Have marketing concepts such as the “product life cycle” and the “4 P’s model” had their day?

The product life cycle (PLC) and 4P’s model have both been extremely influential marketing concepts,
however recently many people have questioned their relevance in today’s economy. There has been a
general shift away from the 4Ps towards a value-based relationship, where firms focus on creating
relationships and the co-creation of value. Furthermore, there is evidence that many firms do not follow the
PLC and it is difficult to know which stage the company is in. However, these concepts, while less useful than
when introduced, are still very relevant. The 4Ps, or marketing mix, is still a good tool for appealing to both
new and old customers to convince them to buy products, whereas ignoring the PLC and changes in sales
without changing marketing strategy is a risky tactic for managers. Thus, while the PLC and the 4Ps are
perhaps less relevant now, they have not had their day and should still be considered.

The economy has changed drastically since the 4Ps model was introduced, but it still will influence
consumers and should often be used. The biggest threat to the 4P’s was perhaps the change in Place and
channels of distribution that came with the rise of online retailing. However, place still applies, but it has
merely shifted from shelves to an online website, whilst storing products in warehouses far away from
customers. Companies must therefore focus on how their website looks, or which site they promote their
goods on rather than which stores to sell them in; this is extremely important as higher investment Web
Sites increases users’ purchase intentions (Schlosser, 2006). Thus, while place has changed, it is still very
relevant and must be considered. Furthermore, segmentation has increased to the level of the individual
allowing firms to alter the marketing mix to a single person, thus making it extremely effective and
important. Companies can now engage in profiling and engage users with specific messages, based on
location, demographic, income, interest and many more due to the power of the internet (Economist, 2015).
For example, Conversant delivers 800,000 variations of an ad to a prospective customer depending on the
individual in order to make it as effective as possible (Economist, 2014). Internet retail has also allowed firms
to supply greater variety of products to consumers, and due to segmentation, firms can market individual
products online to particular individuals (Brynjolfsson, 2006). Firms now can collect data and change the
product or persuasion tactic it uses to best appeal to the segment or individual, making the marketing mix
extremely useful. Therefore, the marketing mix has not had its day, as the framework still applies, and firms
have great opportunities to alter the 4Ps to closely match the consumer. This is especially important, as due
to the immense competition today, firms must differentiate beyond simply price (Willman, 2014).

Due to the internet, customers have become empowered, with the ability and knowledge to easily switch
between products (Constantinides, 2006). This has led to brands wanting deeper relationships with
consumers, to ensure repeated transactions as well as making it easier to identify changing needs. Thus,
firms have shifted to a value-based relationship, with a focus on a relational mindset (Gronroos, 1994).
Importance is now placed on providing value outside of the core product to create tighter ties with
customers, building loyalty and close relationships. For example, Spotify create personalised playlists for
each user and recommend new artists, while Nike focus on creating emotional ties with customers through
polices such as free personalized exercise regimens (Knight, 1992). Furthermore, the marketing mix views
customers as somebody to whom something is done whereas today, consumers are seen as active
participants in the creation of value (Lusch, 2007). For example, at Nike, the consumer is viewed as central
and helps co-create value in numerous ways: Nike invited sneakerheads to compete in designing a new shoe,
created NikeID where consumers can personalise their shoes and launched Nike plus to speak directly to
users on their products and how to improve it (Ramaswamy, 2008). Thus, firms now focus on providing
greater value for consumers, creating long relationships and co-creating value in order to build a connection
with the customer. The marketing mix will struggle to provide this, as its focus on internal processes
undermines customer interaction and feedback leading to a lack of personalisation and a failure to build
relationships (Constantinides, 2006). However, while the marketing mix may not always apply, it will apply in
situations such as mass manufactured goods where building relationships is less important. Thus, while the
shift to relationship marketing has reduced the 4Ps usefulness it is still helpful in appealing to specific
customers and should still be considered.

PLC theory argues that products follow a life cycle that goes through 4 stages: introduction, growth, maturity
and then decline. Many products do go through these stages, and by paying attention, companies can
change their strategy in order to best suit the stage they are in (Levitt, 1965). The product life cycle also
shows the need to think ahead in order to help with the next stage. Firms which endlessly pursue growth in
the initial stages will struggle later, as they haven’t planned ahead to the maturity stage where strong
branding policy is key. This still applies to network firms for example LivingSocial expanded aggressively,
attracting millions of users but failed to keep customers later due to lack of differentiation (Hagiu, 2016).
Indeed, network firms generally follow PLC, with companies such as eBay growing very fast due to network
effects before reaching maturity stage where competitors such as Depop and Shopify emerge to take market
share away (Economist, 2008). To combat this and extend their PLC, eBay has recently taken measures such
as dropping PayPal as their payment providers in order to improve customer experience and create brand
preference. A common criticism of PLC is that products rarely follow the product life cycle, but this doesn’t
make PLC irrelevant (Levitt, 1965). The product life cycle merely illustrates how product sales change, and
how marketers should change their strategies to combat this as marketing strategies in growth, where the
firm must convince consumers to try the product, are very different to those needed under maturity, where
product differentiation to competitors is key. By focusing on how sales change, marketers can work to
extend their PLC or release a new product as their previous one matures, as Apple does (Willman, 2014).
Thus, PLC is still very useful as it still applies to todays’ network firms and can be used to help firms change
their marketing strategy to reflect the different opportunities and threats that emerge across the different
stages.

However, many argue that the product life cycle is not useful, as it is an extremely simplistic model, and
firms cannot judge with accuracy which stage of the life cycle a product is in and when it will proceed to the
next (Day, 1981). Due to the simplicity of the model, the PLC also offers little advice to many businesses such
as the start up. Start-ups regularly achieve immense growth, for example, WeWork grew swiftly and was
valued at 47bn (Economist, 2019). Yet countless start-ups then fail, as WeWork proved as it crashed and its
CEO, Adam Neuman, was ousted and PLC is not helpful in showing how to turn this growth into long term
success. Furthermore, PLC often gives marketers tunnel vision, where they only see one trajectory forward
(Moon, 2005). Instead, marketers should realise that PLC is often dependent on marketing actions which can
completely change the life cycle or even reverse it (Dhalla, 1976). This is what IKEA did, when they stripped
its offerings and introduced new services such as a café and day care, moving it back from maturity to the
growth stage (Moon, 2005). However, while the PLC may not offer perfect advice in many situations it is still
a useful, albeit simple, concept. At its core, it argues that changes in sales should not be ignored and
marketing techniques will need to be different as sales change. This is still true today, as shown earlier, and
thus the PLC is still relevant today and has not had its day.

Overall, PLC and the marketing mix are still relevant marketing concepts. The PLC will never apply to all
firms, and due to its simplicity will not always be helpful. However, marketers should still consider how their
sales are changing and thus which stage they are in, as this will help them decide whether their marketing
strategies should change, to try and extend the PLC. However, marketers should not consider the PLC as
final, as firms can often move back to a previous stage through reinventing the product and some products,
such as the Vinyl record player, can see rebirths in their PLC. The 4Ps is also incredibly relevant, as it provides
a framework with which firms can tailor their offerings to better attract consumers whose demands are
increasingly varied. However, developing relationships with customers is becoming extremely important,
and thus firms must alter their marketing mix to include greater consideration of the consumer and how to
provide value outside of the core product. Thus, despite the criticisms and potential adaptions to these
theories, both concepts are still very useful and have not had their day.
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