Comprehensive Product Life Cycle
Definition of Product Life Cycle
Comprehensive Product Life Cycle - Product life cycle (Product Life Cycle) is an important concept that provides an understanding of the competitive dynamics of a product.
Product Life Cycle
Product Life Cycle or Product Life Cycle is a chart that illustrates a product history since it was introduced into the market until it is withdrawn from the market. Product Life Cycle (Product Life Cycle) is an important concept in marketing because it provides a deep understanding of the competitive dynamics of a product. The concept of the Product Life Cycle was popularized by Levitt (1978) who after its use was developed and also expanded by other experts.
Product Life Cycle Stages
The stages contained in a Product Life Cycle (Product Life Cycle) of a product - There are those that classify it into introduction, growth, maturity, decline, termination.
Meanwhile, there were also those who suggested that the overall stages in the Product Life Cycle consisted of. According to Basu Swastha (1984: 127-132), the product life cycle is divided into 4 stages, namely:
1. Introduction stage.
In the introductory stage, goods are being marketed into large quantities even though the sales volume is not appropriate. Goods that are sold are essentially new goods (which are really new) because they are still in the initial stages, and usually the costs incurred are also high, especially the cost of advertising (promotion). The promotion must be aggressive and also leads to the seller's brand. In addition to that the distribution of goods is also still limited and the profits obtained are also still low.
2. Stage of growth (growth).
At this stage, sales as well as profits will increase very quickly. due to demand has increased greatly and also the community around it already knows the product concerned, then the promotional effort undertaken by a company is not as aggressive as the previous stage. In this stage, competitors have started to enter the market so that competition becomes tighter. Another way that can be done to be able to expand and also increase distribution is by lowering the selling price.
3. Maturity stage
At this maturity, we can all see that sales are still increasing and also at a later stage still. At this stage, producer or retailer profits begin to fall. Competition in prices is so sharp that a company needs to introduce productivity with new creativity models. In this stage of maturity, efforts in advertising (promotion) usually begin to be increased again to be able to face competition.
4. Stage of decline (decline)
Almost all types of goods produced by a company always experience antiquity or obsolescence and also must be replaced with new goods. In this stage of decline, new goods must be marketed to be able to replace old goods that are old school. even though the number of competitors has decreased but cost control is very important because the demand has fallen considerably. If the old goods are not immediately abandoned without being replaced with new goods, then the company can only operate in a certain market that is very limited. '
The alternatives that can be done by management when sales decline include the following:
Updating goods (function).
Reviewing and also improving marketing programs and production programs to make it more efficient.
Eliminating the size, color, as well as models that are not good.
reduce some types of goods to be able to achieve optimum profits on goods that already exist.
Create new creativity.