What is Product Life Cycle?Product life cycle is the progression of an item through the four stages of its time on the market. The four life cycle stages are: Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline. Every product has a life cycle and time spent at each stage differs from product to product. Show
Life Cycle Through the StagesAt the Introduction stage the product comes to the market and the business looks to get a foothold on the sales ladder by:
After successful Introduction comes the Growth stage. This will look to take developments at the first stage up to another level by:
With growth established, Maturity is the next stage of the life cycle. The business deals with this by:
When the Decline happens the business will consider:
By keeping a strong hold on the four stages of a product life cycle, a business can maximise returns and realise when the time is right to divest itself of the product. By not doing so may cost the business money and lead to a limited life cycle for the product. A product is a bundle of attributes (features, functions, benefits, and uses) that a person receives in an exchange. In essence, the term “product” refers to anything offered by a firm to provide customer satisfaction, tangible or intangible. Thus, a product may be an idea (recycling), a physical good (a pair of jeans), a service (banking), or any combination of the three Four Levels of the Product
products and services that consumers are willing to make an extra effort to obtain. will pay more for these products. are those the consumer never plans or hopes to buy Characteristics of Service Products
which are tangible products, along with all of the services that support them. When companies devise product strategies and decide whether or not to augment their products with additional services, they typically evaluate whether the following criteria will be met:
The Role of Product Marketing Product marketing is the function of understanding the target customer’s needs, and promoting and selling the product to the target customer. In many organizations this is a different function from product management, which is responsible for defining the product that the company will build.
Stages of the Product Life Cycle
Marketing through the Product Cycle
It is time to visit your doctor for your annual check-up. Dr. Kapoor checks your vitals, draws blood for testing, and weighs you. She tells you that you are fit and healthy and hands you your chart with a gold star on it. Identify all of the relevant characteristics for this service product experience:
An offering by an organization that provides tangible or intangible customer satisfaction is the definition of a: business strategy Managing the Product Portfolio
What are the
classification groups for consumer products? speciality, unsought, convenience, future speciality, shopping, unsought, convenience
Product proliferation: the introduction of new varieties of the initial product or products that are similar (e.g., a ketchup manufacturer introduces hickory-flavored and pizza-flavored barbecue sauces and a special hot dog sauce). Brand extension: strong brand preference allows the company to introduce the related product under the brand umbrella (e.g. Jell-O introduces pie filling and diet desserts under the Jell-O brand name). Private branding: producing and distributing a related product under the brand of a distributor or other producers (e.g., Firestone producing a less expensive tire for Costco). Factors Influencing the Pace of Product Development
Consumer Adoption Patterns
is a product development process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process The Lean Startup Methodology is based on the assumption that it’s essential to get real market data from product users as early as possible in the design process New-Product Development Process
Methods that attempt early identification of elusive consumer tastes or trends Creating Successful Product Concepts
Evaluating Product Concepts The goal of the initial product development process is to generate ideas, actively evaluate the ideas, and create a viable product concept
Commercializing New Products
The difference in this final stage of the process is that the marketer has the benefit of significant market data for the evaluation, which can help improve the marketing plan going forward. It is only at this stage—after the product launch—when the marketer can see which buyers purchase the product, how competitors respond, and how the new product interacts with the company’s other products in the marketplace. Casey enjoyed being out in nature and watching wildlife. He wanted the convenience of taking high-quality pictures quickly and under a variety of circumstances. To satisfy these needs Casey must address them through which product level? Hilliers’ Garden Centers offers not only plants and products customers need for their gardens, but also a gardening club that anyone can join. The garden
club Hilliers’ offers is considered a(n): A company just received an influx of investor cash for its consumer 3D printer product. The company is developing two prototypes to be tested and run through a few focus groups. This 3D printer product is at which life cycle stage? growth stage Which stage of the product life cycle requires marketers
to pay particular attention to the distribution of their product? market introduction stage The goal of a marketer’s interaction with the product life cycle is to: A hiking boot’s profits are declining because new competition has entered the market, but its cost has also declined due to increased volume of production. What stage of the product development life
cycle is the hiking boot in? growth stage Which phase of the product life cycle requires potentially the most significant amount of money for marketing campaigns? development stage market introduction stage A group of products in an organization that has some common elements and that is marketed to one general market is the definition of a: product strategic business unit An organization groups together similar products into product lines. What is it called when an organization groups those product lines into specific market-targeting strategy groups? marketing mix units product lines strategic business
unit (SBU) Which of the following statements is true about managing a product portfolio? A company's portfolio analysis considers a narrow range of market factors. Companies need to consider market growth and market share rates and not a product’s life cycle. Which is a true statement about the diffusion-of-innovation theory? The late majority adopts new products before the early majority and approaches innovations eagerly. Laggards are considered opinion leaders and are more socially connected than other groups. Innovators are always the first to adopt innovative and new products and they are viewed as risk takers. If a company’s new product is not a new technology and it’s an extension of a current product line,
what type of adopters will be interested in it? Which of the five customer adoption pattern groups is typically slow to act and embrace an innovation after the “average” participant has adopted it? Early majority Early adopters If a marketer does not choose her marketing mix just right for these two adoption categories, a new product launch and adoption will probably stall. early adopters and early majority If your new product launch meets a good market and satisfies that market, it is considered a: A company is trying to figure out what products to offer, when
to add new products, and when current products should be discontinued. What tool will assist the company in answering all of those questions? product life cycle product portfolio management What stage is critical in the product development process for weeding out potentially costly product mistakes? generating product ideas stage concept development and testing stage screening product ideas stage Identify the first stage of the product development process: business case analysis generate and collect new product ideas Why does an organization tackle stage four in the product development process, business case analysis? To be sure a product will bring enough financial returns to justify its significant development costs How is the marketing department involved in the technical and
marketing development stage of the product development process? They test product prototypes with target customers and identify the most effective marketing mix for the new product. Which stage of the product development process sometimes includes rapid prototyping? concept development and testing stage Pat shopped at Target for new summer shorts. After trying on three different brands and price comparing, he decided to buy the Dockers shorts. While heading to the checkout stand, he spotted earphones hanging on the endcap of the electronics area. Remembering he needed new earbuds for his iPod, he grabbed a set and paid for it all at the checkout counter. What types of product categories did Pat experience in this shopping trip? convenience and speciality PreviousNext Dhrish has flown into Chicago for work. He needs a place to eat dinner and hasn’t had time to research local restaurants. Dhrish calls the concierge desk at his hotel and asks for a few recommendations.
