Think of different Product Strategies in different stages of the Product Lifecycle.

Like Humans, Products also go through the cycle of Birth and Death. 

The Products are created, maintained and then die. 

All Products are impermanent in the Market. 

Products go through their own Product Lifecycle. They are first introduced in the Market, which is the Introduction phase, then the market share grows and the product gets into the Growth Phase, subsequently, the product moves to the Maturity phase and then gradually declines. 

In Product Management, the firth thing for a Product Manager is to identify which phase is your Product in the lifecycle. 

Accordingly, there is a different Product Strategy to be adopted in each phase of the product life cycle. 

There is a different Pricing strategy to be adopted in each phase of the product lifecycle. Also, the Target customer segments are different in each phase of the product lifecycle. 

For e.g: 

1. In the Introduction phase, The Target customers are Innovators and Early Adopter category of customers. They are also known as Tech Enthusiasts and Visionaries. Both the personas are price insensitive and willing to pay a premium to use innovative products and features. Hence During the Introduction phase, the Product Manager must focus on building Innovative features. In this phase, competition is also less, so the price skimming strategy is adopted and the prices are kept high. Once, the product has crossed the chasm, it moves into the maturity phase.
2. In the Maturity phase, the Target customers are the Early Majority & Early minority categories of customers. The Early Majority are pragmatists, they will buy a new product only after the Innovators and Early adopters have tried and reviewed the product. Early Minorities are conservatives, they are slow to adopt innovations and hence, it is wise to target them in this phase. Both these personas are highly price sensitive. Hence, it is wise to use a Price penetration strategy in this phase to attract the masses. 

In this phase, it is very important to create a differentiator in the product and this is the time to attain the highest Market share. In this phase, the product manager must analyze the competitors and achieve parity with them and subsequently create a differentiator feature to win in the Market. 

The next phase is the Decline phase. But, before the product starts declining, the product manager must focus on building innovations and introducing another innovative product so that Innovators and Early Adopters can now be shifted to the new product from the old product before it is in the decline phase.

Remember, that Innovators and early adopter category of customers are always on the cusp and look out for innovations. If you do not build it for them, competitors will offer them and take away the Market share. 

It is always wise to plan the product portfolio and bring in innovations at the right time before the Innovators or early adopters move to the competitor products. The right timing to introduce the new products is crucial in product management and will protect the business from disruption and help you retain the leadership position. 

            3. The last phase is the Decline phase in Product Life Cycle, it is wise to invest less in building new features, the focus is to maintain the product and provide customer support. In this phase, Laggards or Skeptics buy the product.  This persona is the slowest and will not adopt any innovations. Only when there is enforcement from external factors, do they get the new products. It is wise to not spend time & energy to target this category of customers. 

             The prices are further reduced considering the competition and the decline in the demand for the product in this phase.

             In this phase, the product managers decide when they want to stop the support of the product and maintenance of the product. The date for ending the Product is declared to the customers so that they get sufficient time to move to other products. 

Key Learnings: 

1. Product Strategy & Pricing strategy are different in each phase of the product lifecycle. 
2. The Target customer segment is also different in each phase of the product lifecycle. 
3. Product Managers must identify – in which phase is the product in its lifecycle and accordingly adopt the pricing and product strategies.