The 6 Levels of the Product Life Cycle [+Examples]

Once I was 12 years outdated, I was confused about my cousin’s CD assortment. Why have CDs after I may go on iTunes and hearken to all my favourite songs? It is a good instance of a product life cycle (PLC) in motion.

Nobody desires their product to change into “out of date” and attain the top of its product life cycle. That’s why it’s necessary to know what stage your product is in so you may make higher advertising and marketing and enterprise selections.

Beneath, we’ll be taught in regards to the product life cycle inside and outside. In case you’re in a pinch, use the hyperlinks beneath to leap straight to what you want:

What’s the product life cycle?

The product life cycle is the succession of phases {that a} product goes by throughout its existence, ranging from growth and in the end ending in decline. Enterprise homeowners and entrepreneurs use the product life cycle to make necessary selections and methods on promoting budgets, product costs, and packaging.

Within the advertising and marketing trade, the standard depiction of the product life cycle solely has 4 primary phases — Introduction, Progress, Maturity, and Decline. At HubSpot, we agree that these are very important for a product, however the two phases “Improvement” and “Decline” aren’t practically lined sufficient.

As entrepreneurs, it is necessary to know how your ways and methods change relying on the stage your product is in. Let’s break down every of the six phases of the product life cycle.

What are the phases of the product life cycle?

Improvement
Introduction
Progress
Maturity
Saturation
Decline

1. Improvement

The event stage of the product life cycle is the analysis section earlier than a product is launched to {the marketplace}. That is when firms herald buyers, develop prototypes, check product effectiveness, and strategize their launch.

On this stage, firms sometimes spend some huge cash with out bringing in any income as a result of the product is not being offered but.

This section can final for a very long time, relying on the complexity of the product, how new it’s, and the competitors. For a very new product, the event stage is especially troublesome as a result of the primary pioneer of a product isn’t at all times as profitable as later iterations.

Earlier than full-scale manufacturing, the product could also be launched in a restricted market or area for testing functions. This permits firms to evaluate market acceptance, collect consumer suggestions, and make obligatory changes earlier than a wider launch.

2. Introduction

The introduction stage occurs when a product is launched within the market. That is when advertising and marketing groups start constructing product consciousness and concentrating on potential prospects. Sometimes, when a product is launched, gross sales are low and demand builds slowly.

On this section, entrepreneurs give attention to promoting and advertising and marketing campaigns. Additionally they work on testing distribution channels and constructing product and model consciousness.

This stage is essential as a result of firms have the chance to shake up the established order and seize the eye and loyalty of early adopters. The optimistic experiences and word-of-mouth suggestions from these early prospects can affect the broader goal market and speed up product adoption.

Some examples of merchandise presently within the introduction stage embody:

In the end, the success of this stage units the inspiration for the product’s future development and success in subsequent phases of the product life cycle.

3. Progress

In the course of the development stage, shoppers have accepted the product out there and prospects are starting to really purchase in. Which means demand and earnings are rising, hopefully at a steadily fast tempo. This momentum is essential for sustaining enterprise operations, funding additional product growth, and producing returns on funding.

As firms scale, they will profit from decrease per-unit manufacturing prices, improved provider relationships, and optimized distribution networks.

Nonetheless, there are some challenges that include the expansion stage. As the marketplace for the product expands, competitors grows. Potential opponents will see your success and can need in.

Some merchandise which might be presently within the development stage are:

Smartwatches
Electrical vehicles
Peloton

Throughout this stage, it’s necessary to maintain attracting new prospects and solidify your model picture so you’ll be able to keep forward of the competitors.

4. Maturity

The maturity stage is when the gross sales start to degree off from the fast development interval. At this level, firms start to scale back their costs to allow them to keep aggressive amongst the rising competitors. Streamlining manufacturing processes, negotiating favorable provider contracts, and optimizing distribution networks additionally change into necessary concerns.

That is the section the place an organization begins to change into extra environment friendly and learns from the errors made within the introduction and development phases. Advertising campaigns are sometimes centered on differentiation moderately than consciousness. Because of this product options could be enhanced, costs could be lowered, and distribution turns into extra intensive.

In the course of the maturity stage, merchandise start to enter essentially the most worthwhile stage. The price of manufacturing declines whereas the gross sales are growing.

Examples:

Smartphones
Amazon
Online game consoles

5. Saturation

In the course of the product saturation stage, opponents have begun to take a portion of the market and merchandise will expertise neither development nor decline in gross sales.

Sometimes, that is the purpose when most shoppers are utilizing a product, however there are lots of competing firms. At this level, you need your product to change into the model desire so you do not enter the decline stage. To realize this, you’ll need to give attention to offering distinctive service and constructing robust relationships together with your prospects.

