What is the product lifecycle?
• The
different stages of a product’s progress in terms of sales.
• It
is plotted on a lifecycle curve.
• Just
before the product reaches the decline stage, the business can use extension
strategies so that they can improve sales and increase the life of the
business.
Extension Strategies
• Extension
Strategies are used to improve the sales of a product before it enters into the
decline stage.
• They
will extend the life of a product.
• They
include: Finding new uses for the product, promoting the product more
effectively, increasing the usage of the product, modifying or changing the
product (e.g. creating a new version) and finding a new market segment.
Extension Strategies Examples
• Advertising
– trying to gain a new audience for the product or reminding the existing
audience that the product exists.
• Reducing
the price – This will make the product more attractive to customers.
• Adding
value – Adding new features to the product (this is common in tech products
such as mobile phones).
• Explore
new markets –Try and launch the product in a country that doesn’t have they
product or a similar product.
• New
packaging – Make the packaging better with subtle changes or brightening it up.
This can also include repackaging things in a compilation – particularly music.
