1.
The Product Life Cycle (PLC) Concept
Products follow a bell-shaped curve divided into four distinct stages. Each stage presents
unique challenges and requires different marketing approaches.
Introduction: Slow sales growth; profits are non-existent due to high launch expenses (R&D
and promotion).
Growth: Rapid market acceptance; substantial improvement in profits.
Maturity: Sales growth slows as the product reaches most potential buyers; profits stabilize
or decline due to increased competition.
Decline: Sales drift downward; profits erode.
2. Special Life Cycle Categories
● Style: A basic/distinctive mode of expression (e.g., colonial-style homes). Can last
for generations and cycles in and out of vogue.
● Fashion: A currently accepted or popular style. Stages include distinctiveness,
emulation, mass fashion, and decline.
● Fad: Fashions that enter quickly, are adopted with great zeal, peak early, and decline
rapidly (e.g., pet rocks).
Marketing Strategies: Introduction Stage
The focus is on building awareness and securing distribution.
● The Pioneer Advantage: Being the "first mover" can lead to long-term leadership
(e.g., Campbell’s Soup). Pioneers often have higher survival rates than followers.
● Pioneer Drawbacks: Later entrants (imitators) can succeed by offering lower prices,
improving the product, or utilizing superior market power once the pioneer has
educated the market.
● Success Factors: Vision of a mass market, persistence, relentless innovation, and
financial commitment.
Marketing Strategies: Growth Stage
The goal is to sustain rapid market growth and capture share.
● Improve Quality: Add new features and improve styling.
● Expand Market: Enter new market segments and distribution channels.
● Shift Promotion: Move from building "product awareness" to building "product
preference."
● Lower Prices: Potentially lower prices to attract the next layer of price-sensitive
buyers.
Marketing Strategies: Maturity Stage
Most products spend the majority of their life here. This stage is divided into three phases:
growth, stable, and decaying maturity.
● Market Modification: Increase consumption by finding new users or new ways to
use the product.
● Product Modification: * Quality Improvement: Launching "new and improved"
versions.
○ Feature Improvement: Adding versatility, safety, or convenience.
○ Style Improvement: Enhancing aesthetic appeal.
● Marketing Program Modification: Changing price, distribution, or advertising to
stimulate sales.
Marketing Strategies: Decline Stage
Sales drop due to tech advances, shifts in taste, or competition.
● Weak Product Issues: Unprofitable products consume disproportionate
management time and "cast a negative shadow" on the brand.
● Strategic Choices:
○ Harvesting: Gradually reducing costs (maintenance, R&D, advertising) to
maximize short-term cash flow while sales slowly drop.
○ Divesting: Selling the brand to another firm (e.g., selling a brand with high
residual goodwill).
○ Niche Focus: Withdrawing from weak segments while strengthening the
position in remaining profitable niches.