Marketing Strategies for Different Stages of the Product Life Cycle

Kotler says, "the company must think about how to extend the product's life and profitability in the face of knowing that it will not last forever". This assumes of course, that products have a lifecycle. I guess we can all think about products/brands/services that we have used in the past that no longer fit with either today's way of living or my own life cycle.

Kotler continues,"to say that a product has a life cycle is to assert four things;

1. products have a limited life
2. product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing different challenges to the seller
3. product profits rise and fall at different stages of the product life cycle
4. products require different marketing, financial, manufacturing, purchasing, and personnel strategies in the different stages of their life cycle.

We understand the typical product life cycle (PLC) as being an S-shaped curve with four phases; introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

But, as Kotler says, in reality, very few products follow this S-shape during its life - what is more normal is an overlap of this S-shape as marketers look to extend various satges or even start a new PLC for the same product. There are of course a range of strategies available to help the marketer extend the products PLC.

Kotler gives us a handy model - see table 12.1, to show how the marketer can set the relevant strategy depending upon where the product is on its PLC.

The end of the chapter goes on to discuss the PLC for markets. This again is probably very familiar territory for us marketers.

But, how many of us actually plot either the PLC for our brands under management or the market they compete within ? And then use this analysis to help set strategy ?

In my years working across a wide range of sectors and georgraphies, I have used the concept of PLC but not really analysed the PLC that thoroughly and then gone onto to use this analysis to help set the strategy moving forwards. I can think of a few projects where this analysis could be useful and I will plan to add this tool into the range of marketing models I use on a regular basis when working as a marketing consultant.