven product, the ‘bundles’ have to be designed and targeted to suit the needs of well-defined customer segments.

As an example, he offers Cantel AT&T’s launch last month of a consumer-targeted service package called Page Partner Plus, which combines wireless or pcs phone technology with paging services. Two options are available: Linked Advantage and Independent Pager Advantage.

The first option organizes the customer’s wireless phone and pager under a single phone number. The second allows customers to combine up to five pager numbers on a single bill. Each bundled option is almost half the price of the individually priced services.

Another product called Wireless Office targets the business market by integrating the customer’s office landline phone with their cellular or pcs phone so they operate as mirror images of one another. Again, the customer needs to maintain only a single phone number with a single voice mailbox. It also allows the business customer to dial inter-office extensions from either phone to get connected to the right person.

Turner says Rogers’ vision, ultimately, is to bundle elements of entertainment, information and telecommunications in packages specifically designed for residential or business customers.

Packaging options have been part of the automotive business for many years, possibly before World War II, estimates Ian Forsyth, director of marketing for Nissan Canada.

Initially carmakers built their cars according to Henry Ford’s early maxim for the Model T: ‘You can have any color you want – as long as it’s black.’ But they eventually understood the marketing advantages of letting customers order cars with specific options straight from the factory.

As an employee of Japanese carmakers for more than 25 years, Forsythe says the bundling techniques of domestic car manufacturers are quite different from those of the Japanese, who traditionally offer fixed-option packages. Nissan, for instance, predetermines the trim and option packages and then lets the consumer choose color, manual or automatic, and an le, xe or se option package.

‘North American manufacturers tend to option everything, which gives them, in one sense, a lower advertised price to start from. But once you start adding all the equipment that a consumer might normally want, the vehicle becomes much more expensive.

‘Our research has always told us that consumers feel they get better value when they’re told ‘Here’s what you can get and this is how much it will cost you.’ They perceive it as offering value.’

Forsyth says North American carmakers have emulated Japanese manufacturers in recent years with the introduction of co-branded special edition packages with a fixed roster of options. Witness the Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer and Roots editions, the General Motors Rockport Blazer, and Lincoln’s Bill Blass and Cartier models.

Forsyth says while Nissan has not co-branded any of its vehicles with another company, it did go the special edition route with the Klondike Pathfinder sports utility vehicle last year, which he credits with a 12% to 15% increase in Pathfinder sales.