Decline Stage
Use Key Term Decline Stage here.
Use Online, Mobile, and Social Media Marketing here.
Use Table 8.2 here.
The sales of most product forms and brands eventually dip. This is the decline stage.
Management may decide to maintain its brand without change in the hope that competitors will
leave the industry.
Management may decide to harvest the product, which means reducing various costs (plant and
equipment, maintenance, R&D, advertising, sales force) and hoping that sales hold up
Management may decide to drop the product from the line. (Table 8.2)
Use Discussion Question 8-5 here.
Use Marketing by the Numbers here.
ADDITIONAL PRODUCT AND SERVICE CONSIDERATIONS
Product Decisions and Social Responsibility
Marketers should consider public policy issues and regulations regarding acquiring or dropping
products, patent protection, product quality and safety, and product warranties.
Regarding new products, the government may prevent companies from adding products through
acquisitions if the effect threatens to lessen competition.
Manufacturers must comply with specific laws regarding product quality and safety.
The litigation phenomenon has resulted in huge increases in product liability insurance
premiums, causing big problems in some industries.
Some companies are now appointing product stewards, whose job is to protect consumers from
harm and the company from liability by proactively ferreting out potential product problems.
Use Chapter Objective 4 here.
Use Marketing Ethics here.
International Product and Services Marketing
International product and service marketers face special challenges.
•They must figure out what products and services to introduce and in which countries.
•They must decide how much to standardize or adapt their products and services for world
markets.
•Packaging presents new challenges for international marketers.
The trend toward growth of global service companies will continue, especially in banking,
airlines, telecommunications, and professional services.
Video Case: Day2Night Convertible Heels
Many women love the fashionable looks and heightening effects of high-heeled shoes. But every
woman knows the problems associated with wearing them. For example, they are very
uncomfortable for anything more than light walking for short distances. For other activities,
you’d better be packing a second pair of shoes.
That’s where Day2Night Convertible Heels comes in. Created by a woman who had an epiphany
after a hard night of dancing, Day2Night’s shoes instantly convert to any one of four heel sizes,
from low-heeled pumps to spiked-heeled stilettos. An interchangeable heel makes these high
heels a high-tech proposition. Beyond launching a line of shoes, Day2Night is looking to license
the technology to other shoe manufacturers.
After viewing the video featuring Day2Night Convertible Heels, answer the following questions:
8-15. Based on the stages of new product development, discuss how Day2Night was
likely developed.
8-16. What stage of the product life cycle best applies to Day2Night’s shoe line? As the
company attempts to launch the shoes, how should it market them?
8-17. What challenges does Day2Night face?
Company Cases
8 3M/2 Samsung/10 Apple Pay
See Appendix 1 for cases appropriate for this chapter.
Case 8, 3M: Where Innovation Is a Way of Life. Generally not considered high-tech, 3M is
consistently one of the most innovative companies due to a culture of innovation.
Case 2, Samsung: A Strategic Plan for Success.One of the most innovative companies in the
world, Samsung consistently raises the bar with cutting-edge new products in numerous
categories.
Case 10, Apple Pay: Taking Mobile Payments Mainstream. While the Apple Watch was a
highly anticipated new product, the real new product story may be Apple Pay—the mobile
payment system that was initially seen as merely a feature of Apple’s flashy hardware.
MyMarketingLab
If assigned by your instructor, complete these writing sections from your Assignments in the
MyLab.
8-18. Discuss how a company can maintain success for products in the mature stage of
the product life cycle and give examples not already described in the chapter. (AACSB:
Communication)
8-19. What decisions must be made once a company decides to go ahead with
commercialization for a new product? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication)
GREAT IDEAS
Barriers to Effective Learning
1. Understanding the systematic nature of the new-product development process will cause
problems for some students. They will have some difficulty understanding why a process
is needed at all, and they will also not realize how development costs rise at each and
every stage. Finally, the amount of analysis that goes into the screening phases might be a
surprise to them. To overcome these barriers, come up with a new product idea in class
and review how you might develop it into a viable product.
2. The commercialization phase of the new-product development process could also be
somewhat difficult for the students to comprehend. They may not be aware that not all
products are launched nationally or globally when first introduced. Some examples of
products that are available only regionally—food and drink products frequently are
regional—may help them to understand the logistics of launching a new product.
3. The phases of the product life cycle, and the fact that it can apply to product classes,
forms, and brands, can cause some difficulty. Discussing brands that are in each stage
helps tremendously, as does discussing products that have successfully moved back from
decline into maturity or growth (e.g., Arm & Hammer baking soda).
