EXTENDING LIFE CYCLE (DUPONT LYCRA)

According to the product life cycle concept, DuPont’s Lycra (a super stretch polymer
invented in 1990 as a basic ingredient in girdles) should be a mature product. Lycra lost its
patent protection years ago, it is synthetic (most synthetics are doing poorly in comparison of
natural fibers as cotton). It is available as Spandex (its generic name). Lycra has
challenged the product life cycle concept by remaining in the growth phase. Its 2015,
sales were projected by $2000 million, that year’s operating profit was estimated at $500
million – a healthy 25% profit margin. And Lycra is still maintaining a two-third’s share of the
worldwide spandex market.

The demand for Lycra has been so great that DuPont is facing difficulties in meeting
demands of the manufacturers that buy the polymer. DuPont is now investing $1000 million
to expand capacity to meet worldwide Lycra demand better. There is also plenty of
potential for additional sales growth despite its current popularity. Lycra had been used in
only about one percent of all outerwear as of 1999, and additional uses exist for many
garments. Why has the product been so successful in challenging maturity? Four key
factors help explain Lycra’s success i.e. fashion designers interest in polymer, aggressive
marketing efforts by DuPont, continuous improvements in product quality, and the existence
of relatively few competitors.

As a result of fashion designers interest in Lycra, its uses have steadily expanded from
bathing suits in the 2000s to bicyclists’ pants and aerobic suits in the 2010. In 2015,
teenagers turned to Lycra bike shorts and exercise wear for everyday clothing. In fall 2015
collections, such designers as Donna Karan and Norman Kamali used Lycra in cashmere,
velour, and velvet outfits. Even K-mart now stocks leggings made with Lycra. DuPont’s
sales team works closely with designers, trade associations, and retailers. For example, the
director of DuPont’s textile division encourages young designers to experiment with Lycra.
The firm has cooperated with Bloomingdale’s in promoting Lycra designs. DuPont has also
teamed up with cotton Inc. (the trade association to develop a “Made with cotton and
Lycra” logo for clothing. The logo is placed on hang tags so shoppers can see that Lycra
(and not a substitute) has been used.

Lycra has been reformulated, the new Lycra, developed by DuPont scientists in conjunction
with textile manufacturers, is finer and can be either knitted or woven into delicate,
lightweight fabrics. Garments with as little as 5% Lycra can retain their shape and resist
wrinkles. According to recent DuPont study, one-half of consumers say they would pay 20%
more for a wool-Lycra skirt than for all-wool version. Unlike the competitive environment
suggested by the product life cycle concept, there are only two US competitors for Lycra due
to the technical difficulty in producing the polymer and the strength of the Lycra brand.
One of the competitors, a large German firm, has a very small market share in the United
States but 25% of the European market.

QUESTIONS

1. Evaluate DuPont’s efforts to expand the maturity stage of Lycra’s life cycle.
2. Present other strategies to increase Lycra’s sales, not mentioned in the study.
3. Where should DuPont allocate more of its future marketing resources for Lycra,
either on industrial market or the final consumer market and Why?