Premium Essay

The Product Life Cycle and Customer Life Cycle

In:

Submitted By soulhunter
Words 2583
Pages 11
The Product Life Cycle

A product's life cycle (PLC) can be divided into several stages characterized by the revenue generated by the product. If a curve is drawn showing product revenue over time, it may take one of many different shapes, an example of which is shown below:
Product Life Cycle Curve

The life cycle concept may apply to a brand or to a category of product. Its duration may be as short as a few months for a fad item or a century or more for product categories such as the gasoline-powered automobile.
Product development is the incubation stage of the product life cycle. There are no sales and the firm prepares to introduce the product. As the product progresses through its life cycle, changes in the marketing mix usually are required in order to adjust to the evolving challenges and opportunities.
Introduction Stage
When the product is introduced, sales will be low until customers become aware of the product and its benefits. Some firms may announce their product before it is introduced, but such announcements also alert competitors and remove the element of surprise. Advertising costs typically are high during this stage in order to rapidly increase customer awareness of the product and to target the early adopters. During the introductory stage the firm is likely to incur additional costs associated with the initial distribution of the product. These higher costs coupled with a low sales volume usually make the introduction stage a period of negative profits.
During the introduction stage, the primary goal is to establish a market and build primary demand for the product class. The following are some of the marketing mix implications of the introduction stage: * Product - one or few products, relatively undifferentiated * Price - Generally high, assuming a skim pricing strategy for a high profit margin as the early adopters buy the

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Product Life Cycle Management

...Engineering Aristotle University of Thessaloniki PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT IOANNIS KOMNINOS Electronic Engineer, B.Eng M.Sc.(Eng) Thessaloniki 2002 Product Life Cycle Management 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PART 1: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MODEL DESCRIPTION 1. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PHASE 2. INTRODUCTION PHASE 3. GROWTH PHASE 4. MATURITY PHASE 5. DECLINE PHASE PART 2: ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MODEL PART 3: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE TECHNIQUE EXAMPLE: PRODUCT CANNIBALIZATION 1. UNFAVORABLE CANNIBALIZATION 2. OFFENSIVE CANNIBALIZATION STRATEGIES 3. DEFENSIVE CANNIBALIZATION STRATEGIES PART 4: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE IN RESPECT TO TECHNOLOGY LIFE CYCLE PART 5: USE OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE ANNEX 1 ANNEX 2 REFERENCES 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 12 13 14 16 18 20 23 25 URENIO - Urban and Regional Innovation Research Unit http://www.urenio.org Product Life Cycle Management 3 INTRODUCTION All products and services have certain life cycles. The life cycle refers to the period from the product’s first launch into the market until its final withdrawal and it is split up in phases. During this period significant changes are made in the way that the product is behaving into the market i.e. its reflection in respect of sales to the company that introduced it into the market. Since an increase in profits is the major goal of a company that introduces a product into a market, the product’s life cycle management is very important. Some companies use...

Words: 6228 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Essay

...Engineering Aristotle University of Thessaloniki PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT IOANNIS KOMNINOS Electronic Engineer, B.Eng M.Sc.(Eng) Thessaloniki 2002 Product Life Cycle Management 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PART 1: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MODEL DESCRIPTION 1. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PHASE 2. INTRODUCTION PHASE 3. GROWTH PHASE 4. MATURITY PHASE 5. DECLINE PHASE PART 2: ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MODEL PART 3: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE TECHNIQUE EXAMPLE: PRODUCT CANNIBALIZATION 1. UNFAVORABLE CANNIBALIZATION 2. OFFENSIVE CANNIBALIZATION STRATEGIES 3. DEFENSIVE CANNIBALIZATION STRATEGIES PART 4: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE IN RESPECT TO TECHNOLOGY LIFE CYCLE PART 5: USE OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE ANNEX 1 ANNEX 2 REFERENCES 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 12 13 14 16 18 20 23 25 URENIO - Urban and Regional Innovation Research Unit http://www.urenio.org Product Life Cycle Management 3 INTRODUCTION All products and services have certain life cycles. The life cycle refers to the period from the product’s first launch into the market until its final withdrawal and it is split up in phases. During this period significant changes are made in the way that the product is behaving into the market i.e. its reflection in respect of sales to the company that introduced it into the market. Since an increase in profits is the major goal of a company that introduces a product into a market, the product’s life cycle management is very important. Some companies use...

