Product Life Cycle – Different Stages and Examples

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This concept is in use by management and by marketing professionals as a factor in deciding when it is appropriate to increase advertising, reduce prices, expand to new markets, or redesign packaging.

It is the nature that the old one replaces by the new one.

Product Life Cycle is the period of a product that introduces to the consumer in the market up to the reaching of its decline stage.  

The product life cycle is a very familiar term people know about it but very few are using it effectively.

Hence, A good product passes through a certain recognizable stages.

Eventually, it is the strategy to keep the product long players by adopting technology and removing fault.

Whats in it for me-

Different Stages of Product Life Cycle

product life cycle

Market Development 

The demand for a particular product people is not aware of the product so the marketing and advertising price is high.

When management introduces a new product to the market it is new for the consumer so it is necessary that demand is there.

Whether the product fulfill the consumer demand depends on several factors.

The complexity of the product, degree of newness, easy to handle, presence of the competitive product.

Most companies did not take the initiative to launch a new product and practice product life cycle because it takes lots of research, innovation, and risk. 

They avoid taking the first byte.

Market Growth 

There is a demand for the product as the product that presents to the audience so demand starts accelerating.

Consider it as a take-off stage.

At this stage product sale is at its high Potential competitor has had seen development at the first stage start coping ideas product packaging branding and positioning start seeing at the phase.

As product acceptance starts increasing it becomes easy the best channel of distribution, as it increases profit get high and attract more competitor.

Marketing Maturity

Demand levels off and grows, for the most part, only at the replacement and new family-formation rate. 

The product reaches to the target audience. The marketing budget reduces because it almost reaches to the consumer. 

The product starts moving to the saturation phase. Don’t make a distributor. Pricing at this stage tending to be competitive.

It starts falling due to the pressure of outside like competitors as well as low demand at this phase to explore new demographic companies starts innovating changing or developing their product. 

The maturity stage may last long or short time depending on the product .the maturity stage of coca-cola is very large.

Market Decline 

The product lost its demand. 

Generally, all the products try to keep the product in the maturity stage.

At this phase, product sales decline, as well as the demand.

These are the different stages of the product life cycle and through every new product gone through.

Product Life Cycle Examples

We have many examples which show that how a product which was good at a certain period of time gradually replace by another one just by changing according to the need of time.

Typewriters

product life cycle

In the 19th century, it was popular because it increases the ease of writing accurately. 

But as the laptop, pc, and mobile came in existence it replaces the typewriter, it reduces the cost as well as demand. 

The typewriter is at its decline stage people as considering laptop and mobile for the purpose it serves earlier.

As we move in product life cycle examples we another one 

VCR

product life cycle

Many of us grow or I can say 

We can now say the loyal video cassette recorder (VCR) to the list of gone because it is almost extinct. T, Funai Corp. of Japan announces that it is going to stop the production of VCR since its demand decrease. Funai was the last manufacturer of VCR.

According to the company, they could sell only 750,000 units worldwide in 2015, it is no more beneficial for the company.

VCR has come into existence in 1950. The product was so good, in 1950 and they could sell each unit to $50000 and it gets the utmost 100 orders in the first week.

But as Netflix came in market VCR cost as well demand declining people start shifting towards Netflix and amazon prime since it captures people’s attention as well it was cheap.

 Maruti 800 Product Life Cycle 

product life cycle

Maruti 800 was known for a small city car that was manufactured by Maruti Suzuki from 1983 in India from 1983 to  18 January 2014.

This car was a revolutionize step in the history of automobile sector .

It was the affordable car for a common public Maruti Udyog limited launched its first Maruti 800 in 1983  in the Indian market.

Maruti 800 growth stage

  • Maruti 800 came up with new feature ac system and music in the car 
  • Sale gradually increase  from 852 to 20 269 and reach up to 31314 

Here strategy was

  •  The customer was its center 
  •  Maruti establish its service center to every 50 km 

Maruti 800 maturity stage

  • In 1997 Maruti launch a new car with Belly Jean shape but it was not accepted by the customer 
  • Launched new version of Maruti 800 exes with new engine shock absorber, coil spring suspension but this mode 1 however it lost its sale.
  • As I told you at this stage competitor starts entering the market just like that general motors, Ford, Tata.
  • In 2002 Maruti launched alto with a bigger and stylish version of Maruti 800 

Also introduce Maruti 

Strategy Adopted By Maruti At This stage 

  • It develops a different source of income like Maruti insurance and Maruti finance.
  • Since new also join the market, therefore, it develops a new facelift model based on market feedback and response.
  • Made partnership with State Bank Of India 

 Maruti 800 decline stage (2002-2014)

 Many other competitors get into the market like  Hyundai i10 and Chevrolet  due to which its sales start declining 

The biggest competitor was tata Nano that offers cars at low prices and with more space .

Other product life cycle example is 3D Televisions Blue Ray Players: DVD Players Video Recorders: Holographic  Tablet PCs:Projection: Laptops  Typewriters: 

Test Marketing 

Test marketing is an experiment, in a field laboratory (the test market) comprising of actual stores and real-life buying situations, without the buyers knowing they are participating in an evaluation exercise.

Product life cycle include a development  stage where it  Went through phase 

Before conducting a test marketing a  marketing executive must go with three kind of question:

When should conduct a test ,market ?

What can you learn from a test market?

How should you use information from a test market?

Product Management 

Product Management is an organisational function within a company dealing with new product development, business justification, planning, verification, forecasting, pricing, product launch, and marketing of a product or products at all stages of the product lifecycle. 

Conclusion 

As a human fist take birth and live his childhood then enjoy his adulthood going through adult age and finally reach to the old age. Same like that product passes through different stages for it is developed by seeing its demand in the market. Then it grows in the market people starts knowing and utilising it. And after that it reaches to its maturity stage hence its marketing cost decreases because now user trust on it  and also aware of it. At its demand starts declining and it is replaced by some other product.

FAQs

1. Why product life cycle is important for marketing?

It is important  for marketing because when any new product is launch in market it reach to the users through the marketing.
At this stage marketing cost is high  while  at maturity stage marketing cost is low because it reached to the consumer so if a marketer know about product life cycle then they market it properly.

2. When to use product life cycle?

This concept  is used by management and market professional  to decide when to reduce cost ,redesign, advertise ,launch new product.

3. Which product life cycle stage is the riskiest?

When you launch your product by doing research and planning ,it is consider as riskiest stage since you don’t know whether customer accept it or not.

4. How product life cycle can be extended?

Product is extended when it reaches to the decline stage. Here product is presented by adding new feature, redesign, and present it in a new way.

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