Profitability3_1The third model that Zhao discusses in “Art of profitability” is Multi component profit model where a business tries to leverage the base product and builds different related business components and markets it to customers. Unlike the pyramid model where the product is placed at various price points and customers themselves are placed at various segments and finds himself at each price point.
In this model, the customer can be at each of the price point. I buy coke at grocery store, in my office coke vending machine, at a hotel.Its the same product but sold at various locations and hence the various price points. Coke as business is trying to leverage its base product and has built businesses around it like vending machine ,restaurant component, grocery component and the profitability from each of the component varies.Some examples relating to this profitability model are :
Books : Corporate book services, phone to delivery book, retail chain component, online component- Note , the base product is the book
Hotels: one-day meeting for 20 ppl, single room for one night , 3 day convention for 1000 ppl etc.Here the product is the same, the room. But the profitability from various components is different. Ok, enough of examples cited by Zhao.Let me try to make a list of businesses which fall in this category

1. Food business: Product can be the same, but depending on where it is sold, the profitability can be different..ok may be it sounds like coke example.But I guess the Food encompasses any fmcg item

2.Movie theaters:  Same product- a 3 hour movie : Different Businesses - Weekend shows, special shows, premier shows, iMAX shows

3. CRM Software Application : Same product - application : Different Businesses - ASP,Client and server deployment, Deployment over web

4.Music Recording companies: Same product -song : Different Businesses: DVD, CD, Licensing songs for other movies, ads, Licensing for ring tones,Web based selling (99 cents through itunes) , Remix

5.City autos : Service: commuting - Different businesses: double rate after 9 , price hike for one way road way, adhoc price for far flung locations, adhoc price when there is rain/strike/some disturbance to the other commuting modes

6.Mobile Prepaid Cards: Product : talk time - Different businesses : various levels of prepaid coupons

There must be other biz which follow this profitability model..’ll give it some more thought  on this before listening to Zhao.