Marketing Plan: Phase II Paper

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Based on my product,
(Which is a portable hard-drive for Apple? My product will have wireless capability, various screen sizes, and memory capacities. Music, movies can be downloaded from iTunes whether indoors or on-the-go, comes with a battery pack and AC adapter, and can be attached to an auxiliary channel in a vehicle)

a) Describe the attributes or service of my product in detail;
Apple's portable hard drive attributes are based on the product differentiation strategy. The features and services are unique and aimed at enhancing the premium image of the Apple Brand. The various attributes will be:

a) The wireless remote hard drive will be of very much convenience to the user.
b) It will also have numerous modern features providing flexibility regarding memory capacity, screen size and other attributes
c) It will be compatible with all the Apple gadgets and will be multifunctional.
d) It will have 24*7 online customer care and interactive web portal for the customer service and for providing customer support.

b) Describe the pace at which your product will move through the product life cycle;

Stage of Product Life Cycle and Impact on Decisions Made

Products go through several stages from conceptualization of the product to its end. A new product progresses through a sequence of stages from introduction to growth, maturity, and decline. This sequence is known as the product life cycle and is associated with changes in the marketing situation, thus impacting the marketing strategy and the marketing mix.
Products tend to go through five stages:

1. New product development stage
* Very expensive
* No sales revenue
* Losses
2. Market introduction stage
* Cost high
* Sales volume low
* Losses
* High prices
3. Growth stage
* Costs reduced due to economies of scale
* Sales volume increases significantly
* Profitability
* Prices to maximize market share
4. Mature stage
* Costs are very low
* Sales volume peaks
* Prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of competing products
* Very profitable
5. Decline stage
* Sales decline
* Prices drop (lower prices may lead to lower value perception)
* Profits decline
(www.en.wikipedia.org)
Our Product will be at introduction stage as it's a new product. But soon it will be in growth stage due to its superior features and brand image. Moreover it has a huge product market due to its multiple benefits to the users. Thus it is required by anybody and everybody now as it is satisfying various kinds of needs such as information, entertainment, communication, professional and other needs.

c) Factors that will impact the movement or;
The factors that will impact the movement across the product life cycle are:
1) Acceptability of the product by the customer
2) Competitors' action
3) Product strategy by Apple
4) Innovation

d) How will the product life cycle impact the marketing of my product
At the introduction stage, market share and size is small. This is the point where the company focuses on creating ...