PLC
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
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Updated 2014 Nov 18


MRK106 in Nov 2014 at Markham campus of Seneca doing a class exercise in which they plot, 
on paper, some products at different stages of the Product Life Cycle.

 
 https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=HDqFyNvFdak&feature=youtu.be
 
This is the video compiled from the results of the "in class" exercise done by the students in the above image. Watch it, and you can see several examples of drawing the PLC, and products/services at different stages.

 
 
PRODUCT  Management  and New-Product Development 
PLC - Product Life Cycle
 
http://www.witiger.com/powerpoints/MRK106/chpt10~MKTG106~2000.ppt Stages in the Product Life Cycle
  • Introduction
  • Growth
  • Maturity
  • Decline
  • Individual brands may not follow this pattern
    •  sometimes a product may crash and not get to the maturity stage
  • Each market should be carefully defined
    • depends on where on the planet you are talking, some products are at different stages in the PLC depending on the country
  • Product Life Cycle - length of time at each stage  - varies
    • depends on the products
    • can be a few months in each stage
    • or it can be years


Generally speaking, due to the 
      • Competitive Environment
      • Technological Environment
    • The PLC is getting shorter
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click to go to on-line quiz
 
an old online quiz which covers several questions related to the PLC, good to try and test yourself ....../student_view0/chapter10/quiz_questions.html
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Fashions and 
Fads
PRODUCT  Management  and New-Product Development

Fashion "the currently accepted or popular style" - generally what the majority of people follow in clothing, fast food, etc. 
Fashion cycles may last for some time as they spread beyond the innovators 

Fad cycles are short and do not re-occur - "fashionable only to certain groups" 

Styles are Fashions / Fads that come back over time and can last a short few months, or a couple of years 
- very common in the clothing industry and house decor

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PRODUCT  Management  and New-Product Development

Planning for Different Stages of the Product Life Cycle

 
Competitive 
Situation
Intro Stage
Monopoly or Monopolistic Competition 
- your company has no competition because you originated the product first and are the first to get customers
Growth Stage
Monopolistic Competition or Oligolpoly 
- once the market grows, other vendors will want to get involved so you will lose your monopoly position
Maturity / Decline Stage
Monopolistic Competition or Oligolpoly or Pure Competition 
- more and more vendors get involved as more companies learn to make the product and people try to "cash in" on the original idea 
- because there are so many vendors, the supply/demand situation will cause the price to drop and eventually the price will be so low, nobody will want to make the product anymore because it will be unprofitable.
Product One or a few number of people selling the product There are several companies selling so there is competition to make the "best" product -many companies at this stage will add variations, colour changes, and new FABs to the product to make it more competitive 
- companies in the lead will also work to develop brand familiarity
several companies make the product
- it will become a battle of the brands
Place Try to find good channels to get exposure
- maybe offer exclusive distribution rights
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Promotion AIDA begins
- informative type ads
- competitive ads - discount price oriented ads
Price skimming or 
penetration pricing
"meet the competition" pricing or price cutting - some companies drop out if they cannot afford to compete at a lower price

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