product life cycle

research and development

• All activities that take place before a product is released to the market

• No sales of the product during this time

• Length of stage depends on industry and the product

  • I.e. pharmaceuticals vs fast fashion

• Focused on market research, product development, and the preparation of production 

  • Market research: using primary and secondary research to understand needs of customers

  • Product development: designing and testing new product and generating and narrowing down ideas

  • Preparing production: making the product, suppliers & facilities found,

  • Promotion may be possible in this stage, ex cinemas promoting a movie before its release

introduction

• Product released to the market, consumers may buy it

• Likely to have low initial sales, will be growing

• Promotion should focus on USP

• Business needs to: make consumers aware of product, consider pricing strategies and distribution channels

growth

• Increases in product sales are accelerating, percentage change in sales is increasing

• To continue growth → buiz needs to find new target markets 

• Adaptation of marketing mix, i.e. changing pricing strategies, expanding distribution channels

• Promotional messages will be adapted, aim is to raise awarness in new target markets

maturity

• High and steady sales revennue, sales will still be growing but at a slwoer and slower rate

• Market may be crowded, saturated, or competitive

• Marketing objectives: building customer loyalty

• Market budgest may be cut (no longer attempting to increase sales from new customers)

• High sales revenues + falling promotional costs = high profits

decline

• Falling sales and/or loss of market share

• May have lost  USP in competitive market, tech may be outdated, customer needs changed

• Products may still be profitable, sales will be falling but marketing costs may be low too

• Prices may be reduced to target price-conscious consumers - message may be reinforced by shifting distribution channels to discount retailers 

• When products start making a loss, they are finally withdrawn from the market

extension strategy

• Methos businesses use to lengthen maturity stage

• Finding a new target market

  • Advantage: Sales can increase especially if the product is recieved well by new target market

  • Disadvantage: market research is needed, which may be costly