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.
In as much as I believe that all stages in the circle of production is valuable as they all enhance each other, I would say that Development is more important. It makes you have an insight if people (users) want the product to begin with and of what value will it offer. It’s crucial exploration state that makes you realize the things to prioritize or not and making sure you’re not doing an imaginative thinking of a product.
To pin-point a particular stage is difficult, one stage needs the other to stay relevant in the market. In the developing stage, product managers needs to know the right product to develop, what problem will it solve and which individuals it’s made for. Then comes the introduction stage, even if the right product was properly developed but was not introduced to the right audience it was made for it will definitely affect the growth and other stages of the product lifecycle. For example: blackberry, it downfall came at the maturity stage due to emerging of screen touch smartphones example iPhone. Blackberry inability to innovate and maintain it’s relevance in the highly competitive smartphone market led to it’s downfall. It’s days as the dominant player in the smartphone industry were over, marking the end of its product lifecycle in the market. I believe each stage demands unique qualities from the product managers.
I’m inclined to pick the development stage as the most important phase, even though it’s a life cycle and it’s cyclical, it’s still the development phase that determines the efficacy of all the other phases, if a product manager hasn’t developed a solid product, the following phases would most likely be mediocre.
Given that it’s a cyclical process, pinpointing a single stage as the most crucial is challenging. Each stage builds upon the preceding one, so they’re all interconnected. I believe each stage demands unique qualities from the product manager. Considering competition and changing requirements, I perceive the developmental phase as particularly complex. Sustaining relevance and fostering product expansion appear to pose significant challenges.
it’s tricky to pinpoint a single stage as the most crucial since each stage plays a significant role in the product’s lifecycle. However, I believe the introduction stage holds particular importance. This is because, despite thorough consumer research and a well-designed product, its potential may remain untapped if it is not effectively introduced to the market. Proper placement and introduction are essential for customers to recognize the value and solutions the product offers.
By effectively positioning the product and obtaining customer interest from the outset, businesses can then focus on updates and improvements of the product to meet evolving market needs and maintain its competitive edge.
Maturity stage is very crucial in a product life cycle. This is a stage where the product is at its peak and to further maintain that height more updates and improvements are needed. This is where the product manager or the product team needs to carry out surveys to know what the users want. Facebook & X (twitter) are always at the peak because of an unending cycle of updates & improvements to satisfy users needs.
I will pick the Development Stage as the most important stage for the simple reason that it forms the bedrock for the whole PLC. If you get it right at this stage chances are that all other stages will so align. Again the Development Stage also sets the tone for subsequent activities in other stages. In the early 2000’s when commercial banks in Nigeria were directed by CBN to urgently establish branches in State Capitals, the then Diamond Bank was very reluctant to move to the capital of Adamawa State because the feasibility studies at the time showed that it was not going to be a viable project. But because of the pressure from the apex bank, Diamond Bank was pressured to open shop in Yola, the Adamawa State capital. The branch continued to post losses for the first 6years despite deploying the best crop of staff and strategies. Getting it right at the Development stage is very key!
I have seen some other comments on picking the Growth Stage as the most important; but I say you will have to get there first before you start thinking of growth. And investing the right resources and attention at the start will ensure you get to the Growth Stage and beyond.
I believe that the initial stage of a product’s life cycle holds importance. Its success or failure, in the market largely depends on this phase. During the Introduction stage, the product is unveiled to consumers for the time. Its fate is heavily influenced by their reactions.
The launch of Apple’s iPhone in 2007 serves as an example to highlight the significance of this Introduction stage. Apple effectively marketed the iPhone as a device that seamlessly combined a phone music player and web browser into one gadget during its introduction. This generated excitement. Buzz around the iPhone resulting in impressive sales figures and long queues outside stores. The iPhone’s triumphant entry paved the way for years of dominance in the smartphone industry.
In conclusion, since it sets the groundwork, for success the introduction stage holds importance in a product’s life cycle. To ensure long-term survival businesses must focus on making an impression establishing market positioning creating awareness and attracting early adopters.
The maturity phase is the most important phase of a product lifecycle.
From a financial point of view, it is the phase where you make the most money.
This is the phase where you reap the reward of hard work put into the product during the introduction, development and growth phases. During the maturity phase, competition is at its highest level. This is a phase where you must think about more ideas and innovations that will make your product remain relevant in the market because other competitors will always try to develop an improved and better version of your product. It’s a phase where you constantly have to be on the watch. It’s very important. A real-life example is Blackberry.
Blackberry started so well. It got to the maturity phase and sales maxed out. They were at the top until the iPhone was introduced by Steve Jobs. Like I said earlier, in the maturity phase, you always have to be on the watch. You have to constantly think of more ideas to stay on top or else…
When Steve Jobs came up with the iPhone, this full-screen gadget with no keypads like Blackberry, customers were intrigued and excited.
During the period this was happening, BlackBerry should have taken action instantly, but they did not.
Instead, they trusted in the keypad feature which they didn’t that the customers were gradually getting tired of with the introduction of the iPhone.
I’ll say it again.
The maturity stage is the most important.
as much as i have my own personal opinion with a strong belief system to back it up, i can’t agree less with you. good point indeed.
As much as every stage is as valuable as the other, the most important of the all is the introduction stage. even after a good market research and a well-refined product preparation, we still have to consider that customer’s behaviors change with time and circumstances.
for example:
if you were considering producing an easy chicken grooming machine and the there is a rumor of bird flu. the sales will drop because our ideal clients won’t be a ble to purchase chicken due to fear of the flying rumor, this can harm the proposed product launch.
the said product could face one or two business catastrophes;
* choose to go on with the product launch and experience a very low turn up unless the marketing team attempt an emotional stunt
* choose to postpone the product launch and still lose product credibility from client. this action could be the catalyst for the premature death of the product.
ideally, the other stages depends on the introduction phase because data analysis gotten from this stage determines if the product will achiever longevity or not.