In a saturated market, innovation additionally turns into important to remain related. Companies should repeatedly put money into analysis and growth to enhance merchandise and supply new options. Failure to take action could result in product obsolescence and lack of market share.

Some examples of merchandise within the saturation stage are:

Streaming companies
Breakfast cereals
Mushy drinks

6. Decline

Sadly, in case your product doesn‘t change into the popular model in a market, you’ll sometimes expertise a decline. Gross sales will lower throughout the heightened competitors, which is difficult to beat.

Decline additionally happens when merchandise change into outdated or much less related as newer applied sciences enter the market. Customers could flip to extra superior choices, rendering the declining product much less fascinating.

If an organization is at this stage, it’s going to both discontinue its product, promote the corporate, or innovate and iterate on its product not directly.

Listed here are a number of examples of merchandise within the decline stage:

CDs and cassette tapes
Landline telephones
DVDs

The perfect firms will often have merchandise at a number of factors within the product life cycle at any given time. Some firms look to different international locations to start the cycle anew.

Significance of the Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle is necessary as a result of it informs a corporation’s administration and decision-makers how properly a product is performing and what strategic actions it’s going to take to succeed. This helps firms allocate sources like workers, budgets, reveals which merchandise must be prioritized, and the place the corporate ought to innovate subsequent.

Different advantages of utilizing the product life cycle embody:

Make higher advertising and marketing investments and selections
Simpler to make long-term plans
Permits for higher resolution making with correct data on efficiency
Simpler to streamline present processes inside your organization

Product Life Cycle Limitations

Whereas utilizing the PLC technique actually helps stakeholders plan, it does have limitations. The cycle breaks down efficiency over a number of phases, however sadly there is no such thing as a technique to inform how lengthy every stage will final.

Complicating issues additional, not all merchandise will transfer by these phases on the identical tempo. For instance, a product could take longer to say no than others. Plus product managers run the chance of not dedicating sufficient effort and sources into a specific product in the event that they assume the product will decline, creating deliberate obsolescence – even when prospects nonetheless use it.

Breaking Down the Product Life Cycle Idea

Within the late ‘60s, Harvard Enterprise College professor Raymond Vernon developed this advertising and marketing principle in response to an financial mannequin that did not account for tendencies current in worldwide commerce – that’s why it was initially known as the worldwide product life cycle principle.

It said that merchandise developed in a global market had three phases:

New product
Maturing product
Standardized product

Right here’s a fast breakdown of his principle.

Vernon theorized a brand new product would carry out finest in its nation of origin to maintain manufacturing and manufacturing prices low. As soon as the product gained demand, firms may start exporting to different international locations and proceed constructing native manufacturing vegetation in every new location.

Having these native vegetation would supply the pliability to make modifications to the product with out incurring large prices.

The standardized section would contain an inflow of opponents, which might lead the corporate to give attention to driving down manufacturing and manufacturing prices to stay aggressive. Because the market turns into saturated and a brand new product will get launched, the corporate loses its relevance in its house nation and shifts gears to create one thing new, with the cycle starting once more.

Since then, the product life cycle principle has developed to focus much less on geography and extra on advertising and marketing. Let’s dive into it subsequent.

You should use this template to map out your individual product’s life cycle phases.

Download the Free Product Life Cycle Template

Product Life Cycle Advertising Methods

Now that we’ve mentioned the completely different phases of the product life cycle, let’s discover find out how to market merchandise in every stage.

Improvement Stage Advertising Technique

Whereas advertising and marketing sometimes begins within the introduction stage, you’ll be able to start to construct “buzz” round your product by securing the endorsement of established voices within the trade.

You may also contemplate a restricted launch of the product to a choose group of shoppers or in a particular market phase. This exclusivity can create a way of anticipation and urgency amongst potential patrons.

Then, you should utilize the suggestions from the restricted launch to publish early (and favorable) shopper analysis or testimonials. Your advertising and marketing purpose throughout this stage is to construct upon your model consciousness and set up your self as an modern firm.

Introduction Stage Advertising Technique

That is the place the enjoyable begins. Now that the product is launched, you’ll be able to truly advertise utilizing inbound marketing and content marketing.

Think about collaborating with influencers or trade specialists who’ve a robust following and affect in your goal market. Encourage them to overview and promote your product by weblog posts, vlogs, social media posts, or sponsored content material. Their endorsement can assist generate credibility and attain a wider viewers.

Schooling is important on this stage. In case your advertising and marketing methods are profitable, the product goes into the following stage — development.

Progress Stage Advertising Technique

Throughout this section, advertising and marketing campaigns usually shift from getting prospects’ buy-in to establishing a model presence so shoppers select them over growing opponents.

A technique to do that is by allocating sources to digital advertising and marketing channels like social media promoting, SEO (web optimization), content material advertising and marketing, and influencer partnerships. Then, leverage knowledge analytics to focus on and attain your ideally suited prospects successfully.

