Product Life Cycle Marketing Strategies

Intoduction

What is product life cycle (PLC)?

A companies positioning and differentiation strategy must changes the product, market, and competitors change over the product life cycle

Product life cycle insist on four things Product have a limited life. Product sales pass through different stages, each stage present different challenges, opportunities ands problems to the seller. Profit rise and fall at different stages of the product life cycle. Product s require different marketing , financial, manufacturing, purchasing, and human resource strategies in each life-cycle stage

Product life cycle describes the stages a product goes through from when it was first thought of until it finally is removed from the market.

Product life cycle:

Introduction: a period of slow sales growth as the product is introduced in the market, profit are nonexistent because of the heavy expenses of product introduction. Growth: A period of rapid market acceptance and substantial profit improvement. Maturity: A slowdown in sales growth because the profit has achieved acceptance by the most potential buyers. Profit stabilize or decline because of increase competition. Decline: Sales show a downward drift and profit erode.

Remember that not all the product present a bell-shaped PLC( product life cycle)
Three alternate patterns are shown
A.Growth-slumpmaturity pattern
B.Cycle-recycle pattern

C.Scalloped pattern

Sale volume

PC

RC time Nylon

time

time

New technology

Drugs

Three special categories of PLC:

A style is a basic and typical mode of expression appearing in afield of human attempt. Style appear in homes, clothing art etc A Fashion is a currently accepted or popular style in a given field. fashion pass through the stages: distinctiveness , emulation , mass fashion , decline. Fads are fashion that comes quickly into public view, are adopted with great zeal, peak early and decline very fast

1.Introduction stage:

A good example of such a launch is the launch of Windows XP by Microsoft Corporation

Xp stands for eXperience
Window xp was first launch October 25,2001

2.Growth stage:

2.Growth stage:

3.Maturity Stage:

3.Maturity Stage:
It is a longest period in the life cycle of a firm, industry or product during which sales at peak point and start to decline . Maturity stage divides three phases: Growth Stable Decaying

3.Maturity Stage:

Three Potentially useful ways to change the course of a brand are

Market Modification Increase frequency of use by present customer Add new users Product Modification Quality Improvement Feature Improvement Style Improvement

3.Maturity Stage:

Three Potentially useful ways to change the course of a brand are

Marketing Program Modification Price Distribution Advertising Sales promotions Personal Setting Services

4.Decline Stage:

4.Decline Stage:

In Which the product sales decline Example: Apple I pod launched 2001 Initial 2001

New Innovation in ipod

New Innovation iphone

Critique of the PLC

Not tell about the external forces Example: Social changes Technological changes Not tell about the forcasting