Product Life Cycle Management

Many companies lose sight of the life cycles of their products, needlessly giving away sales, profits and market share.  To prevent this, it is important to focus not only on a product's next innovation but on its entire life cycle and that of its product category.  Comparing these life cycles with product development cycles enable companies to get the most from each and every product, delivering innovation when the market will be most receptive.  This type of analysis and planning will result in competitive advantage from not only product, but also process.

This may seem like a simple thing to do, but companies tend to become immersed in the short term requirements of their business and lose sight of these critical long-term issues.  To gain a perspective of the impact this can have, one need only look to the video game industry.  No company has ever been able to maintain a leadership position over time, including industry giants Atari, Nintendo and Sega.  Each of these companies became so involved with issues or products of the day that they were late getting to market with the next generation system.  Atari was usurped by the Commodore 64 computer, which was usurped by the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was usurped by the Sega Genesis.  Now Sony is in the lead with the Play Station - never underestimate the importance of product life cycle management.

What impacts product life cycle?

New technology

Product development cycles

Market size

Marketing spending

How do you understand and maximize your product life cycle?

Measure and understand technology and product development timelines

Compare sales of similar products in the company and the market over time

Find the "signals" that the product is entering a new life cycle phase

Compare marketing expenditures with sales results

Listen to the trade and most importantly the customer

Why hire Genesis Strategies?

Our partners have spent a great deal of time in many industries with radical product life cycles, including the PC, video game and toy industries.  Products in these industries often have 6 month to 6 year life cycles, versus the 10 year to 30 year life cycles that accompany many consumer products.  This has required them to develop solid techniques for measuring and understanding these cycles, techniques that can help you.