The product life cycle describes the stages a product will pass through from its introduction, through its growth until its is mature and then finally decline. There are six stages:
Development: When the prototype is tested and the market research is carried out.
Introduction: When it is launched on to the market. Sales will grow slowly as not many people are aware of the product yet, and therefore informative advertising will be used. Usually, price skimming is used as there’s no competition.
Growth: When sales start to grow rapidly. Advertising is changed to persuasive to encourage brand loyalty. Prices are reduced as new competitors enter the market.
Maturity: Sales increase slowly. Competition becomes intense and pricing strategies are now competitive or promotional pricing. A lot of advertising is made to maintain sales growth.
Saturation: Sales have stabilize at their highest point. Competition is high but there are no new competition. Competitive pricing is used, and there’s a high, stable level of advertising.
Decline: When sales decrease as the products has lost its appeal. Advertising is reduced and stopped, and prices are reduced a lot.
- introduce new variations of the same product
- sell into new markets (like another country or place)
- use a new advertising campaign
- introduce a new, improved version of the old product
- make small changes to the product’s design, color or packaging.