Words: 6204 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Product Life Cycle

...The Product Life Cycle A product's life cycle (PLC) can be divided into several stages characterized by the revenue generated by the product. If a curve is drawn showing product revenue over time, it may take one of many different shapes, an example of which is shown below: Product Life Cycle Curve The life cycle concept may apply to a brand or to a category of product. Its duration may be as short as a few months for a fad item or a century or more for product categories such as the gasoline-powered automobile. Product development is the incubation stage of the product life cycle. There are no sales and the firm prepares to introduce the product. As the product progresses through its life cycle, changes in the marketing mix usually are required in order to adjust to the evolving challenges and opportunities. Introduction Stage When the product is introduced, sales will be low until customers become aware of the product and its benefits. Some firms may announce their product before it is introduced, but such announcements also alert competitors and remove the element of surprise. Advertising costs typically are high during this stage in order to rapidly increase customer awareness of the product and to target the early adopters. During the introductory stage the firm is likely to incur additional costs associated with the initial distribution of the product. These higher costs coupled with a low sales volume usually make the introduction stage a period of negative...

Words: 1896 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Life Cycle Costing

...INTRODUCTION Life cycle costing is an alternative approach to cost management which accumulates and manages cost over a product’s lie cycle (Adamany & Gonsalves, 1994; Artto, 1994; Susman, 1989). There are two important aspects to life cycle costing which is the focus on the product cost and the inclusion of upstream and downstream costs. Upstream cost is incurred when company prepares to start its production process. These upstream costs can range from raw materials to research and development to product design. Upstream costs can have a significant impact on the efficiency and profitability of the production process. If raw materials are too expensive or if the design of a new product takes too long, the upstream costs can limit a company's potential profits before a single unit becomes available for sale. While downstream cost is incurred after a company has completed its production process, it must still get that product to its customers. The process involved in delivering those products to the customers is the source of the company's downstream costs. These downstream costs can range from distribution expenses to marketing plans to sales channels. Downstream costs also act as a determining factor in the company's profitability. If distribution costs are too high or sales efforts are ineffective, the downstream costs will eat away at expected revenues. The product life cycle is most frequently understood to mean the life cycle of a particular product on the market....

Words: 1979 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Objectives Of Cost Accounting

...per unit of a product or service. Its important for us to know the cost per unit for the following reasons: ➢ To know the cost ➢ To control ➢ To take the decision whether to stop or continue the product or service. There are three elements...

Words: 991 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Lifecycle Case Study

...14:49 Page 1 www.thetimes100.co.uk The product life cycle and online fashion Introduction ASOS.com is the UK’s market leader in online fashion retailing. It offers own-label, branded fashion and designer goods. Its headquarters are in Camden Town in North London. ASOS.com originally stood for As Seen on Screen. The company was set up in June 2000 with just two people to bring the latest fashion trends to shoppers as quickly as possible. It has rapidly grown to become the UK’s largest independent online fashion retailer. It stocks over 22,000 product styles on its website and introduces up to 1,000 new products to its ranges each week. The ASOS.com website attracts over five million visitors a month and the company currently has around 1.2 million active customers (that is, people who have bought in the last six months). It was named Online Retailer of the Year in 2008 by Retail Week Awards. ASOS.com provides high fashion clothing for women, men and children, as well as footwear, accessories, jewellery and beauty products. It aims these primarily at a target audience of 16-34 year olds. However, as the company continues to grow and diversify its product ranges and increase awareness, it appeals to a much wider online fashion market. Over 20% of its current customer database is aged over 35. Each week ASOS.com delivers 70,000 packages to the homes of its online customers. CURRICULUM TOPICS • Product life cycle • Extension strategies • Boston Matrix •...

Words: 2870 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Product Life Cycle

...ASSIGNMENT N0 1 Describe the stages of the product life cycle and how marketing strategies change during the product life cycle. INTRODUCTION All products and services have certain life cycles. The product life cycle refers to the period from the product’s first launch into the market until its final withdrawal and it is split up in phases. During this period significant changes are made in the way that the product is behaving into the market i.e. its reflection in respect of sales to the company that introduced it into the market. Since an increase in profits is the major goal of a company that introduces a product into a market, the product’s life cycle management is very important. Some companies use strategic planning and others follow the basic rules of the different life cycle phase that are analyzed later. The understanding of a product’s life cycle, can help a company to understand and realize when it is time to introduce and withdraw a product from a market, its position in the market compared to competitors, and the product’s success or failure. For a company to fully understand the above and successfully manage a product’s life cycle, needs to develop strategies and methodologies. The product’s life cycle - period usually consists of five major steps or phases: Product development, Product introduction, Product growth, Product maturity and finally Product decline. These phases exist and are applicable to all products or services from a certain make of automobile...

