2. Product life cycle
& Marketing
Strategies
By-
Amar M. ingale
t.y.m.e. (a)
roll. No. 1930
3. Why a product life cycle?
A company’s positioning and differentiation strategy must
change as the product, market, and competitors change
over the product life cycle(PLC)
When we say that a product has a life cycle we assert four
things:
i. Products have a limited life.
ii. Products sales pass through distinct stages, each posing
different challenges, opportunities and problems to the
seller.
iii. Profits rise and fall at different stages of the product life
cycle.
iv. Products require different marketing, financial,
manufacturing, purchasing, and human resource
strategies in each life – cycle stages.
4. Product Life Cycle
product life cycle is the course of a product’s
sales and profits over time.
product life cycle(PLC) deals with the life of
a product in the market with respect to
business or commercial costs and sales
measures.
The five stages of each product lifecycle are
product development, introduction, growth,
maturity and decline.
7. Product Life Cycle
Sales and
Profits Sales
Profits
Time
Product Introduction Growth Maturity Decline
Develop-
ment
Sales and Profits Over the Product’s Lifetime
8. Introduction Stage of the PLC
Summary of Characteristics, Objectives, & Strategies
Sales Low
Costs High cost per customer
Profits Negative
Marketing Objectives Create product awareness and trial
Product Offer a basic product
Price Use cost-plus formula
Distribution Build selective distribution
Promotion Heavy to entice product trial
9. Growth Stage of the PLC
Summary of Characteristics, Objectives, & Strategies
Sales Rapidly rising
Costs Average cost per customer
Profits Rising
Marketing Objectives Maximize market share
Product Offer extension, service, warranty
Price Penetration strategy
Distribution Build intensive distribution
Promotion Reduce to take advantage of demand
10. Maturity Stage of the PLC
Summary of Characteristics, Objectives, & Strategies
Sales Peak
Costs Low cost per customer
Profits High
Marketing Objectives Maximize profits while defending market share
Product Diversify brand and models
Price Match or best competitors
Distribution Build more intensive distribution
Promotion Increase to encourage brand switching
11. Decline Stage of the PLC
Summary of Characteristics, Objectives, & Strategies
Sales Declining
Costs Low cost per customer
Profits Declining
Marketing Objectives Reduce expenditures and milk the brand
Product Phase out weak items
Price Cut price
Distribution Selective: phase out unprofitable outlets
Promotion Reduce to minimum level
13. Continued…
A Style is a basic and distinctive mode of expression
appearing in a field of human endeavor. Styles
appear in homes, clothing, art etc.
A Fashion is a currently accepted or popular style in
a given field. Fashion pass through four stages:
Distinctiveness, emulation, mass fashion, decline.
Fads are fashions that comes quickly into public
view , are adopted with great zeal, peak early, and
decline very fast.
14. Four Introductory
Marketing Strategies
Promotion
High Low
Rapid- Slow-
High skimming skimming
strategy strategy
Price
Rapid- Slow-
Low penetration penetration
strategy strategy
15. Marketing strategies for Growth stage
During the growth stage, the firm uses several strategies to
sustain rapid market growth.
Improves product quality and adds new features and
improved styling.
Adds new models and flanker products(i.e., products of
different sizes, flavors, and so forth that protect the main
product).
It enters new market segments
It increases its distribution coverage and enters new
distribution channels.
It shifts from product- awareness advertising to product-
preference advertising.
It lowers price to attract the next layer of price – sensitive
buyers.
16. Marketing strategies for Maturity
stage
Three potentially useful ways to change the course
for a brand are market, product, and marketing
program modification.
Market Modification
Sales volume = no. of brand users * usage rate per
user.
Expand the no. of brand users
Convert nonusers
Enter new market segments
Attract competitors’ customers
17. Continued..
Increase the usage rate among users
Have consumers use the product on more
occasions.
Have consumers use more of the product on each
occasion
Have consumers use the product in new ways.
Product modification
Trying to stimulate sales by modifying the
product’s characteristics through
18. Continued..
Quality improvement:
Aims at increasing the product’s functional performance.
Eg: Aashirvaad, Annapoorna, Pillsbury, Naturefresh
Feature improvement
Aims at adding new features, such as size, weight, materials,
additives, and accessories, that expand the product’s
performance, versatility, safety, or convenience.
Style improvement
Aims at increasing the product’s esthetics appeal.
Eg; New car models, New Coke
19. Decline Stage
• Increase investment
• Resolve uncertainties - stable investment
• Selective niches
• Harvesting
• Divesting
• To establish a system for identifying weak products.
• Some firms’ abandon declining markets earlier than others.
