Every kind of product surely has a life cycle. What is the product life cycle? Same like us, these products have a life cycle, they have their own lifespan. Product life cycle is the course of a product’s sales and profit over its lifetime. For example, the long-established product can become less popular eventually, while the demand for the new product increases after they launched. There are 4 stages for the product life cycle, which are Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline Stages. Let us discuss them one by one!
The first is the “INTRODUCTION STAGE”. This stage is the first stage to introduce products to the market. This stage surely takes time. Sales are growing pretty much slow in this stage. The brands have to invest much money to attract distributors and do promotion. Advertising is heavily done in this stage, because they have to build brand awareness amongst people. Let’s take a look on one example! Who doesn't know LIFEBUOY, which has the tagline of “lebih mutakhir”? In introduction stage, LIFEBUOY is one of the oldest brands of Unilever. LIFEBUOY was first marketed in England in 1984 under the name of 'ROYAL LIFEBUOY'[1]. At first, LIFEBUOY “struggled” to advertise its products through newspapers and magazines.
Now let’s continue to the next stage, which is the “GROWTH STAGE”. This is where the introduced-product is already known and accepted by consumers. Product’s sales will increase quickly. Other new competitors will see the opportunity and compete with the existing products. Therefore, the introduced-product tends to improve their product quality and adds new features to the product. Let’s check out how LUX soap has done in this stage! LUX soap, with the tagline of “We inspire women to embrace their femininity and express their beauty beyond appearances”, did several ways to compete with new competitors in the market. One of them was by giving a giveaway. They did it through the #IAMMORE #IAMLUX campaign[2]. Lux also held “LUX Journey”, where they were giving a free trip to France, the city of perfume. This was created by LUX to make them eminent from their competitors.
Next is the the “MATURITY STAGE”, in which sales begin to slow down and companies must find ways to “survive” in the market. DETTOL is one of the products that has entered this stage. DETTOL was first known as the DETTOL Antiseptic Liquid product that was used by the hospitals since 80 years ago,as a cleanser in the operation process[3]. In order to compete. Although DETTOL is not the first antiseptic soap product, DETTOL is now being very well-known. They had a high brand awareness by the people, which is their strength. On the SWA Website, it is stated that DETTOL spends around Rp.761,885 Billion on advertising in 2015[4]. In marketing communications, DETTOL is a partner of the Global Hygiene Council, a company that often educates people in Indonesia about health. Based on data from Topbrand-award.com in 2017, DETTOL ranks third in body wash market share, with the number of 9.9% market share. Therefore, we can see how this brand has a great brand image in the eyes of the society.
Last but not least, is the “DECLINE STAGE”. It is when sales and profits starting to decrease. What might causes this? It might happen due to technological advancement, shift in consumer taste, and increased competition. Based on the data from Topbrand-award.com in 2017, NUVO soap was ranked last in the category of Body Wash, with the number of 6.8%. Although NUVO ranked last, NUVO continues to do everything possible to compete in this market. One of them is that NUVO held an Event Roadshow “Let's Play Outside”, to inspire the NUVO family not to hesitate playing outside[5]. Through this event, it is expected that children can enjoy outdoor activities that are no less exciting than watching TV. Parents are also getting inspiration for outdoor game ideas to play with their children. The event’s main purpose is to remind the people that NUVO will always be there to clean your bodies, no matter how dirty you are.
After knowing all the four stages in the product life cycle, now you can determine if a certain product belongs to a certain stage. For business, it’s a must to know where your product is, to determine what has to be done in order to make your product stays in the market!
[1] https://www.lifebuoy.co.id/lifebuoy/cerita-kami.html, retrieved on April 21 2019.
[2] https://www.lux.com/id/home.html, retrieved on April 21 2019.
[3] https://www.dettol.co.id/products/, retrieved on April 21 2019.
[4]http://www.topbrand-award.com/top-brand-survey/survey-result/top_brand_index_2017_fase_1, retrieved on April 21 2019.
[5] http://www.wingscorp.com/content/product/product_detail.php?c=7&l=1&m=7, retrieved on April 21 2019.
Written by: Erika Margareta and Rayhan Marcellino
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