PRODUCTPLANNINGANDSTRATEGYFORMULATION 161- Maturity:thepe~iodduringwhich competitionbecomesserious. Towardsthe end
ofthis period, competitors' productscut deeplyintothe company's market position. - Decline:theproductbecomesobso leteandits competitivedisadvantageresultin
declineinsalesand,eventually,deletion.
Itshouldbenotedthatthepredictivecapabilitiesofthepro duct lifecyclearedepend-
entuponseveralfa ctors,bothcontrollableanduncontrollable, andthatnotwocompanies
mayfollowthesameexactpatternorproducethe sameresults. Forexample,differences
inthecompetitivesituationduringeachofthesestages maydictatedifferent marketing
approaches. Somearguethatthecompetitivesituationis the single most important factor
:l1fluencingthedurationofheightofa productlifecycle curve.Ausefulwayoflookingat
thisphenomenonis in thetelmsofcompetitivedistinctiveness.Several yearsago,Deansug-
geStedthata separationexistsbetweenproductsoflastingandperishabledistinctiveness.
Often,newproductsmay,uponintroduction, re alisticallyexpecta longperiodof lasting
distinctivenessormarketprotection-throughsuchfactorsassecrecy, patentprotection, and
thetimeandcashrequiredtodevelopcompetitiveproducts.However, almostallnewprod-
uctscaneX:Jectfewerthan5,10,or 15 yearsof market protection.s
Ofcourse,changesin otherelementsofthemarketingmixmayalsoaffect theper-
formanceoftheproductduringitslifecycle. Forexample,a vigorous promotional program
ora dramaticloweringofpricemayimproveth e salespictureinthedecl ine period, at least
temporarily.Theblack-and-wl,iteTVmarketillustrated thispoint.Usuallytheimprove-
mentsbroughtaboutbynonproducttacticsare;'elativdyshort-lived andbasicalterations
toproductofferingsprovidelonger benefits.
WhetheroneacceptstheS-shapedcurveasavalidproduct-salespatternorasa pat-
ternthatholdsonlyforsomeproducts (butnotfor others),the productlifecy cl e concept
canstillbeveryuseful.It offersa frameworkfordealingsystematically withproductman-
agementissues andactivities.Thus,themarketermust becognizantofthege neralizations
iliatapplytoa givenproductasit movesthroughth e variousstages.This processbegins
withproductdevelopmentand endswiththeddetion(discontinuation)ofthe product.
ProductStrategies
Productplannin g shouldbeanongoingprocess thatconsistentlyevaluatesexistingprod-
ucts,modifieswherenecessa;:y,deletesproducts that nolonger contributeto thefirm, and
introducesnewproducts.Sincemostcompanies haveat leastone productline(andper-
hapsseveral), eachcontainingseveralitems,productmanagementis a necessaryactivity-
a dailyactivity.Thetaskinvolvesgatheringthenecessarydata, utilizinga frameworkto
evaluateit inlightofa particularproductorgroupsofproducts, selectinganappropriate
strategy,andimplementingthatstrategy.Ingeneral,there are twoproductstrategyissues:
approachestothemarketandkeyproductdecisions.
ApproachestotheMarket
iheprimarytaskOfa productistofacilitatethesuccessofa particularmarketstrategy.A
marketstrategydelineateswhatthesellerwantstoaccomplishrelative tobuyers. Strategy
ispartlybasedontheapproach usedtorepresenttheproduct.There arethree general
approaches,eachofwhichmaychangeduringthelifeoftheproduct.
Producidifferentiationisusedwhe~a marketer choosesto appealtothewhole mar-
ketbyattemptingtocatertotheparticulardesiresofallthebuyers who hopefullywould
preferhisbrand. Thisstrategyisappro!Jriateif thebrandiswidely popularandcanbecon-
tinuedingeneralmarketleaclershipthroughstrongpromotion. Crest toothpasteisan example