Words: 2189 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Implementation of Sma Techniques

...1.1 Implementation of Customer Profitability Analysis There are six steps taken in implementing this technique in a company which are select customers, determine revenues and costs, analyze profitability and non-profitability customers, develop strategies and review the affects. We decided to choose Perodua as one of the local company that implements this technique. Determine Costs Determine Costs Determine Revenues Determine Revenues Select Customers Select Customers Diagram 1.1.1 Analyze profitable and non-profitable customers Analyze profitable and non-profitable customers Develop strategies Develop strategies Review the affects Review the affects Based on Diagram 1.1.1, first step shows that a company should select their customers based on customer segmentation. The basis of customer segmentation will differ across the companies and across the industries. There are two basic approaches to customer segmentation which are demographic segmentation and psychographic segmentation. Demographic segmentation based on observable characteristics such as geographic area, customer age, sex and income level. Psychographic segmentation based on customer needs and behavior such as customer values, attitudes, and interests. Perodua has selects their customers based on customer segmentations. Currently, there are two types of customer selected by Perodua which are high cost customer and low cost customer. High cost customer refers to the people which has high income...

Words: 1712 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Product Life Cysle

...PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MODEL The product’s life cycle usually consists of five major phases: Product development, Product introduction, Product growth, Product maturity and finally Product decline. These phases are applicable to all products or services. These phases can be split up into smaller ones depending on the product and must be considered when a new product is to be introduced into a market since they dictate the product’s sales performance 1. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PHASE Product development phase begins when a company finds and develops a new product idea. This involves translating various pieces of information and incorporating them into a new product. A product is usually undergoing several changes involving a lot of money and time during development, before it is exposed to target customers via test markets. Those products that survive the test market are then introduced into a real marketplace and the introduction phase of the product begins. During the product development phase, sales are zero and revenues are negative. It is the time of spending with absolute no return. 2. INTRODUCTION PHASE The introduction phase of a product includes the product launch with its requirements to getting it launch in such a way so that it will have maximum impact at the moment of sale. This period can be described as a money sinkhole compared to the maturity phase of a product. Large expenditure on promotion and advertising is common, and quick but costly service requirements...

Words: 1310 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Prdrpdp

...Product Management and Strategy Dr. Prashant Mishra prashant@iimcal.ac.in A Business Strategy Product-Market Investment Decision • Product-market scope • Investment intensity • Resource allocation over business units Basis of SCAs • Assets/Competencies • Synergies Functional Area Strategies • Product • Price • Distribution • Etc. Figure 1.1 The Four Ps: The Tools The Four Cs: The Ends Marketing Mix Product Customer Solution Place ConvenPromotion ience Communication Price Customer Cost The Other 4Cs: The Participants The Participants Competitors Company Consumer Channel Views on the Marketing Processes 5-C Analysis Customer Competitor Company Collaborators Context S-T-P Marketing Segmentation Targeting Positioning 4 P’s Marketing Plan Product Pricing Promotion Place The Functional View Views on the Marketing Processes Understanding Customer Value Creating Customer Value Capturing Customer Value Delivering Customer Value Sustaining Customer Value The Process View Understanding Customer Value • Value is defined as the perceived worth in monetary units of the of the set of economic functional / technical and psychological benefits received by the customer in exchange for the price paid for for a product offering, taking into consideration the available offerings and prices. - Anderson, Jain and Chintagunta(1993) Understanding Customer Value Psychological Functional Economic Plea From an Anonymous...

Words: 1455 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

New Product Development

...New-Product Development and Product Life-Cycle Strategies Based on: Philip Kotler et al., Principles of Marketing International Marketing Prof. Dr. Thomas Laukamm Objectives - Understand how companies find and develop newproduct ideas. - Learn the steps in the new-product development process. - Know the stages of the product life cycle. - Understand how marketing strategies change during the product’s life cycle. Fach, Dozent, Semester International Marketing Prof. Dr. Thomas Laukamm 1 Definition - New Product Development + Development of original products, product improvements, product modifications, and new brands through the firm’s own R & D efforts. Fach, Dozent, Semester International Marketing Prof. Dr. Thomas Laukamm 2 New Product Development Strategy - New products can be obtained via acquisition or development. - New products suffer from high failure rates. - Several reasons account for failure. Fach, Dozent, Semester International Marketing Prof. Dr. Thomas Laukamm 3 New Product Development Strategy - New Product Development Process: + Stage 1: Idea Generation • Internal idea sources: R&D • External idea sources: Customers, competitors, distributors, suppliers Fach, Dozent, Semester International Marketing Prof. Dr. Thomas Laukamm 4 New Product Development Strategy - New Product Development Process: + Stage 2: Idea Screening • Product development costs increase substantially in later...

