*3.1.3. Strategies in the maturity stage*

In product management, this stage can be quite challenging and difficult to manage for manufacturers. In the first two stages, companies try to establish a market and then grow sales to achieve increased market share. However, during the maturity stage, the primary focus for most companies will be maintaining their market share amidst many challenges such as market saturation, decreasing market share, and profits caused by stiff competition.

While the market may reach saturation during the maturity stage, manufacturers might be able to grow their market share and increase profits in other ways. Kotler and Keller opine that market, product and marketing modification are the three broad strategies that can be used to manage products in the maturity stage [2]. Market modification calls for expanding the existing market by getting more users for the product, developing new uses for the product and promoting more usage for the product. For example, for Unilever to encourage buyers of its Close-up toothpaste to use it three times after every meal. This will increase the usage rate and need for replacement. Product features modification involves quality, features and style improvements, and other innovative marketing campaigns to improve market share through differentiation. In the same vein, marketing program on pricing, distribution, advertising, sales promotion, and services can be modified to further stimulate sales and market share for the product. Thus, the main goal here is companies to develop innovative ways to make their product more appealing to the consumer that will maintain, and perhaps even increase, their market share.

#### *3.1.4. Decline stage strategies*

there is typically small market which translates into low sales. There is high cost associated with research and development, marketing, and promotion. These costs notwithstanding, most companies will see negative profits in this stage with limited competition especially if

A company can adopt any of the four product introduction strategies; rapid skimming strategy using high promotion with higher initial price, rapid penetration strategy (involving high promotion with low price), slow penetration strategy (using low promotion with associated lower price), and slow skimming strategy (involving low promotion with higher initial price). Each of these strategies is built upon the objectives of the company of either market penetration or market skimming, i.e., higher profit. This, in turn, depends on how price sensitive the market is. In any case, it is always better to adopt penetration strategy in order to encourage

At this stage, brand managers have to effectively manage the challenge of increased competition as new manufacturers seek to benefit from a new, developing market, and its resultant effects. In response to the growing number of competitors that are likely to enter the market during the growth phase, manufacturers tend to lower their prices in order to achieve the desired increase in sales. Marketers should also change the focus of their promotion from product awareness to brand preference which will help to increase the size of the market and

In product management, this stage can be quite challenging and difficult to manage for manufacturers. In the first two stages, companies try to establish a market and then grow sales to achieve increased market share. However, during the maturity stage, the primary focus for most companies will be maintaining their market share amidst many challenges such as

While the market may reach saturation during the maturity stage, manufacturers might be able to grow their market share and increase profits in other ways. Kotler and Keller opine that market, product and marketing modification are the three broad strategies that can be used to manage products in the maturity stage [2]. Market modification calls for expanding the existing market by getting more users for the product, developing new uses for the product and promoting more usage for the product. For example, for Unilever to encourage buyers of its Close-up toothpaste to use it three times after every meal. This will increase the usage rate and need for replacement. Product features modification involves quality, features and style improvements, and other innovative marketing campaigns to improve market share through differentiation. In the same vein, marketing program on pricing, distribution, advertising, sales promotion, and services can be modified to further stimulate sales and market share for the product. Thus, the main goal here is companies to develop innovative ways to make their product more appealing to the consumer that will maintain, and perhaps even

market saturation, decreasing market share, and profits caused by stiff competition.

the product is entirely new in the market.

22 Product Lifecycle Management - Terminology and Applications

*3.1.2. Growth stage strategies*

sharp increase in sales.

*3.1.3. Strategies in the maturity stage*

increase, their market share.

more product adoption which produces higher sales volume.

The key focus here is to be able to harvest the declining product by offering cheaper products, selling to the laggards' market segment that is the last to adopt an innovation. Firms can also offer discounts and other promotional activities to increase sales in the short run. In the long run, a company can think of entering a new market with the existing product, product modification or even selling the product in foreign market thereby starting a new life cycle entirely. However, poorly managed product cannot withstand the harsh conditions of this stage which gives organization no option other than to phase the affected product out of the market. To do this, a company should establish a product review committee consisting of members from marketing, finance, engineering, production, and research and development to study the performance of a declining product [11]. After the review, the team can then recommend a product or products that can be built through re-investment, those to harvest, hold, or divest from the portfolio. Therefore, decision on phasing out a product should not be taken haphazardly in a rush; rather, it should be based on an informed decision. Consequently, the product life cycle curve needs to be applied with a certain amount of care, even though it is still a useful model which provides businesses and their marketing departments with the opportunity to plan ahead and be better prepared to meet those future challenges.

