Introduction to Marketing: Product Life Cycle Stages Analysis Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the product life cycle, a crucial concept in marketing. It outlines the four distinct stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline, along with their respective characteristics. The report uses a graphical representation to illustrate these stages, enhancing...Read More

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING 1
Introduction to marketing
The name of the student
The name of the institution

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING 2
Introduction
Any given product goes through a number of stages including the introduction, growth,
maturity, and the decline stages. These stages have got their own distinct characteristics that
differentiate them from the others as explained in the section below. A graphical explanation of
the stages is also indicated to provide a visible understanding of the concept.
Fig. 1: The product life cycle stages pictorial explanation
Detailed explanation of the marketing stages
In the introduction stage, the product is introduced to the market for both the perspective
and the existing customers through the marketing department of any given firm. This is the most
expensive stage in the product life cycle where the company has to utilize most of its resources
in terms of research, consumer testing, marketing process, and/or product development in order
to fit the best taste and preferences of the market (Holzbaur, Ross, & Rothrock, 2016).
Thereafter, the product goes through the stage of growth where the characters that describe it
mainly include the likes of growth in sales as well as increasing profits. The major profits come

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING 3
from the utilization of the economies of scale. Thirdly, the product undergoes through the
maturity stage where the manufacturers or the producers majorly focus on maintaining the
existing customers to their products that they have been able to accumulate eve since they started
the introduction process (Stark, 2015). This act is commonly called the referred to as maintaining
the market share of any given product. Mostly at this stage, the company has to invest wisely in
the marketing means that it is using in order to maintain its customers as inappropriate marketing
can result in the misinterpretation of the message by the clients (Zhang, et. Al., 2015).In
addition, the product faces a lot of competition from the substitute products that are either
entering the market, have better marketing means, or are constantly under modification to fit the
customers’ preferences. Finally, there is the final stage called the declining stage where the
product has been in the market for a long time and it has got no impact to the customers in the
market. As a result, its market share starts to shrink either due to new substitutes being available,
change the taste and preference of the customers, or simply that the customers have bought
enough of the product.
In our discussion, we shall be looking at four different products and their current
marketing stages that include the Google Home, Brother IntelliFax, DJI Phantom 3 Pro Drone,
and the Apple iPod.
The discussion of the current stage of the Google Home product
The Google Home, which is a brand of combined smart home speakers, was introduced
in May 2016 by its developer Google with the aim of assisting users in sending voice commands
to them through their assistants. The product was launched in the United States before being
shipped to the likes of United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Germany. Since its

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING 4
introduction, the Google developer team has been in the constant development and modification
of the prior product thus introducing the new Home Mini and the Home Max. The main reason
for the introduction of this product was to encounter the other competitor, the Amazon Echo, in
the market (Ryu, Woo, & Won, 2013). Thus, the two products have constantly been in the fight
to acquire the market share. In the analysis of the current market condition of the product, it can
basically be categorized in the growth stage since it was just introduced some months ago. Its
distribution to other global business hubs in the likes of Japan, Germany, and United Kingdom
implies that its market share is growing and that the company has to produce more of the
products in order to satisfy the clients globally (Noda, 2017). This fact is why the developing
team has been in the race to modify new products and upgrade the existing in order to acquire
more new clients.
The analysis of the DJI Phantom 3 Pro Drone
The DJI Phantom 3 Pro Drone was introduced recently in the market basically for the
professionals who deal with the captioning industry like the filmmakers and photographers as
well. The product has emerged with a lot of competition from its substitute products as the
technology industry changes every day with a new component being introduced each and every
single day. As a result, we can categorize this product to in the maturity level as not all
technological products can last a lifetime in the industry without being replaced with a new and
advanced similar machine. In addition, the bulky look of the Phantom 3 Pro Drone limits the
number of persons who would wish to purchase it. More drones are being manufactured that
have better life scan than the Phantom one, better camera view, and lighter in weight as well
(Brown, 2017). Due to the fact that the Phantom 3 Pro Drone has got limited power and wide-
angle lens, people who like taking clips of themselves having fun in the wet area might opt for

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING 5
another kind of drone. They should provide an alternative or upgrade their current one in order to
stay in business.
The Brother Intellifax analysis
This fax machine was introduced to the market a couple of years ago and it has been
servicing its customers for the while now. Reviewing its status, the product faces a lot of
competition for its competitors who are the likes of Epson and HP in producing better and faster
fax machines than this one (Goldwasser, 2013). The product can be broadly categorized in the
declining level as more products are available in the market that can perform its work faster and
on a better mechanism than it can. As a result, it is losing customers each and every day to the
newly developed substitute machines.
The Apple iPod product
The Apple iPod was introduced in the year 2001 by October by the Apple Inc. for the persons
who love music and multimedia functions as well (Gupta, et. al., 2014). However, due to the
recent advancement in technology through the likes of smartwatches and smaller smartphones as
well, the product can be categorized into the declining stage as more people are moving on to
acquiring better gadgets such as smartwatches that are multi-functional.

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING 6
References
Brown, D. (2017). DJI Phantom 2 Vision+–Review of this Easy to Fly Drone.
Goldwasser, S. M. (2013). Printer and photocopier troubleshooting and repair collection.
Gupta, V., Tuscano, J. A., Romriell, N. R., Davis, R. C., & Linford, M. R. (2014). Data and
device protection: A ToF‐SIMS, wetting, and XPS study of an Apple iPod nano. Surface
and Interface Analysis, 46(2), 106-108.
Holzbaur, E., Ross, J., & Rothrock, T. (2016). Epro Product Life Cycle: Guidance For A
Successful Management Phase. The value in Health, 19(3), A109.
Noda, K. (2017). Google Home: smart speaker as an environmental control unit. Disability and
Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 1-2.
Ryu, J., Woo, G., & Won, H. (2013). U.S. Patent No. D683,330. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office.
Stark, J. (2015). Product lifecycle management. In Product Lifecycle Management (Volume
1) (pp. 1-29). Springer International Publishing.
Zhang, Y., Luo, X., Buis, J. J., & Sutherland, J. W. (2015). LCA-oriented semantic
representation for the product lifecycle. Journal of Cleaner Production, 86, 146-162.