Hoverboarding Out of the Introductory Stage?

Introducing a product to the market can be a daunting task for marketing managers.

PLC of Hoverboards

Hoverboards used differentiation Hoverboards were created because Segways failed due to price and inconvenience. Hoverboards are both low cost and a convenient alternative with the same core functionality. With prices ranging from $250 to $2,000, the hoverboard is targeting college aged students who are on a budget, but want a cool new way to travel around campus.

Introduction Phase Celebrities have been seen using them. They just became mainstream after a first holiday season. Hoverboards would be categorized in the introduction stage of the PLC.

Introductory Phase Sales grow slowly Profits are very low Demand has to be created through promotion Future is highly uncertain First mover advantage may be overstated? Development Stage Bringing a new product to market is fraught with unknowns, uncertainties, and frequently unknowable risks. Generally, demand has to be “created” during the product’s initial market development stage. How long this takes depends on the product’s complexity, its degree of newness, its fit into consumer needs, and the presence of competitive substitutes of one form or another. A proved cancer cure would require virtually no market development; it would get immediate massive support. An alleged superior substitute for the lost-wax process of sculpture casting would take lots longer. While it has been demonstrated time after time that properly customer-oriented new product development is one of the primary conditions of sales and profit growth, what have been demonstrated even more conclusively are the ravaging costs and frequent fatalities associated with launching new products. Nothing seems to take more time, cost more money, involve more pitfalls, cause more anguish, or break more careers than do sincere and well conceived new product programs. The fact is, most new products don’t have any sort of classical life cycle curve at all. They have instead from the very outset an infinitely descending curve. The product not only doesn’t get off the ground; it goes quickly under ground—six feet under. It is little wonder, therefore, that some disillusioned and badly burned companies have recently adopted a more conservative policy—what I call the “used apple policy.” Instead of aspiring to be the first company to see and seize an opportunity, they systematically avoid being first. They let others take the first bite of the supposedly juicy apple that tantalizes them. They let others do the pioneering. If the idea works, they quickly follow suit. They say, in effect, “The trouble with being a pioneer is that the pioneers get killed by the Indians.” Hence, they say (thoroughly mixing their metaphors), “We don’t have to get the first bite of the apple. The second one is good enough.” They are willing to eat off a used apple, but they try to be alert enough to make sure it is only slightly used—that they at least get the second big bite, not the tenth skimpy one.

High Learner Product A significant customer education is required for the product to exit the introduction stage. The hoverboard will most likely endure a long stay in this stage as consumers learn how hoverboards work, ways they can be used, and what the potential benefits are.

Growth Stage Once these goals are made, the product will most likely enter the growth stage which is when sales begin to soar and competition enters.

Growth Stage = Differentiation Growth strategies include new features and releasing updated versions. There is relatively little competition in the hoverboard market, so it will be very interesting to see how different competitors seek to differentiate themselves in the growth stage.

Maturity Stage In the maturity stage, total industry sales slow down and the weaker competitors begin to leave the market. The maturity stage and is typically defined by larger companies fighting to hold their market share by: improving their products building their brand adjusting the marketing mix to maximize profits

Decline Stage In the decline stage sales drop drastically and the product becomes much less profitable or unprofitable. This stage leads the companies to either use deletion or harvesting as a way to remain profitable.

Deletion DELETION is removing the product from the company's product line. If a more advanced form of transportation leads to hoverboards becoming insignificant, the companies could respond to this by not longer producing and marketing hoverboards.

Harvesting HARVESTING which is when a company keeps producing the product, but reduces its marketing expenses.

Evaluate and Recommend Now that we have reviewed the traditional product life cycle pattern we can evaluate the effects of current events on the marketing mix for hoverboards and make recommendations?

Team Task Read: Hoverboards keep exploding, so what happens now? Research the brief history and marketing mix for hoverboards Research the current events surrounding hoverboards Recommend changes to the marketing mix with rationale

Timeline Monday, February 22 PowerPoint Tuesday, February 23 Work period Wednesday, February 24 Presentation (5 minutes) Thursday, February 25 Complete presentations