PLC and ILC

Product Life Cycle:

Every product has life cycle. Every product would have a limited life and will pass through different stages bearing different challenges and opportunities. As sales and profits in these life cycle stages vary, a different marketing strategy should be followed by company at every stage. There are four stages of a product life cycle – Introduction, growth, maturity and decline. It is not compulsory that a product must undergo all stages in its life cycle. The various stages of Marico’s Parachute oil are as described below.

1. Introduction:When a product is just released in the market it is in its introduction stage . It may not earn profits and most of the cost is spend on promotions to bring a product into the market. Before entering any market a business should have enough knowledge about – the target customers,  sufficient demand for product,  risk is involved in it and whether  they will be able to continue delivering expected results on grounds of quality and expenses. All these factors have to be taken into consideration before deciding  to launch a new product. During this stage, interest is induced in the customer for the product. It may happen that customer may not accept the product readily. However, Parachute entered the market safe in 1990s. During that time the hair oil sector was dominated by unbranded oils. Marico saw the opportunity and hence came up with it brand ‘Parachute’ which became India’s first branded Hair Oil. It was also the first one to come up with attractive packaging of oil in Plastic bottles. Parachute in its initial days (when it dealt only with coconut oil) was successful in building a good connection with the mass,especially with middle class households based on the concept of ‘100 % purity’ and ‘Grandma’s hair care solution’.

2. Growth:Once a product has achieved a place in the market and gained interest and customers start demanding for it, a product is said to be in its growth stage.  There is rise in sales and profitability in this stage. There are a few challenges involved as well in this stage. Competition starts increasing and thus making it not as easy for the product to survive in the market. Parachute started facing competition from brands like Bajaj , Dabur, Keo-karpin etc. These competitors forced parachute to launch new brand variants in other oil types. Around 10 years back, Parachute showed emergence of competitive brands coming up with hair oils of different type like jajoba, olive, almond, Alma etc. hence it launched its Parachute Advanced Oil series with non-sticky scented coconut oil. It improvised on its product to win customers from competitors.    

3. Maturity:When a product has established itself in market firmly as leader it is said to be in its maturity stage. Parachute has generated loyal customers for itself. It is one of the leaders in the world of branded hair care products. The brand recorded a volume growth of 10% during year 2012-2013. Parachute is therefore in its maturity stage with a good amount of brand visibility. It should now concentrate on retaining its loyal customers and target new markets. It has already started to expand its international reach covering under explored markets like South Africa and Malaysia. It also has taken over brands from Egypt and Bangladesh slowing expanding globally. It focuses on targeting the youth with its innovative variants and juvenile appeal. Parachute has launched variants targeting kids and middle aged people. It occupies the position of a trusted brand. 

4. Decline:In this stage the product starts to decline and die. It could be due to reasons like technological advancement, shift in consumer interest, competition etc. In such a stage, companies can either review their market strategies or policies to revive their product else they can let it die slowly while they may work on introducing another product in market. At times products in decline stage are acquired by competitors. This can be a good alternative if the brand is incurring loss to owning company and company doesn't see any advantage in bring it back to the market. Parachute though has not seen any of its variant getting obsolete, Marico has hardly a few brands in declining stage and now whose production is stopped. For example, Sweekar Oil.

However, Industry Life Cycle is an appropriate way of describing the life cycle as it is depicted across  a particular category. Competitions and its effects can be well depicted on the Industry Life Cycle graph.