Product

• What are the advantages of having a product range?

  Wider audience - increase in sales and revenue

  Spread risk

  Increased brand visibility and recognition

  Potential for product differentiation and competitive advantages
• What are the disadvantages of having a product range?

  Increased costs; production, increase in stock

  Increased complexity in managing multiple product lines
• What are the stages of the product life cycle in order?

  Research + design, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline
• What are the properties of Research + Design in the product life cycle?


  Costing in R+D

  No sales
• What are the properties of the introduction phase in the product life cycle?


  Advertise (high spend)

  Some sales

  Low reputation
• What are the properties of the growth phase in the product life cycle?

  Reputation increases

  Positive cash flow

  Decline in advertise spending

  Increase in competition
• What are the properties of the saturation + maturity phase in the product life cycle?


  Highest competition

  highest sales

  Low product margin
• What are the properties of the decline phase in the product life cycle?

  Trends change

  Declining sales

  Start making a loss (maybe)
• What is the evaluation of the product life cycle?

  Retrospective look - lots of data to perform an educative guess

  Only as good as dates we have

  Does not include the internal environment
• Ways to extend the product life cycle?

  • Change in price
  • Change in packaging
  • Enter new market
  • Increase advertising
  • Differentiation - USP (Unique selling point) and Branding
• Example question is online in business folder