New products or services are made primarily to meet a specific need and for the profit of an organisation (Mussa, 2012). When a company develop a new product and introduced it into the market, it passes through several stages known as the product life cycle. The University of Minnesota (2010) explains that a product life cycle is the “the sequential cycle of stages through which products go through involving, the introduction, growth, maturity, and declining stage' (p.197). Understanding this cycle helps marketing managers to effective strategies on the most profitable way to align a product to meet the external competition, technology, market demand, and how to extend the lifespan of the product or service (Farbey, 2016). I will use two products, ‘MyPillow’ in the introduction stage and “Coca-Cola” in its maturity stage.
MyPillow is produced by a company located in the U.S. Michael J. Lindell founded the company in 2004, and strategically position the business for success. When they first entered the market, they printed digital media for direct response advertising strategies to announce their presence (“Celebrity Net Worth,” 2019). They also incorporated older celebrity endorsement in their promotional activities to attract celebrity fans to their product to increase their market share. The celebrities used in their various ads mentioned how they felt, and how their neck improved after using the pillow, this attracted more potential customers who were not fans of the celebrity. Their ads also specified free shipping if the pillow is bought online, and offer two MyPillow Premiums for one low price. According to Celebrity Net Worth (2019), Michael Lindell first sold his pillows in the first six years at a kiosk and later moved to state fairs and trade shows. My pillow launched their first commercial which was aired on an average of two hundred times per day leading to sales over $100 million worth of pillows within the next twelve months (“Celebrity Net Worth,” 2019). These marketing strategies adopted by the brand increased and helped to maintain its market share. My pillow is still in the early stage in many countries and some others in the growth stage.
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Coca Cola is a widely known brand that produces non-alcoholic beverages and distributes them around the world. Coke as one of its products first manufactured over a century ago but has refused to decline. It has gone through the introductory, growth, and presently in its maturity stage. Many competitors have emerged into the soft drink market like Monster Beverage, Pepsi, Britvic, etc. raising the competition level for the brand. Coca-Cola created its marketing strategies to include expansion of new models to enter a new market segment, product improvement, and enlargement of its distribution channels (Mussa, 2012). According to Tathagata (2019), Coca-Cola makes money from its decades-built brand capital thus, upholding its premium pricing. Although this is done at the expense of selling lower volumes, this strategy has helped to retain some of its margins. Tathagata (2019) noted that for all the accolades received from Coca Cola products’ product modification, quality, price, and good advertisement over the years are the secret to keeping the brand alive but its success lies with its distribution power and longevity which has differentiated it from its competitors.
An effective market strategy is vital for business growth. A product like For MyPillow (in the introduction and growth stage), it is important for businesses to iron out the kinks of pricing, distribution, and promotion and for customers to be educated on the benefits of the product by using quality promotions and advertisements methods either through broadcast stations, social media, newspapers etc. The use of good packaging to capture new market segments and lower prices for retailers and consumers can be considered. For Coca Cola (in maturity stage), management can widen the reach to customer, reduce price, adopt aggressive sales promotions, and conduct research to create ideas for innovation. They can also focus on product differentiation such as quality, redesign, etc. so that the product can still be relevant in the competitive (Mussa, 2012).
Farbey (2016) noted that the success of a product depends on how managers can effectively utilize the marketing mix to influence the life cycle of a product to remain competitive in the marketplace. Some products can be improved in the growth or maturity stage before it declines. Sometimes a product can start to decline at an introductory stage when it is not perceived properly by consumers. It then becomes vital for marketing managers to make use of the best marketing strategy to reach consumers at each cycle of the product to increase its success.
References
- Farbey, Y. (2016, December 6). The product life cycle and product development cycle. Retrieved from http://thestartupmag.com/birth-and-death-the-product-life-cycle-and-product-development-cycle/.
- Mike Lindell Net worth | Celebrity Net Worth. (2019). Retrieved from: https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/ceos/mike-lindell-net-worth/
- Mussa, A. (2012). The Product Life Cycle of Coca-Cola. [online] prezi.com. Available at: https://prezi.com/m/dsp0wf6q7ukb/the-product-life-cycle-of-coca-cola/ [Accessed 8 Dec. 2019].
- Tathagata, R., (2019). Bigi vs Coca-Cola: The battle for soft drink supremacy in Nigeria. [online] Marketing Edge Magazine. Available at: https://marketingedge.com.ng/bigi-vs-coca-cola-the-battle-for-soft-drink-supremacy-in-nigeria/ [Accessed 11 Sep. 2019].
- The University of Minnesota. (2010). Principles of marketing. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0. Retrieved from https://open.lib.umn.edu/principlesmarketing/front-matter/publisher-information/
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