Product Life Cycle

1234 Words5 Pages
The concept of the product's life cycle is rooted in the fact that technology and consumer tastes take time to adapt to new products and are always changing. As such, when a new product is introduced, it takes some time to be widely accepted, at which point its sales and revenues will begin to grow. This will attract other competitors into the market, cause the market to mature. Finally, the market will saturate and decline as companies begin to introduce the next product, and consumers switch to that product. The product life cycle can be used to describe a brand, a single product or a whole product category. In some cases, such as a new mobile phone, the life cycle may proceed very rapidly, and the life cycle may only last a few months as new phones enter the market. In other cases, such as Coca Cola the product life cycle for a single product may last over a century. Also, in product categories such as the internal combustion engine, the basis product life cycle may last for many years with few alterations, such as improved batteries or alterations to use different types of fuel. The basic product lifecycle goes through five distinct stages: Product development This is the stage during which the majority of marketing planning occurs. The company is developing the product, selecting its target market, and creating a marketing plan and marketing mix. The company may also be carrying out pre launch marketing and attempting to build customer awareness of the product, particularly if the product is a radical new innovation. Introduction Stage The introduction stage begins when the product is first launched and made publically available. At this point, sales and revenues are usually low, as customers have not had much contact with the product, and can be slow to recognise the product as superior to previous offerings. As such, advertising revenues are
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