Words: 842 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Marketing Management

...understand by product life cycle? Discuss implications and limitations of product life cycle concept. Product Life Cycle (PLC) The concept of the product that passes through changes in its total life known as Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based on the following facts: 1. Product has a limited life 2. A product sale passes through distinct stages 3. Profits rise and fall at different stages of Product Life Cycle 4. Products require different marketing, financial, manufacturing, purchasing and 5. Human resource strategies in each life cycle stage. Demand/Technology Life Cycle We have to remember that although certain basic needs remain unchanged over a long period of time, improved technologies effect upgradations in the matching product for the need category. For example, our need for travelling from one place toanother has been satisfied by progressively superior categories of products like horse back, horse-drawn carriage, sail boat, steam engine, electric trains, automobiles, aeroplanes etc. These are manifestations of technology life cycles, where the demand/technology cycle leads to product life cycle as shown in the curves in Figure. Implications and Limitations of Product Life Cycle Concept Product life cycle concept shows a framework to spot the occurrence of opportunities and threats in a product market and the industry. This can help firms to reassess their objectives, strategies, and different elements of marketing programme. A new product launch requires...

Words: 1465 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Mkt/ 421

...differentiation of the products. This paper will also discuss about the repositioning and whether it is needed in the case of gallery furniture or not. The various effects of product life cycle along with the effect of product life cycle on the product of simulation. Situation The gallery furniture earned great customers from Houston and other store locations. But it is important to note that many people are now turning towards the furniture showrooms who spend great time in interacting with customers and also offering huge discounts. Gallery furniture is in a competitive market area where there are many competitors. Another important thing is, there are certain problems in the payment processing periods for the customers purchased online. These situations should need to be overcome. The delays of the supply of furniture are also making great issues for customers. Recommended Solutions It is important to care more for the welfare of the customers and there should be no way for making the customers to shift to other showrooms. There must be certain different strategies to be developed to overcome various issues associated with Gallery furniture and thus it can be able to earn great number of customers as well as great volumes of sales. Gallery furniture uses certain promotional tools for attracting more number of customers. It should need to increase more sales volumes by targeting on the exact needs of the customers. The online shopping customers should need to get quick...

Words: 1186 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Performance

...THE MEANING OF PROJECT: A project is a unique venture with specific start and end dates. This is different from an ongoing task that doesn't have an end date. Projects often involve different parts of an organization. Constraints on project include cost, schedule, resources, and quality. There is a give and take between these items i.e. you can't have it all. Usually projects are divisible into stages or phases each with their own set of priorities and goals. A project is an important and carefully planned piece of work that is intended to build or produce something new, or to deal with a problem. The Project Management Institute, U.S.A. has a good definition for it. According to the Institute, a project is a one-shot, time-limited, goal-directed, major undertaking, requiring the commitment of varied skills and resources. It also describes a project as: a combination of human and non-human resources pooled together in a temporary organization to achieve a fixed set of objectives The aforementioned descriptions emphasize that a project does not mean a material body or form, rather it denotes an operation undertaken temporarily to achieve a goal-directed objective within a limited time. In contrast, the Oxford English Dictionary states that a project is "a plan, scheme or table of something; a tabulated statement; a design or pattern according to which something is made; something projected or proposed for execution; a proposal." It is, therefore correct to...

Words: 1542 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Product Life Cycle

...Life Cycle of a Product It is a generally accepted statement that 90% of the products we use today did not exist in their current form five years ago. Similarly, 90% of the products we will be using five years from now do not currently exist. Whether this statement is entirely accurate or not, we can all identify products that have changed from their original form and/or content. And, with today's rapid changes in technology, almost every product will undergo some sort of modification during its lifetime. This idea is demonstrated by the Product Life Cycle concept, which shows the path a typical new product takes from its inception to its discontinuation. To be precise, it describes the stages a product goes through from its introduction, through its growth until it is mature and then finally its decline. Moreover, it’s associated with changes in the marketing situation, thus impacting the marketing strategy & the marketing mix as well. Knowledge of the product’s life cycle can provide valuable insights into ways the product can be managed to enhance sales and profitability. Marketing activities are heavily dependent on the stage in the product life cycle. Products do not last forever. A typical cycle for a product is as follows: First a product will be developed. The prototype will be tested & market research carried out before it is launched onto the market. There will be no sales at this time. * In the introduction stage the product is launched in the market...

Words: 1441 - Pages: 6