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104
TEXT 8
Life Cycles
Like a living thing the majority of products have a limited life. A prod-
uct’s life cycle starts with its birth, or introduction on the market. Then
follows its growth into the market; its mature stage when it is a fully-estab-
lished product; and its declining phase when it is fading out of existence.
Let’s look at these stages in a little more detail:
1. The introduction of the product
. The most important consideration
here is to establish the product on the market. Awareness of the product’s
existence must be built up in the minds of retailers, wholesalers and, of
course, the customer. Advertising is the usual method. Once the product is
established in the minds of the potential buyers, the product must overcome
any resistance to the acceptance of something new on the market. As orders,
hopefully, roll in, the focus moves to making sure that sufcient supplies of
the product are available. Nothing can kill product off faster at birth than its
non-availability.
2. The growth stage of the product. Having successfully launched the
product and generated the initial interest and orders, it is often necessary to
continue to promote the product in order to maintain its place in the market.
This period of a product’s life is usually its most protable, since demand
may not yet have reached a peak and most of the initial starting costs have
been recouped in the introduction period. It is at this time that the business
will look for other potential markets for the product to move into, and also
attempt to dislodge competitors from the market.
3. The maturity stage of the product.
A business will look to this peri-
od of a product’s life to extend for as long as possible. In this stage the prod-
uct delivers much-needed prot and turnover for the business. Competition
must be beaten off by the strong establishment of a brand image and rmly
rooted share of the market. The importance of looking after customers still
plays a prominent role. They must be able to obtain the product readily and
still be kept loyal to it, to guarantee a steady level of purchase.
Older products which may be on the verge of decline can, by careful
thought, be found a new lease of life through being reintroduced into the
market or introduced into new markets. We will look at product modication
in more detail later.
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product. What you call a product has to be carefully thought out. An inap-
propriate name is death to the product – after all who would want to ride
about in a Ford Trout?
9 Product name helps to position the product in the market. The name
should convey something to which the prospective buyer can relate. A bor-
ing or inappropriate name will need much more spent on it in marketing and
promotion than a name that inspires the customer to remember it and be
inspired by it.
Trademarks
10 Once you have decided on a name, you need to protect that name.
Without trade names being registered as trademarks, there would be noth-
ing to stop anyone giving their product the same name as yours. Successful
products can be imitated but they cannot be copied and the same thing goes
for names. You cannot even attempt partly to copy a name; for example, you
could not name your car the Furd Curtina, or you would nd yourself very
quickly in court! Registered names and trademarks are very valuable com-
modities. What the name represents is all the effort and expense you have
put into making that product what it is.
product names.
brands of washing powders, liquids, soaps. Count how many of
them are produced by the same companies. Are these goods really
different according to advertising? Is it really good to sell the same
thing with different names?
Task 3. Find, write down and remember 3 synonyms to the following words
from the text.
Commodity, valuable, example, court, promotion, customer,
manufacture, dominance.
Task 4. State and explain the main idea of every paragraph.