After settling on one close by, Dhrish thanks the concierge and hangs up the phone. Identify all of the relevant characteristics for this service product experience:
Audio-Technica’s ATH-M50 studio headset lost market share when
Bose introduced a new headset that matched the ATH-M50’s features. Although the cost to produce the headset had dramatically declined over the last two years, Audio-Technica was soon rolling out the ATH-M50x version, and the marketing team decided it was time to lower the price on the ATH-50. What strategy should the marketing team use with this product in the maturity stage of the product life cycle process? focus on differentiating the brand and put emphasis on its features Sidney works as a marketer at a fast-paced company selling handheld barcode scanner tools. Most of the sales had begun online through the company website, but lately the company has been receiving requests to purchase it scanners through retail stores. Demand has been increasing, and a
new competitor is edging into Sidney’s company’s market. Which area should be Sidney’s next marketing focus in this product's growth stage? price—discounts Microsoft has multiple desktop operating systems, with modified versions for their Microsoft Surface Pro tablet series and cell phones. Microsoft’s wide range of operating system software is an
example of a company applying: a marketing mix product life cycles product portfolio management General Electric has many products and product lines. It has grouped many of these product lines into their own divisions that are responsible for their own profitability. These divisions created specific market approaches based
on the targeted consumer. This is an example of a company using: marketing mix units product lines strategic business units (SBUs) If you as a marketer are collecting ideas from SWOT analysis, and customer focus groups and exploring product ideas, knowing that most of them will not end up reaching the market, you are in
what stage of the new product development process? generate and collect new product ideas stage Shirley analyzed her company’s product line of refrigerator magnet products. She then deleted a few tourist magnets that had lost their market growth and added in a Grumpy Cat magnet. She
discovered the emoji magnet group needed more market penetration, so she designed a campaign, looked at the total line statistics, and fit and identified a few synergies for new products to address (like adding emoji magnets with a clip to hold papers on the fridge). Shirley is using which big-picture product management marketing approach to adjust the company’s magnet line? Focusing on pricing and positioning strategies for a few products Considering each product, the way they collectively work together, and the way they can influence each other Michael began working with the invention platform Quirky to develop an overflow sensor that alerts your mobile device if it detects unwanted standing water in basements,
vacation homes, or other unmonitored areas. After he cycled through a few different paper iterations of the product, he and the team created a working prototype. What stage of the product development process is Michael’s new product in? technical and marketing development stage concept development and testing stage When the “world's best travel jacket,” BauBax, was launched at the end of last year, the company behind BauBax set up a new website, press releases, and a social media campaign. Before launching to a wide audience, the company rolled out the jacket to a smaller pilot group for feedback. The company discovered the jacket was having trouble zipping up and that some of the pockets were in awkward positions for customers. Getting the product feedback
from customers in a timely manner allowed the company to retool the troubled areas before a wider product launch. In what part of the marketing introduction stage did the BauBax team perform well? promotion—pilot customer communication HP created a new product called the TouchPad to directly
compete with Apple’s iPad. It ended up being a flop and costing the company $885 million in assets and $755 million in winding down costs. This product is an example of: how important technical and marketing development are in the product development process how important the screening product ideas process is at weeding out expensive failures
Emy is at dinner with her group of friends when one of them pulls out a new pen that not only writes but takes pictures. It also saves what it writes on a flash drive so the user can download the file later to her laptop through bluetooth. She rolls her eyes and makes a few skeptical comments about the fancy device. Emy’s attitude fits closest to which adopter category? TurboTax developed an innovative software product years ago that filled the gap between the individuals who wanted to do their own taxes and the ones who sought out professional tax advice. TurboTax’s product hit a sweet spot with the market, and its sales have followed a steady increase through 2014. TurboTax developed a product that was a: Brad begins work with
his company’s newly created product line of personal care products. What overall framework does Brad need to use as he starts to work on the marketing mix for these products? Revise the pricing and positioning strategies of the product line Focus on each product and the way they collectively fit together as a product line A company’s new eco-friendly dish
soap is an extension of its current dish soap line. What type of adopters would probably be most interested in it? Laggards Which of the following is a characteristic of the introduction stage of the product life cycle?Introduction Stage: The introduction stage shows low sales numbers as the product is being introduced in the market. Profit is zero or negative in this stage because of the heavy expenses of product introduction.
What is the introduction stage of the product life cycle?The introduction stage is when a product is first launched in the marketplace. This is when marketing teams begin building product awareness and reaching out to potential customers. Typically, when a product is introduced, sales are low and demand builds slowly.
What are the main objectives of the introduction stage of the product life cycle?In the introduction phase, the focus is on creating product awareness to motivate your target market to consider you when making a buying decision. The introductory stage is rarely profitable because of high distribution and promotion expenses but low sales.
What are the 5 stages of product life cycle introduction?The product life cycle is the progression of a product through 5 distinct stages—development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
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