Strategic Planning with the Product Lifecycle (Industry Lifecycle) Framework

Product Lifecycle (Industry Lifecycle) is a technique that enables better strategic planning in business.

The product lifecycle (also useful in evaluating industries) consists of four stages:

Market introduction stage

• Costs are high
• Slow sales volumes to start
• Little or no competition - competitive manufacturers watch for acceptance/segment growth losses
• Demand has to be created
• Customers have to be prompted to try the product
• Makes no money at this stage

Growth Stage

• Costs reduced due to economies of scale
• Sales volume increases significantly
• Profitability begins to rise
• Public awareness increases
• Competition begins to increase with a few new players in establishing market
• Increased competition leads to price decreases

Mature Stage

• Costs are lowered as a result of production volumes increasing and experience curve effects
• Sales volume peaks and market saturation is reached
• Increase in competitors entering the market
• Prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of competing products
• Brand differentiation and feature diversification is emphasized to maintain or increase market share
• Industrial profits go down

Saturation and Decline Stage

• Costs become counter-optimal
• Sales volume decline or stabilize
• Prices, profitability diminish
• Profit becomes more a challenge of production/distribution efficiency than increased sales

Other Strategic Planning Frameworks

4P's Marketing Mix - Seven S (7S) Management Framework - AIDA - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action - Buying Process - Ansoff's Matrix - Product-Market Growth Matrix - Expansion Strategy - BCG Growth-Share Matrix - Bass Diffusion Model - Product Adoption and Innovation - Blue Ocean Strategy - Choice Model for Decision-Making Behavior - Competitive Advantage - Core Competence - Collective Learning in the Organization - Cost-Benefit Analysis - Delta Model - ERG (Existence, Relatedness, Growth) Theory of Motivation - Experience Curve - Framing Effect on Psychology and Marketing - GE (McKinsey) Matrix - Growth Phases - Predicting Industry Evolution and Change - OODA Loop - Observe, Orient, Decide, Act - PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) - The Deming Cycle - PEST Analysis - Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal Factors - Perceptual Mapping - Brand Marketing - Porter's Five Forces - Product and Marketing Positioning - Product Lifecycle (Industry Lifecycle) - Root Cause Analysis - SWOT Analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunties, Threats - Technology Adoption Curve - Value Chain -