Product Life Cycle

The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is used to map the lifespan of a product. There are generally four stages in the life of a product. These four stages are the Introduction stage, the Growth stage, the Maturity stage and the Decline stage.

• Introduction. This stage mainly concerns the development of a new product, from the time is was initially conceptualized to the point it is introduced on the market. The great majority of ideas do not reach the promotion stage. The corporation having an innovative idea first will often have a period of monopoly until competitors start to copy and/or improve the product (unless a patent is involved as it is the case in industries such as pharmaceuticals). Generally, associated freight flows take place within developed countries and/or close to markets where to product is likely to be adopted.
• Growth. If the new product is successful (many are not), sales will start to grow and new competitors will enter the market (by replicating the product or developing new features on their own), slowly eroding the market share of the innovative firm. The product starts to be exported to other markets and substantial efforts are made to improve its distribution since competition mainly takes place more on the innovative capabilities of the product than on its price. This phase tends to be associated by high levels of profits and a fast diffusion of the product.
• Maturity. At this stage, the product has been standardized, is widely available on the market and its distribution is well established. Competition increasingly takes place over cost and a growing share of the production is moved to low cost locations, particularly for labor intensive parts. Associated freight flows are consequently modified to include a greater transnational dimension.
• Decline. As the product is becoming obsolete, production essentially takes place in low costs locations. Production and distribution economies are actively sought as profit margins decline. Eventually, the product will be retired, an event that marks the end of its life cycle.
  
  In case of Kinley we can say that it has reached a maturity stage. We have seen how Kinley entered the market with various attributes such as building trust factors, price wars, packing and sizes. All these  created the introduction to the mindset of the consumers plus it also affected its competitors . Re-Branding from ‘Boond boond me vishwas ‘ to ‘ Vishwas Karo’  campaign showed the maturity phase of the brand.