Name: NGUYEN HA MY – 11202625 – EMQI

REFLECTION 8
Last lesson we get access to wonderful knowledge about PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE and I have
some further research on this to acquire deeper understanding. In this reflection I will show what I
have learn.
1. Definition
The term product life cycle refers to the length of time a product is introduced to consumers into the
market until it's removed from the shelves. The life cycle of a product is broken into four stages—
introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. This concept is used by management and by marketing
professionals as a factor in deciding when it is appropriate to increase advertising, reduce prices,
expand to new markets, or redesign packaging. The process of strategizing ways to continuously
support and maintain a product is called product life cycle management.
2. How Product Life Cycles Work
Products, like people, have life cycles. A product begins with an idea, and within the confines of
modern business, it isn't likely to go further until it undergoes research and development (R&D) and
is found to be feasible and potentially profitable. At that point, the product is produced, marketed, and
rolled out.
As mentioned above, there are four generally accepted stages in the life cycle of a product—
introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

• Introduction: This phase generally includes a substantial investment in advertising and a

marketing campaign focused on making consumers aware of the product and its benefits.
Product features at the introductory stage: New businesses should have few customers and low
sales volume, businesses may earn low profits or may lose. Since the product is new, there is
usually little or no competition.
• Growth: If the product is successful, it then moves to the growth stage. This is characterized
by growing demand, an increase in production, and expansion in its availability. Features of
the growth phase: Enterprises increase rapidly in sales volume. The level of competition in the
market begins to increase. The business is already profitable even a lot (can reach the
maximum point)
• Maturity: This is the most profitable stage, while the costs of producing and marketing decline.
Products at this stage have the following characteristics: The market is starting to be very
competitive. Appearance of similar competing products. Sales volume did not grow, only
remained stable. Businesses reduce profit rates, low profits
• Decline: A product takes on increased competition as other companies emulate its success—
sometimes with enhancements or lower prices. The product may lose market share and begin
 its decline. Some product characteristics in this period: Sales started to decline due to high
competition. Start reducing customers to loyal customers. Profit plummeted to the lowest level
When a product is successfully introduced into the market, demand increases, therefore increasing its
popularity. These newer products end up pushing older ones out of the market, effectively replacing
them. Companies tend to curb their marketing efforts as a new product grows. That's because the cost
to produce and market the product drop. When demand for the product wanes, it may be taken off the
market completely.
The stage of a product's life cycle impacts the way in which it is marketed to consumers. A new
product needs to be explained, while a mature product needs to be differentiated from its competitors.
3. Determine what stage the product is at in the product lifecycle
There are many businesses that have difficulty knowing what stage their product is in, especially in
the development and maturity stages. Enterprises need to grasp the product stage in order to have
reasonable investment and development strategies. So the current stage of the product can be
determined by: internal and external factors. I want to discuss with you later in class about these
factors.
4. How to extend product life cycle?
According to my research, there are some familiar methods help the product life cycle last long, such
as:

• Promotion strategy, product discount: We easily see this strategy in famous phone companies
like Apple. When the product is out of hot, these brands will often lower prices through
promotions to stimulate consumer demand. To apply this strategy most effectively, products
must usually be items with a short life cycle such as smartphones, fashion products, bags,
shoes, etc. Regional factors, weather also have a certain influence on the life cycle of the
product, thereby determining the price reduction strategy or not. For example, the North has 4
seasons, fashion items will have a shorter life cycle in the South because there are only 2
seasons here.
• Product development: This is one of the keys to prolonging the life of the product. We can see
the product Hao Hao noodles of Vina Acecook company appeared in Vietnam very early, Hao
Hao has been and always won the trust of many customers. To do that, Hao Hao has always
developed and improved many new flavors and shapes (handy cup noodles, children's noodles,
etc.) at a price that is still suitable for the income of Vietnamese people. In addition, we can
also see a lot of product development processes through TV ads and social networks. To
develop well or not requires meticulous research, creativity, and a certain difference. Product
development not only attracts new customers, but also retains many old customers, thereby
extending the product life cycle.
• Advertisement: The product life cycle is an important element of marketing. By identifying
each stage in the product life cycle, your marketing team can come up with appropriate
 strategies. For products in stage 3 or 4, marketing campaigns need to be really effective if the
business does not want to end the product life cycle. In fact, the whole world is applying
marketing 4.0, taking people as the center in the digital technology era. Customers these days
are very smart and responsive. If the business has a suitable marketing strategy, it will both
promote product consumption, bring products to old customers, and retain a large number of
customers. In addition to traditional advertising methods such as television, posters, billboards,
social networks are also an extremely effective sales channel. Businesses can take advantage
of free but popular sales channels thoroughly to gain high efficiency. Typically we can
encounter every day that is the advertisement, news when using social networks. The main
social networks used for advertising today are Facebook, Instagram, TikTok...
• Search a new market: A typical example for a market search strategy is Viettel
telecommunications company. As of 2016, Viettel's 9 new markets including: Laos, East
Timor, Cambodia, Haiti, Cameroon, Mozambique, Burundi, Peru, Tanzania, Burundi have
reached 26 million customers. Thus, the total number of customers including Vietnam has
reached 90 million, putting Viettel in the top 30 telecommunications groups with the most
customers. Finding and expanding markets helps businesses maintain growth levels and
prolong product lifecycles in new markets.
5. Product life cycle example
Apple can be considered as a good example of a product life cycle, with the release of the first
generation of iPhone 2G in 2007 and now the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Stage 1: Product introduction
After a long period of research at the time of the iPhone 2G launch, Steve Jobs realized that there
had never been a smartphone product on the market. Therefore, a phone line with the perfect
combination of three things: the iPod touch screen music player, the calling device and the Internet
was developed and introduced to the technology world.
On June 29, 2007, the first iPhone was released. This event laid the foundation for the Apple
empire to develop.
Stage 2: Growth
Since its launch, the iPhone product line has been trusted by global technology users. Apple holds
the majority of the worldwide smartphone market, iPhone sales figures are growing strongly.
Stage 3: Steady growth
The position of the iPhone was gradually established from the initial successes and became the
most sophisticated and luxurious smartphone line. A series of later generations of iPhones were
changed in product design and quality, showing that Apple always focuses on improving and
meeting the needs of customers.
Stage 4: Recession
Recognizing the importance of product innovation, Apple launches new iPhone generations every
year and "kills" products that are 2-3 years old. Although the following iPhone lines are changed
in design and quality, not everyone accepts those changes. In addition to the competition of other
technology giants such as Samsung, Xiaomi, etc., extending the life cycle for the iPhone will
become difficult for Apple.
About the BPMN, I still do not confident in drawing a new one yet, so I decide to practice more
for the final exam.
Thank you for reading!