Product life cycle and its 4 stages: what is it and what is it for?
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 4:58 am
In marketing we often use models to describe processes that are relevant to marketing professionals. In this article we are going to look at a very important model to describe the process that a product goes through from its launch to its decline.
In this article we will see:
What is a product life cycle?
Why is it important to identify rcs data china stage of the life cycle the product is in?
What are the 4 stages of the product life cycle?
1) Introduction
Strategies for the introduction stage of a product
2) Growth
Strategies for the growth stage of a product
3) Maturity
Strategies for the maturity stage of a product
4) Decline
Strategies for the decline stage of a product
Conclusion
What is a product life cycle?
The product life cycle model reflects the evolution of a product's sales history throughout the different stages of its existence , from its launch to its withdrawal from the market.
Assuming that products have a limited life, sales tend to follow a predictable course throughout the life cycle and products will require different marketing strategies depending on the stage they are in.
The richness of the model lies precisely in being able to see specific strategies for each stage in this famous product life cycle.
Why is it important to identify what stage of the life cycle the product is in?
Once we have identified the characteristics of each stage, it is very important to identify where we can place our product in order to outline a marketing strategy corresponding to each case . Marketing a product that I have just launched on the market is not the same as marketing a product that has already reached its maximum sales, or even one that I am withdrawing from the market.
So are there “predetermined” strategies for each stage? As I mentioned earlier, product profits tend to follow a predictable course, but it all depends on the context in which we are immersed : the length of the product life cycle will be conditioned by the ease of market entry for competitors, the time of adoption and diffusion by consumers, the rate of technological change, etc.
The product life cycle of an iPhone is not the same as the product life cycle of a lipstick or a family microwave.
For each stage we will define a main objective , evaluate how each variable of the marketing mix will behave at each stage of the product life cycle, and finally the appropriate advertising objective .
In this article we will see:
What is a product life cycle?
Why is it important to identify rcs data china stage of the life cycle the product is in?
What are the 4 stages of the product life cycle?
1) Introduction
Strategies for the introduction stage of a product
2) Growth
Strategies for the growth stage of a product
3) Maturity
Strategies for the maturity stage of a product
4) Decline
Strategies for the decline stage of a product
Conclusion
What is a product life cycle?
The product life cycle model reflects the evolution of a product's sales history throughout the different stages of its existence , from its launch to its withdrawal from the market.
Assuming that products have a limited life, sales tend to follow a predictable course throughout the life cycle and products will require different marketing strategies depending on the stage they are in.
The richness of the model lies precisely in being able to see specific strategies for each stage in this famous product life cycle.
Why is it important to identify what stage of the life cycle the product is in?
Once we have identified the characteristics of each stage, it is very important to identify where we can place our product in order to outline a marketing strategy corresponding to each case . Marketing a product that I have just launched on the market is not the same as marketing a product that has already reached its maximum sales, or even one that I am withdrawing from the market.
So are there “predetermined” strategies for each stage? As I mentioned earlier, product profits tend to follow a predictable course, but it all depends on the context in which we are immersed : the length of the product life cycle will be conditioned by the ease of market entry for competitors, the time of adoption and diffusion by consumers, the rate of technological change, etc.
The product life cycle of an iPhone is not the same as the product life cycle of a lipstick or a family microwave.
For each stage we will define a main objective , evaluate how each variable of the marketing mix will behave at each stage of the product life cycle, and finally the appropriate advertising objective .