Product Life Cycle

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I- INTRODUCTION A product life cycle is the typical stages a product goes through during its lifetime. The product life cycle is broken down into five different stages, which include the development, introduction, growth, maturity and decline stages of the product. Characteristics for each stage differ and in response to the different needs of the product as it moves through its life cycle, the market mix used during these stages differ as well. Understanding the product life cycle can help business owners and marketing managers plan a marketing mix to address each stage fully. The idea of the product life cycle has been around for some time, and it is an important principle manufacturers need to understand in order to make a profit and stay in business. However, the key to successful manufacturing does not just understand this life cycle, but also proactively managing products throughout their lifetime, applying the appropriate resources and sales and marketing strategies, depending on what stage products are at in the cycle. The drafting of a strategic marketing plan should always be preceded by the accurate analysis of the product or service to be promoted. Apart from analyzing the target audience, commercial environment and competition, which are useful indications of strategy, the plan can be derived from the study of a specific product lifecycle. II- PRODUCT LIFE-CYCLE STRATEGIES 2.1. Development Stage The development stage is one step before introduction while firms have no revenue involved with cash flow and innovation and development expenses, investment financial resources and time are necessary for most innovations and developments and thus with a high risk in the stage. This stage is mostly for understanding the use and benefit of targets who are looking for new product, describing products with considering potential benefits, creating a

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