Break Free from the PLC

Product Life Cycle is a powerful concept which is instrumental in deciding most of companies’ marketing and positioning strategies, helping them to manage their offerings at different stages of their product (introduction, growth, maturity and decline).

But over the years this method has become quite mundane and more than often ensures all companies are perceived in almost identical manner by customers.

Following are the three different strategies used to rejuvenate products already in the maturity stage of PLC and going down the hill(towards decline stage). By using these strategies company try to revive fortunes of floundering products(pushing them back from maturity stage to growth stage) and also launch new products directly into growth stage rather than starting with introduction stage.

1. Reverse Positioning: Rather than continually augmenting the value proportion because all other companies are trying to woo their consumers this way, a company tries to reposition it self in its consumer’s psyche. Under this strategy company stops to augment its product, rather it keeps its product feature to bare minimum and provides some very distinguishing attributes that would typically be found only in highly augmented product. An underlying assumption here is that consumers don’t want a slew of features in a product; all they want is a basic product with highly differentiating attribute. This strategy is most suitable for service sector, where a consumer is unable to differentiate services rendered by different companies and end up not appreciating the augmentation brought forward to the services. Proliferating service options rather than delighting consumer tend to get them confused.

IKEA,Commerce Bank,JetBlue

2. Breakaway Positioning: Under this strategy a company rather than projecting its product as a member of one club, starts associating itself with altogether a different category. Each product is perceived in a certain manner by consumer and depending on the perception and cues he also forms an opining about its frequency of usage, timing of usage etc. To change any kind of preconceived notion that a consumer may harbor about the product, company try to disrupt the product category altogether so that to change the perception of consumer about the product. Company tries to affiliate itself with altogether a new category so as to shift product backward on PLC. Such kind of strategies is especially popular with companies dealing in packaged goods.. Unlike in case of services sector, consumers welcome augmentation of the product, but such products soon end up being basic products.
   

Swatch,The Simpsons,EZ Squirt Ketchup

3. Stealth Positioning: Sometimes customers are apprehensive of certain products. Customers may be intimidated by the product category, may not be having good past experiences or they may have their own personal reservations. In such cases a company tries to conceal true nature of their product by affiliating its product with a different category. In this manner company tries to gain acceptance by sneaking its product into market which may otherwise be quite difficult. This strategy is generally employed in case of products perceived as being difficult to use, unreliable and threatening.

Eye Toy,AIBO,Mac Mini