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CHAPTER 8
New-Product Development and Product Life-Cycle Strategies
一、教学目的
引导学生理解如何寻找和发展成功新产品的程序。针对产品所经历的生命周
期阶段制定不同的营销战略。
二、教学重点及难点
重点：
了解企业如何寻找并开发新产品创意。
新产品开发的过程。
描述产品生命周期的各阶段
难点： 营销策略如何随着产品生命周期而改变。
三、教学手段及方法
多媒体课件讲授，联系新产品开发的实例组织课堂小组讨论，强调重要知
识点，观看相关的影音资料，章节小结及小组公司案例分析展示。
四、教学内容与教学设计
LEARNING OBJECTIVES：
 Explain how companies find & develop new product ideas.
 List and define the steps in the new product development process.
 Describe the stages of the product life-cycle.
 Describe how marketing strategies change during the product’s life-cycle.
1 New Product Development Strategy
New products are original products, product improvements, product modifications,
and new brands that the firm develops.
Major steps in new product development
Idea Generation
New product development begins with idea generation, which is a systematic search
for new product ideas. A company normally has to generate many ideas in order to
find a few good ones.
Idea Screening
Idea generation is all about creating a large number of ideas. Idea screening is the
first idea-reducing stage. Product development costs rise rapidly in later stages, so
companies want to go ahead with only the product ideas that will become profitable.
Concept Development and Testing
An attractive idea should be developed into a product concept. A product concept is
a detailed version of the idea stated in meaningful consumer terms.
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Marketing Strategy Development
Marketing strategy development entails designing an initial marketing strategy for
introducing the product to the market. It consists of three parts:
Business Analysis
Now the company evaluates the business attractiveness of the proposed product.
Business analysis involves a review of the sales, costs, and profit projections for a
new product to find out whether they satisfy the company’s objectives.
Product Development
If the product concept passes the business analysis stage, it moves into product
development. Here, R&D or engineering develops the product concept into a physical
product. There is now a large jump in investment, but this stage will show whether the
product idea is workable.
Test Marketing
This is the stage in which the product and marketing program are introduced into
more realistic market settings. Test marketing gives the marketer experience with
marketing the product before going to the great expense of a full introduction.
Commercialization
Commercialization involves introducing the product into the market. The first
decision that needs to be made is timing. The second decision involves where to
launch the product—a single location, a region, the national market, or the
international market. Many companies will develop a planned market rollout.
Discussion Question
Think of products you have seen recently in stores. Can you think of any that seem
doomed to fail? Why?
Discussion Question
In groups, apply the new-product development process.
Develop an idea for an innovative new snack food product and sketch out a brief plan
for bringing it to market.
2 Product Life-Cycle Strategies
There are five distinct PLC stages:
 Product development begins when the company finds and develops new
product ideas. Sales are zero in this stage and the company’s investment costs
mount.
 Introduction is a period of slow sales growth as the product is introduced
into the market. Profits are nonexistent because of the heavy expenses of
product introduction.
 Growth is a period of rapid market acceptance and increasing profits.
 Maturity is a period of slower sales growth because the product has
achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits level off or decline
because of increased marketing outlays.
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 Decline is the period when sales fall off and profits drop.
Introduction
 The introduction stage starts when the new product is first launched.
 In this stage, profits are negative or low because of low sales and high
distribution and promotion expenses. Promotion spending is relatively high to
inform consumers of the new product.
Growth Stage
 If the new product satisfies the market, it will enter a growth stage in which sales
will begin climbing quickly. Early adopters will continue to buy, and later buyers
will start following their lead.
 New competitors will enter the market. This leads to an increase in the number of
distribution outlets. Prices remain where they are or fall slightly. Companies keep
their promotion spending at the same or a slightly higher level.
 Profits increase during the growth stage as promotion costs are spread over a
larger volume and as unit manufacturing costs fall.
Maturity Stage
 As the product’s sales growth slows down, the product enters a maturity stage.
This stage normally lasts longer than the previous stages. Most products are in the
maturity stage of the life cycle, and therefore most of marketing management
deals with the mature product.
 Competitors begin marking down prices while increasing their advertising and
sales promotions. They may also up their R&D budgets to find better versions of
the product. These steps lead to a drop in profit.
 Product managers should consider modifying the market, product, and marketing
mix at this point.
Decline Stage
 The sales of most product forms and brands eventually dip. This is the decline
stage.
 Sales decline for many reasons, including technological advances, shifts in
consumer tastes, and increased competition. Some firms will withdraw from the
market; others may prune their product offerings.
Company case study
Chapter 8: “LifeSource Nutrition: Succeeding Where Campbell Soup Failed”
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