What do you think is the most important stage in a product’s life cycle?
The product life cycle (2021)
Now that you have covered the basics of the product life cycle, complete the following exercise.
Instructions: Determining the most important stage in the cycle
- Reflect on what you think is the most important stage in this cycle.
- Write your answer in the discussion below, and explain why you think your chosen PLC stage is the most important.
- Try to find a real-world example that you can use in answering this. It might be an example from your professional experience or one you’ve found elsewhere.
- Reflect on at least one of comments from random learners below. Do you agree with their response? How do their experiences differ from yours?
Molly Campbell
What comes to mind as the most important stage for me is the decline stage. With the ever changing tech landscape, I feel that apps/websites etc have such a difficult task of staying relevant. Social media apps are what I thought of in this situation. Apps/sites such as Facebook or Instagram are now competing with SnapChat and TikTok, so both have updated their functions to include more video and filters, etc to be relevant in that market. They are trying extremely hard to prevent their decline and become obsolete. I do agree with others that development is very important as well, and the example I gave may have to go back to the development stage in a sense to redesign and update things to meet consumer demands.
Christina Bek Larsen
As it is a cycle, I find it very difficult to point to one stage as the most important one. One stage doesn’t exist without the previous one, I suppose. I think each stage requires something specific from the PM. With competition and evolving needs in mind, I am thinking about the growth stage as being a tricky stage. To keep relevant and ensure your rpoduct is growing seems like a challenge.
Ibukun Oni
I think the “Development stage” is the most important phase because if the right product is not developed to meet the needs of customers, then efforts during the other stages become futile.
I recall developing a digital product, the first assignment of the project team was to ensure that the product met the needs of our customers.
Chibuzo Anazodo
I think the Development stage is the most important because that is where you figure out what fits your consumers needs as well as trends in your industry to adapt or avoid to build a product that will thrive through all stages and still remain relevant after Maturity.
Peter Scheinsohn
I would say introduction, is most important step in the product life cycle. Even, if product was properly developed, but not good enough introduced and advertised or not clear enough introduced for which group it is, it will significantly influence its further growth. However, i also agree that proper development stage and growth stage are also very important, but good start (“introduction”) is vital in my humble opinion.
The growth stage is often the most critical in a product’s life cycle because it involves rapid market expansion, increased revenue and profitability, and solidifying competitive positioning. During this phase, the product gains broader acceptance, establishes brand loyalty, and benefits from economies of scale. Feedback from a growing customer base drives continuous improvement and innovation, helping to maintain the product’s relevance. Capturing significant market share during this stage also creates barriers to entry for competitors, setting the foundation for long-term success. While each life cycle stage is important, excelling in the growth stage is crucial for sustaining market dominance and profitability.
In my opinion, the most important stage in PLC is the INTRODUCTION stage
Reasons: Proper development can be engaged in a product and it is well sponsored and created but if a right product is INTRODUCED into the wrong market with the wrong price, wrong customer,wrong marketing strategy it leads to wasted resource, idea and wasted solution.
The introduction of a product into the market determines how long it will be needed by the consumer which will tell if a product gets to reach the growth phase to adopt measures that will further lead to the Maturity phase and if it will decline or not.
A product with the potential to decline depends on how it was introduced to the market and how the consumer perceived and received the product.
EXAMPLE: Chat GPT came in without even a proper branding but the way it was introduced to the users, has led them to introducing various versions of chat gpt now we even have similar thing like them META AI which on a long run doesn’t have the potential of declining.
How chat GPT has helped in proper documentation and other things, nobody actually cares about the development stage although it is very important but the moment a product is launched into the market, the sustainability and growth and decline depends on that act.
I conclude by saying the Most Important stage in Product Life Cycle is the INTRODUCTION.
i think the most important stage in a product’s life cycle is the development stages.This is because the development stage is the foundation stage in product creation and it requires spending a lot of investment in developing, refining, and preparing for product launch.
I think development stage is the most important stage in product life cycle. After your market survey and you found out what they need, you put resources together to develop the right product. It will remain relevant even at maturity.
I believe all stage in the product life circle are important, but the most crucial stage for me will be the Introduction stage, Introducing a product that probably has lots of competition requires everything to be in order.
Any wrong move can render the product potent, the customers has to see the product as a better value compare to what they know.
I will say development is the most important part of a business. Because when a business is actually falling out of the line, a product manager should be able to think and oversee what could be introduced to the product, that will bring back the greener pasture of it.
Every stage in the product life cycle is important and needs to be properly managed but I will pick the introduction stage as the most important stage because I believe that a products life cycle is greatly impacted by the market adoption.
The objective of this stage is to build product demand so I’ll like to say that the introduction stage is crucial to helping customers decide whether to be loyal to a company’s product or not especially when it meets their needs.
First impression matters here… let’s take Airtels Overjara introduction via the recent TV commercial for example, the 8x recharge offer was introduced with an effective hook, the dramatisation of an expectant father receiving the news of his just arrived octuplets… every one can relate to the memorable Ad, it’s comic appeal makes for free press, the introduction is timely, explanatory and appealing as I hear friends & family including those who have seen the advert just once making plans to get an Airtel SIM or port their lines so they can benefit from the product which time of release is superb considering the current economic situation.
From my experience working with MLM companies at this stage I’ve learnt that using the right sales model, employing the right marketing strategies, putting out effective campaigns involving advertising to different audiences with the use of effective hooks using various channels, also having skilled, well mannered, and well informed people on the PR team at this stage greatly propels the sustainability of the growth and maturity stage of a product as it leaves a great impression on the minds of customers.
I agree with Peter Scheinsohn above that the introduction stage is the most important and it influences the growth of a product because it is at this stage that people learn to love a product so it is either a new product fails at this point or it gains popularity which influences the success of the product.
The Introduction of the Product is most important as if Product is not introduced well it can go straight to the decline stage even if it was developed well.
I think the “Development stage” is the most important phase because if the right product is not developed to meet the needs of customers, then efforts during the other stages become futile.
I recall developing a digital product, the first assignment of the project team was to ensure that the product met the needs of our customers.
All the stages are important and depend on each other co-currently but I still feel the growth stage start out more. This is the stage that has to be sustained for a longer period to keep the product longer in the market.