1. Lesson 7 – Product Life Cycle
3.1 - MARKETING
Lesson 7 – Product Life Cycle

2. Starter Activity
You are about to watch a short video about Fab lollies – listen out for how long the product has been on the market and what changes have been made in that time

3. Learning Outcomes Understand the four phases of the product life cycle
All
Most
Understand the four phases of the product life cycle
Understand what is meant by an ‘extension strategy’
Apply real-life products to the life cycle model
Describe various extension strategy techniques that have been adopted by real-life businesses
Explain the link between cash flow and the product life cycle

4. What is the ‘Product Life Cycle’?
Businesses cannot expect a product to sell forever
Just like human life, products progress through a life cycle from introduction (birth) to withdrawal (death)
The product life cycle shows the stages through which, it is argued, a product passes over time

5. What is the ‘Product Life Cycle’?
A product’s life cycle is the amount of time a business expects the product to sell for
Some products can have a short life cycle i.e. technology or fashion items.
Some products have had a long life cycle – Cadbury Dairy Milk has been on sale in the UK since 1905 and Kellogg’s Cornflakes since 1924

6. What is the ‘Product Life Cycle’?
INTRODUCTION
GROWTH
MATURITY
DECLINE
SALES REVENUE
TIME

7. Activity
You are going to be given a card that describes a feature of one of the stages of the product life cycle. You need to decide which stage that your feature is referring to. When you have decided, you need to come up to the front and blu-tak your card onto the product life cycle diagram that is on the next slide…

8. INTRODUCTION
GROWTH
MATURITY
DECLINE
TIME
SALES REVENUE

9. Think of a product which is in each stage of the product life cycle.
Task
Copy down the features of each stage of the product life cycle onto your product life cycle.
Think of a product which is in each stage of the product life cycle.
Extension task – for each product you have thought of how can the business manipulate the marketing mix to maximise sales during that stage of the product life cycle?

10. What might an ‘Extension Strategy’ be?
Manufacturers are likely to try to extend the maturity stage of the product life cycle for as long as possible, since this is usually the most profitable stage
So they develop an extension strategy - a method used to increase the life of a product and prevent it falling into decline
This involves slightly changing the product to give it a fresh appeal to its target market, or changing it in such a way that it appeals to a new segment of the market i.e. changing the design or use of the product

11. What is an ‘Extension Strategy’?
INTRODUCTION
GROWTH
MATURITY
DECLINE
SALES REVENUE
TIME

12. What is an ‘Extension Strategy’?
A good example of an extension strategy in use is the Sony Playstation:

13. Take timed turns listening, sharing and responding
Think, Pair Share
Take timed turns listening, sharing and responding
Using the list of extension strategies shown on page 236 of the course textbook, can you think of some examples of real-life products that have had their life cycles extended? How were the extensions achieved?
Think time – 30 seconds
Who goes first - wait for start
In pairs, Partner A shares, Partner B listens
Time up
Class discussion

14. What is an ‘Extension Strategy’?
Write a paragraph in your book explaining one way that one of the following businesses might extend it’s product life cycle:
Cadbury
Playstation
Lego
Audi

15. Activity
Working as a pair, complete the table you have been given. You need to consider what the cash flow situation might be at each stage of the product life cycle. For example, is cash flow positive (more money coming in than going out) or negative (more money going out than coming in) and by how much? You will also need to consider the reason for the cash flow situation. You should use the text book to to help you with this.

16. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRODUCT
Cash Flow and the Product Life Cycle
LIFE CYCLE STAGE
CASH FLOW SITUATION
REASON
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRODUCT
Negative – much more money going out than is coming in.
Money is being spent on research and development, materials and paying workers. No money coming in from sales.
INTRODUCTION
Negative – money starting to come in but still more going out.
Money is being spent on launching the product i.e. advertising and other promotion costs. Not much money coming in from sales.
GROWTH
Positive – but only by a small amount.
Sales are growing so money coming in is increasing. However, promotion and production costs are high as the business produces more.
MATURITY
Positive – much more money coming in than is going out.
All of the start-up and development costs have been paid. The value of sales is much higher than the costs of production.
DECLINE
Negative – but only by a small amount.
Sales are declining and selling prices have to be reduced. If an extension strategy is used, this will cost money to put in place.

17. Learning Outcomes Understand the four phases of the product life cycle
All
Most
Understand the four phases of the product life cycle
Understand what is meant by an ‘extension strategy’
Apply real-life products to the life cycle model
Describe various extension strategy techniques that have been adopted by real-life businesses
Explain the link between cash flow and the product life cycle

18. In pairs, take turns to give your answers
Rally Robin
In pairs, take turns to give your answers
In pairs, take it in turns to suggest an example of a product that fits into one of the stages of the product life cycle
You should aim to think up 4 or 5 products for each stage of the life cycle
Go on until the time is up