5.4 & 5.5 - Stakeholders in Innovation + Product Life Cycle

Inventor

A person who creates a brand-new idea or product, often working alone and focused on making something different.

Product champion

Someone inside a company who supports a new idea or product and works to get others excited about it.

Entrepreneur

A person who takes a new idea or product and turns it into a real business by getting money, making it, and selling it.

Pre-launch

Research and Development stage. Development of new ideas, prototypes, and a final product.

Introduction

Marketers hype new products to capture the attention of the target market. Pricing is set low, or freebees are given away. If product is considered a premium or luxury price is set high.

Growth

Growing the market share of a product, reaching more of target market. This can be done through advertisement, word of mouth, online reviews, continued changes to the product to stimulate additional purchases.

Maturity

Sales begin to slow down. Competition appears, pricing may be reduced or additional features, versions, or editions are released to increase sales.

Decline

Product declines in need/demand. Pricing is drastically reduced to unload inventory. New features are added in attempt to save product. Product discontinues.

Obsolescence

The process of becoming obsolete or outdated and no longer used.

Planned obsolescence

A product becomes outdated as a conscious act to ensure a continuing market or to ensure that safety features can be incorporated into new versions.

Functional Obsolescence

Overtime products wear out and break down, if parts are no longer available, the product can no longer work.

Technological Obsolescence

New technology supersedes existing technology. Existing technology quickly falls out of use and is no longer incorporated.

Product versions

Same product with slight variations to reach a different demographic. E.g a lower quality product for the lower income group and a higher quality product for the higher income group.

Extended products

Products with more of something than normal versions (Colors, storage, material, size)

Limited Releases

Limited addition, special releases, with a limited quantity.