Moreover, as firms develop, they will start to open new distribution channels and add extra options and help companies. Think about partnering with retailers, getting into new markets, or exploring e-commerce platforms to succeed in a wider buyer base. In your technique, you’ll promote these as properly.

Maturity Stage Advertising Technique

When your product has change into a mature providing, you could really feel such as you’re “crusing by” as a result of gross sales are regular and the product has been established. However that is the place it’s important to determine your self as a pacesetter and differentiate your model.

Think about sharing beneficial and academic content material, comparable to weblog posts and trade insights, to place your model as an authority. Educate potential prospects about the advantages and worth they will acquire out of your product.

Constantly enhance upon the product as adoption grows, and let shoppers know in your advertising and marketing technique that the product they love is best than it was earlier than. This may defend you throughout the subsequent stage — saturation.

Saturation Stage Advertising Technique

When the market has change into saturated, you’ll have to give attention to model consciousness and differentiation.

Establish particular buyer segments inside your market and tailor advertising and marketing efforts to attraction to their particular wants and preferences. Refine your messaging and positioning to resonate with every phase, permitting for a extra focused and environment friendly advertising and marketing strategy.

You’ll additionally need to give attention to retaining and strengthening relationships together with your present prospects. Think about creating a personalised customer support expertise and introducing new product options, loyalty packages, packaging choices, or bundling with complementary merchandise.

Competitors is highest at this stage, so it’s important to go away little question relating to the prevalence of your product.

If innovation on the product degree isn’t doable (as a result of the product solely wants minor tweaks at this level), then put money into your customer support and use buyer testimonials in your advertising and marketing.

Decline Stage Advertising Technique

Whereas firms would need to keep away from the decline stage, typically there’s no serving to it — particularly if your entire market reached a decline. In your advertising and marketing technique, you’ll be able to emphasize the prevalence of your resolution to efficiently get out of this stage.

To increase the product life cycle, profitable firms may also implement new promoting methods, scale back costs, add new options to extend their worth proposition, discover new markets, or regulate model packaging.

Sadly, not each firm is profitable at pivoting their product out of the decline stage. If the product is out of date or financially unviable, it could be finest to plan for an orderly exit from the market.

Now that we’ve gone by phases and historical past, let’s overview some real-life examples of them in motion.

Product Life Cycle Examples

The Typewriter
Vine
Cable TV
Floppy Disk

Let’s comply with the product life cycle of well-liked merchandise which have since reached the decline stage.

1. The Typewriter

The typewriter was the primary mechanical writing device — a worthy successor to pen and paper. In the end, nevertheless, different applied sciences gained traction and changed it.

Improvement: Earlier than the primary industrial typewriter was launched to the market, the general thought had been developed for hundreds of years, starting in 1575.
Introduction: Within the late 1800s, the primary industrial typewriters have been launched.
Progress: The typewriter shortly turned an indispensable device for all types of writing, turning into broadly utilized in workplaces, companies, and personal properties.
Maturity: Typewriters have been within the maturity section for practically 80 years, as a result of this was the popular product for typing communications up till the Eighties.
Saturation: In the course of the saturation stage, typewriters started to face fierce competitors with computer systems within the Nineties.
Decline: Total, the typewriter could not stand up to the competitors of recent rising applied sciences, and finally the product was discontinued.

2. Vine

Skipping ahead to the twenty first century, we see the rise and fall of Vine, a short-form video-sharing app that was the supply for a lot of memes at its peak however finally declined as a consequence of different platforms.

Improvement: Vine was based in June 2012 and primarily competed with Instagram.
Introduction: The app was launched to the general public in 2013. Its differentiating issue was its short-form video format — customers had solely seven seconds to movie one thing that was hilarious, absurd, or a combination of each.
Progress: Solely two years after its launch, Vine had over 200 million lively customers. Its reputation led to the appearance of the phrase “Do it for the Vine.”
Maturity: As a result of it was solely out there for a number of years, Vine by no means reached the maturity stage. Whereas adoption was excessive, it was nonetheless a reasonably new app.
Saturation: Vine competed in an already saturated market. Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube have been the pre-eminent names of their class, and Vine quickly began to say no in use.
Decline: When Musical.ly was launched, Vine misplaced a considerable amount of its consumer base and shut down. It was succeeded by Byte, an analogous short-form video-sharing platform, however none of those have been in a position to surpass TikTok, which launched months after Vine’s finish in 2016.

3. Cable TV

Keep in mind the times of switching TV channels to seek out what to look at? I do — and so they really feel distinctly like one thing of the previous. Whereas cable TV continues to be round, it’s secure to say that it’s nearing the decline stage.