4. The differences among fads, fashions, and styles can be explained through asking the
students to discuss clothing in those terms. Because these items are routinely discussed in
terms of fashions and styles, students can easily internalize the differences in meaning of
these terms.
Student Projects
1. Go to Apple’s (the makers of the iPhone) website (www.apple.com) and read about one
of their newest offerings, the iPhone 6S. Imagine if you had been assigned the job of
developing questions for the concept test of this product. Develop a series of five
questions that you would have included.
2. Why is test marketing so important for marketers? Why is not more often used?
3. Find two products that you believe are in the introduction stage of the product life cycle.
Justify your beliefs.
4. What is the difference between fads, styles, and fashions?
5. In what ways do the growth and maturity stages of the product life cycle differ?
Small Group Assignment
Form students into groups of three to five. Each group should read the opening vignette to the
chapter about Google. Each group should then answer the following questions:
1. How has Google used innovation to become so successful?
2. Google’s product development is all about “launching and iterating” What is this concept
and how has Google used it to their advantage?
3. What are “moonshots?”
Each group should share its findings with the class.
Individual Assignment
Read the opening vignette to the chapter. Think about the answers to the following questions:
1. Take a look at some of the products Google has introduced to the market (e.g., Google+,
Google Wallet, and of course Gmail). Which of these do you consider long-term
“winners?” Why?
2. What does the following statement mean to you: “Why put off failing until tomorrow or
next week if you can fail now?”
3. Who is Google’s primary competitor? Why?
Share your findings with the class.
Think-Pair-Share
Consider the following questions, formulate answers, pair with the student on your right, share
your thoughts with one another, and respond to questions from the instructor.
1. How do companies find new products?
2. Define the stages of the new-product development process.
3. What stage of the PLC do you believe currently holds Google’s Web browser (Chrome)?
Why?
4. How are competitors a source of new-product ideas?
5. What are the advantages of team-based new-product development?
Classroom Exercise/Homework Assignment
Research the bottled water market. Check out the websites for Evian (www.evian.com/en_us),
Aqua Pacific (www.aquapacific.com), Mountain Valley Spring Water
(www.mountainvalleyspring.com), and Perrier
(www.http://www.nestle-waters.com/brands/perriera). What stage of the PLC would you say
bottled water occupies? How is each of these companies attempting to maintain or grow sales of
their products?
Classroom Management Strategies
This is a relatively short chapter, so you have the luxury of really being able to focus on each
section. Still, there is a lot of material to discuss, so effective use of time is important. The
majority of class time should be spent on the new-product development section, with slightly less
than half being devoted to product life-cycle strategies.
1. An introductory 5 minutes should be spent on the discussion of Apple’s development as
an example of why companies need to continually offer new products and services.
2. Another 5 minutes should be spent discussing the reasons why a systematic new-product
development process is important, rather than developing products in a haphazard
manner. Tie this discussion back to earlier in the term when you talked about marketing
strategies, mission statements, and goals and objectives for the company as a whole.
3. Spend about 35 minutes going through the eight stages of the new-product development
process. At each phase, using examples from your own and the students’ experience will
help tremendously. Having a guest speaker from a company that has developed and
launched several products is a unique way of driving home the importance of a
systematic process.
4. Finally, spend 15 minutes discussing the PLC and the marketing strategies that can
accompany each stage. Going online and looking at Web sites for various kinds of
products at each of the different stages could make this more interesting for the students,
while also providing a more detailed introduction to the meaning of a product life cycle.
PROFESSORS ON THE GO
Developing New Products and Managing the Product Life Cycle
Key Concepts
The steps in the new-product development strategy
Under what conditions would you consider not test marketing a product?
You are a new-product manager and have been asked to design an idea-screening
process for your company. Prepare a five-step process for screening consumer
convenience good ideas.
Take a product that has failed. Analyze why this happened. What suggestions could
you offer that might have prevented the failure?
What are the different types of test markets?
Key Concepts
Product life-cycle strategies
What is a fad? Take a fad product and show how it could be maintained on the market
past its fad stage. Describe your strategies for doing so. How could the Internet be
used to aid your strategy?
Collect and describe ten advertisements that show products in different phases of a
product life cycle. What did you use to determine which stage the products were in?
What is the difference between a style, fashion, and fad?
What are the different strategies for modifying a product in the maturity stage?
What are the strategies for dealing with products in the decline stage?