#### **3.2. Product mix and product-line analysis**

It is equally important for companies to appreciate the significance of product mix and product line in the product management discourse. This is because of the relevance of the two concepts in determining the level and complexity of managing a product portfolio. A product mix is the set of all products and items a particular company offers for sale. It is the total product portfolio that a company manages. While a product line is a group of closely related


**Table 1.** Jaiz Bank's product mix.

products that are considered a unit because of marketing, technical, or end-use considerations. In other words, a product line consists of a set of brands that are closely related due to the similar functions they perform, they are sold to the same customer groups, use the same channel of distribution or fall within the same price range [4]. For instance, a personal computer is one product line. An example of a product mix and product line width, length, depth, and consistency for Jaiz Bank Nigeria is depicted in **Table 1**.

**v.** Line Featuring

**vii.** Brand extension strategy

**viii.** Product repositioning strategy **ix.** Planned product obsolescence

**x.** Product deletion strategy

expanding their product lines.

8, XP, Vista, and Windows 10.

**Limited versus full-line strategy**: As the name implies, this strategy simply deals with a company's decision to carry few or many product lines in its portfolio. Small scale enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises, for example, manage few products or even one product item based on their size. Companies like Procter and Gamble, Unilever, and Dangote Group carry many product lines and product assortments which make it very complex to manage than just few line or brands. However, it should be noted that companies should not put their eggs in one basket by offering one brand or few lines; rather, they should spread their risks by

Product Development and Management Strategies http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80345 25

**Line filling**: Line filling means adding products to fill a gap in the existing line. It is the process of lengthening the product mix by adding more items within the present range. Reasons for line filling may include getting incremental profits, maintaining dealers who complain about lost sales because of missing items in the line, utilizing excess capacity, becoming a leading fullline company and to keep competitors away. To achieve this, a company can introduce flanker products to protect the main brand from competitors. For example, Nestle Foods Nigeria Plc. has introduced different flavors of Maggi to give protection to Maggi star brand like Maggi chicken, Maggi crayfish, Maggi beef, Maggi pepper soup, etc. However, care should be taken not to introduce a product that will kill or cannibalize the existing product. Charles Schewe argues that the introduction of Classic Coke has cannibalized the sales of regular Coke [13].

**Line stretching**: This occurs when a company lengthens its product line beyond its current range. This is a frequent measure taken by companies to enter new price slots and to cater for new market segments. The product may be stretched by the addition of new models, sizes, variants, etc. For example, Toyota car comes in different models and brand names such as Carina, Corolla, Camry, Yaris, Prius, and Mirai in order to serve different customer segments. A company can choose to trade up or trade down. Trading up is a situation in which a company known for marketing low priced product will add a high quality brand sold at higher price. For example, Volkswagen traded up from Beetle to Arteon model to serve the upper class. Trading down, on the other hand, is a strategy by which a company that is positioned in the upper market may decide to introduce a lower price line. A company can adopt this strategy to exploit strong growth opportunities in the lower market segment, tie-up lowerend competitors so that they do not move up-market or move out of a stagnating market.

**Line modernization**: Product lines need to be modernized continuously. Companies plan improvements to encourage customer migration to higher-valued, higher-priced items. For instance, Microsoft has upgraded its Windows operating system from Windows 7 to Windows

**vi.** Line pruning

A company's product mix has a certain width, depth, and consistency. The width of a product mix refers to how many different product lines the company carries. In the table, Jaiz Bank has four lines of services. Product mix depth is the total number of product items under each line. In **Table 1**, the depth of retail banking line is 11 different services. While the consistency is the degree to which all the products in the mix are related in one or the other. This may be in terms of the market being served, distribution channel used, or common production processes. All the services of Jaiz Bank are consistent in their banking focus. Companies normally develop a basic platform and modules that can be added to meet different customer requirements. This modular approach enables the company to offer variety while lowering production costs.