Improvement: Cable TV was developed within the first half of the 20 th century. John Walson has been credited with its invention.
Introduction: The primary industrial tv system was launched in 1950, and by 1962, the know-how noticed the primary hints of development.
Progress: After a decades-long freeze on cable TV’s growth (as a consequence of regulatory restrictions), the know-how started gaining traction, and by 1980, greater than 15 million households had cable.
Maturity: Cable TV matured across the Nineties. Round seven in ten households had cable.
Saturation: The beginning of the twenty first century noticed an oversaturation of this know-how, and it additionally began to compete with different fashionable developments comparable to on-demand companies and high-definition TV (HDTV). Whereas the web was nonetheless in its nascent phases, it will quickly acquire on cable TV as properly.
Decline: From 2015 onwards, cable TV skilled a marked decline. On-line video streaming companies comparable to Netflix and Hulu have taken priority — and this development is about to proceed.

4. Floppy Disk

This relic was as soon as a preferred and handy technique to retailer and share knowledge between computer systems. I barely understood what they have been rising up, and it astounds me to consider the very existence of cloud knowledge sharing and different mass reminiscence storage means.

Improvement: The primary floppy disk was developed in 1970 by IBM engineers. It was an 8-inch versatile magnetic disk in a sq. case with 2MB storage capability.
Introduction: It was launched in 1971 and largely turned often called the one technique to switch or retailer knowledge.
Progress: The floppy disk was majorly used within the Eighties-Nineties.
Maturity: Offered properly out there throughout the Nineties. Enhancing with time, it may maintain 200MB of storage.
Saturation: Main opponents emerged firstly of the twenty first century. The invention of USB cables, exterior laborious disks, and CDs gave individuals choices to retailer their knowledge.
Decline: The floppy disk confronted a significant decline as much as Hewlett-Packard stopping manufacturing for the disk in 2009. The storage capability for different merchandise out there grew to be extra environment friendly. Data storage evolution has grown to the purpose the place floppy disks are easy relics.

Not all merchandise have to face the decline stage. Firms can lengthen the product life cycle with new iterations and keep afloat so long as they’ve a number of merchandise at varied factors of the product life cycle.

Worldwide Product Life Cycle

The worldwide product life cycle (IPL) is the cycle a product goes by in worldwide markets. As merchandise start to mature and firms need to keep away from the decline stage, they will sometimes start to discover new markets globally.

When merchandise attain mass manufacturing, manufacturing and manufacturing shift to different international locations as properly.

The worldwide product life cycle phases are equivalent to that of a traditional product life cycle. The event stage seems to be completely different, nevertheless, as a result of native customs and rules can have an effect on how lengthy it takes to deliver the product to a brand new market.

Nonetheless, when you lay the groundwork in a brand new market, your opponents will you should definitely comply with, and the life cycle phases will proceed up till saturation and finally decline. Your choice is to both broaden into one other market or be taught from prior errors and innovate earlier than the decline stage rolls round.

Subsequent, we’ll have a look at when it is best to use the product life cycle.

When to Use the Product Life Cycle

Companies use the product life cycle to realize the next:

Set up aggressive authority. In case your product is new and not too long ago launched to the market, you’ll be able to promote it as a brand new and improved different to an present product. If the product is established, you’ll be able to vouch for its lengthy historical past of use in your branding.

Resolve on a pricing strategy. Relying on the life cycle stage your product is in, you’ll select find out how to value the product. A brand new product could also be priced decrease to entice extra patrons, whereas a product within the development stage might be priced larger.
Create a marketing strategy. Your product life cycle stage will decide which technique to pursue. Maturity and viewers knowledgeability play a giant position in the kind of content material you publish in your website and social media profiles.
Reply earlier than the product begins its decline. There’s no worse feeling than watching your product slowly change into out of date or be displaced by a competing product. By protecting the life cycle phases in thoughts, you’ll be able to create a technique that retains you forward of the curve as you attain the saturation and decline phases.

The product life cycle advantages companies as a result of they will shift their wording and positioning to finest market the product on the stage it’s in. In case your product has not too long ago been launched and also you attempt to promote it as a long-established resolution, shoppers will see proper by it and belief you much less because of this.

Preserve Your Product’s Life Cycle in Thoughts

Whether or not you are growing a model new product or working with a mature, well-established model, you should utilize the product life cycle phases as a information in your advertising and marketing campaigns.

Every stage will dictate the way you inform your viewers in regards to the product, the way you place your model within the market, and the way you determine to maneuver ahead after the decline stage.

By protecting your product’s life cycle in thoughts, you’ll be able to put money into higher advertising and marketing campaigns that end in the next ROI.

Editor’s notice: This publish was initially revealed in January 2020 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.

This text was written by a human, however our staff makes use of AI in our editorial course of. Try our full disclosure to be taught extra about how we use AI.