Otto Klepnner and The Concept of Product Life Cycle: Product Life Cycle Cases

Otto Klepnner developed the concept of product life cycle in 1931, he basically developed a pioneer, and he proposed that a product go through 3 stages, pioneering, competitive and retentive.

The basic concept of product life cycle was developed in 1950s and popularized in early 1960s.

In the year 1957, jones, he put forward a theory that a product life cycle consist of following characteristics are,

• Introduction

• Growth

• Maturity

• Saturation

• Decline

.

At the present time, the recognized terms for product life cycle are

• Introduction

• Growth

• Maturity

• Decline

WHAT IS PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE?

Product life cycle has one of the most attractive and central concept in marketing theory and practice. Today, it is one of the most essential elements of a marketing theory., like human even products have their life cycle. The product life cycle concept is not very new. It has been analyzed and discussed in marketing, management and manufacturing. This life cycle explains that all products over time that have been born in the market grow then mature and in the end die.

TABLE 1: MARKETING OBJECTIVES

INTRODUCTION GROWTH MATURITY DECLINE

Creating awareness and trial of a product Increasing market share Maximize profitability Lower spending

BENEFITS

In order to forecast the chaotic market, managers always need the tools of prediction so basically; the product life cycle gives managers to execute appropriate competitive forces by forecasting directions of a product in a macro level. The PLC models helps in determining when it’s reasonable to remove dead products.

LIMITATIONS

Many researchers apply same PLC model but it is different for different products, some fails after introductory phase and som...

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...traight from the Introduction stage to the Maturity stage. This is the main problem of product life cycle. There is no fixed way for a product to go. Hence, for every product there should be a great deal of research and close observation throughout its life if there is no proper research the product will not go further after its introductory stage. The idea of the product life cycle has been around for some time, in order to make the product profitable and to stay in the market it is important for the manufacturer to understand the importance of product life cycle.

However, the key to effective manufacturing is not just understanding this life cycle, but also proactively managing products throughout their lifetime, applying the appropriate resources and sales and marketing strategies, depending on what stage products are at in the cycle.