Product concept, what it is and product life cycle

Do you already know what your customer's need is and how you can help him/her solve his/her problem?

Very well, now you only have to develop the product. This is the way in which you'll solve your user's problem, and the economic future of your company will depend on it.

Can you imagine launching the wrong product to the market? The losses would be significant, but don't worry, we're here to help you. 

Don't leave your computer and discover how to create the right product for your audience.

What is a product?

The concept of a product is very simple.

It's all those goods and services that your company develops with the objective of selling it to an end customer and solving a need that you have detected.

Many places talk about the marketing mix, but there's no doubt that the product is the most important element in a marketing strategy.

Can you imagine determining the price without knowing what product you will sell? So first you determine what you will offer to the market and then you think about the rest.

Once you know what is the need you want to solve you can develop the concept of your item and then you will choose the right strategy to promote it.

Skipping this step could be your ticket to failure. 

Product marketing

Product marketing is the branch of marketing that is in charge of bringing a service to the market and supervises that everything goes as planned. 

The idea is to put together a team of specialists to create the product with the ideal features and benefits according to your customer's needs.

Therefore, the objective of product marketing is to attract the user's attention through strategies that maintain or increase demand in the market. We could say that it's the science behind every product.

Three fundamental elements of any marketing strategy come together here:

• Sales

• Customer service

• Advertising.

Types of products

In the market you will find different types of products. Some of them are: 

1. Convenience products.

Convenience products are defined as those that customers purchase very frequently. 

Once a user chooses your brand, it's difficult for him to change his decision, since he uses the product for several activities in his daily life.

Thus we find the different products:

• Bath soap

• Personal hygiene products

• Food

• Sweets

What is the key to selling convenience products? Brand recognition. 

These products tend to have low prices, so it's not very efficient to run promotions to improve sales.

2. Comparison products

A comparison product is one that requires a little comparison by the customer to choose the one that fits their needs.

Their main characteristic is that they are more expensive than convenience products, although nowadays there are price diversities and they cover multiple needs.

Some examples of comparison products are:

• Vehicles

• Clothing

• Ornaments

Yes, they are purchased frequently but in most cases people purchase them at specific times, so they compare one with another to take home the one that suits them.

3. Conviction products

We love conviction products because customers buy them automatically and without much thought.

They are usually backed by a brand that has wide market recognition, so they have little competition in their niche.

A perfect example is Apple, which provides technology goods that despite being more expensive than average, its users are willing to queue up to buy them.

The loyalty that the brand has created is what makes it one of the leaders in the market.

4. Unwanted products

Yes, believe it or not, there are products that people neither want nor are interested in buying.

Now, why are they in the market? Because they are necessary for your survival and that is why you buy them when there is no other option.

Life insurance, vehicle battery, fire extinguisher or tools are perfect examples. 

Therefore, it's important to create a marketing strategy that knows the user's buying habits to remind them that this product exists. 

In our experience, unsought products are purchased when:

• The neighbor's house caught fire and he realized he didn't have a fire extinguisher nearby.

• The car starts to fail due to a dead battery.

• A pipe breaks and you need tools to fix it.

In other words, you only go after these products when it’s strictly indispensable for your life.

Product life cycle

It's important to know both the types of products and their life cycle, so you will know when it's the best time to stop selling an item if you see that it's no longer accepted in the market.

The life cycles are as follows:

1. Introduction

We can call it the initial phase of the life cycle of any item and it is when the product starts to be promoted in the market.

In most cases these are times of low sales and production because few people know about the product.

2. Growth

After the initial stage, it's time to consolidate in the market.

In these cases the clientele begins to recognize the product and from here an opinion is created. This is why competition appears, either with other products or with special promotions.

3. Maturity

Contrary to what many people think, maturity translates into low sales because the highest point in the product's life cycle has been reached.

This means that sales are low but stable, which leads the company to a situation of dangerous comfort. However, sometimes profitability drops due to operating costs or because new alternatives have appeared in the market.

4. Decline

The decline of any product comes when it begins to lose prominence in its niche. If in the previous phase sales and profitability are low, in this stage it's much worse.

You don't have to worry, because all products have a useful life cycle. 

Your job is to detect it through a study of consumer habits in order to anticipate new market demands.

If you want to go deeper on the subject download our free class where we give you the KEY strategies for each phase of a product's life cycle here.

Do you already have your product concept? Hopefully with this information you will be able to give it the missing details to create the ideal service. 

P.S.: don't forget to check out the training programs of our school, any of them will help you create a link with your audience.