1. Apply: the product life cycleXX
MKT/421
Instructor: XX

2. Table of contents Introduction PLC definition and 4 stages
Why PLC is important to marketing managers
Advantages and Disadvantages of PLC to marketing managers
Describing the selected company and the new product
Target market for that product
How PLC will be used on new product
Implications for ignoring PLC
References

3. introduction
Through each of its stages, the PLC highlights where newly introduced products and services such as that offered by our company would flow until its demise. From the moment of its introduction, to its decline.

4. the Product life cycle (plc)
PLC is the life stages of a new product in the marketplace
PLC has 4 stages
Introduction
Growth
Maturity
Decline
1:Introduction stage is the most expensive for a company launching a new product because sales are slow and profit is minimal.
2:Growth stage represents increase in sales due to repeat purchases by customers
3: Maturity stage is the time when the company tries to maintain the profit and sales because of the market share they have built up.
4: Decline stage is when the sales start to drop and market begins to shrink for the product. Decline happens because most customers have already purchased this product or they want to try a new product.

5. Why is plc important to marketing managers
Reduce market entry costs
Extend lifetime of product
Marketing
Pricing and Promotions
It is important for marketing managers to use PLC concept because it will reduce market entry costs. Managers will also see a higher return on their investments.
Following the PLC concept will also extend the lifetime of the product if the managers are willing to adapt.
Marketing managers have to be willing to make changes when necessary. It is really important for managers to adapt to the market.
A product will always need marketing strategies to be competitive. Market managers must be willing to make changes to their strategies to remain competitive.
Managers must let the market determine the price of the product.
PLC is also important because it lets the managers choose the best price for the product and also lets the managers come up with promotional bundles and discounts to stay ahead of their competitors.

6. Advantages of plc for marketing managers
Helps define the strategies
Helps managers make decisions faster
Forecasting sales becomes easier
Competitive advantage
1: PLC can help managers define the strategies which can be used based on the life cycle stage.
2: Product life cycle helps managers with decision making because it provides the sales data as well performance over time data. These 2 data's helps managers make faster and better decisions.
3: With enough experience, it becomes easier for marketing managers to forecast how a product will move through the PLC stages and what kind of sales it will achieve.
4: A company can also run the PLC concept on their competitors products to gain insight about the preparations their competitors are going through.

7. Disadvantages of PLC for marketing managers
Delay in sales data
Varying market conditions
Effect of other elements
1: One of the disadvantages of PLC is that there is delay in collecting the sales data. Since there is delay in collecting data, that means that analyzing that data is also delayed.
2: Sales data might not be as accurate because of the different market conditions. A product that is popular in one area might not be as popular in another region.
3: There are also other things that might effect the PLC. Overall Marketing, Logistics, marketing managers and employees also have an effect on sales and that might mess up the data for PLC.

8. Selected company and new product
Milk Shake machine at every 7Eleven
3 flavors to choose from: Chocolate, Vanilla or Strawberry
We decided to launch a new product at 7 Eleven. We will be putting a milkshake machine at every 7 eleven.
It will be put right next to the Slurpee machine and customers will have a choice between Slurpee's or Shakes.
Our new shake machine will have 3 flavors to choose from: chocolate, vanilla or strawberry. Customers can also mix the flavors and get half/half.

9. Target market and how the product will be presented to target market
Target market is children and adults
Give free samples to every 7Eleven customer
Commercials
Discounts
Our target market will be children and adults. Anyone can enjoy a milkshake.
We will present our product to the customers by offering free samples to every customer who shops at 7Eleven. The customers can choose if they want a chocolate, strawberry or Vanilla sample.

10. 4 PLC stages of new product
1: INTRODUCTION
Set low price and discounts
Advertisement
2: Growth
Increase price
Keep eye on data and competetion
In the introduction stage, we will set a low price for shakes so customers can try our new shakes for cheap.
We will also offer discount on other items in 7Eleven if customers buy more than 1 shake.
We will pass out flier and also advertise online for our new product. It will also be very helpful to do commercial advertising during children shows.
In the second stage, we will increase the price of our product because the customers will be well aware of it now. We will also keep an eye on our competition to see how they are responding to our new product.
It is also important to keep looking at the data so we will know how popular our product is and how much profit we are having.

11. 4 PLc stages for our new product continued..
3: MATURITY
Offer new mix and match flavors
See recent trends and adapt accordingly
Improve distribution and promotional efficiency
Look for new markets
On the maturity stage, we will come up with new types of flavors. We will let customers make their own flavors by mixing the current flavors into 1.
We will also look at the data to see all the recent trends that are forming and we will have to adapt accordingly.
It is important to improve our distribution and promotional efficiency at this stage.

12. 4 PLc stages for our new product continued…
4: DECLINE
Decline in sales
Introduce new sizes and new deals
Ask customers for feedback and adapt
Discontinue if no longer profitable
On the fifth stage, we will see a decline in sales for our shakes. That may be because all the customers have tried it and have gotten bored with it.
We will try to introduce new and bigger cup sizes. We will also think about offering free chips or candies to customers who buy our new size. That might be enough to restart the life cycle of our product.
We will ask customers who buy our shakes for feedback and reasonable suggestions on how to improve our product. We will adapt accordingly to the feedback.
After trying all this, if the product is still not profitable, we will discontinue it.

13. Implications for not monitoring plc
Harder to predict current and next stage of product
Competitors will get upper hand
Harder to see trends and customer satisfaction
If we ignore PLC, it will be harder for us to predict which stage the product is in now and which will be the next stage.
Our competitors will also get upper hand on us.
It will be very hard to see profits if we do not monitor the PLC. The customers will be left satisfied. We will not be able to see recent trends forming.

14. References
1: Kerin, R. A, & Hartley, S. W. (2017). Charting the Product Life Cycle. Marketing 13th Edition. Copyright © 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education
2: Product life cycle stages. (2018). Retrieved August 08, 2018, from
3: Wallace, K. (2017, October 05). 4 Stages of the product life cycle & how it affects your marketing strategy. Retrieved August 08, 2018, from your-marketing-strategy/