Part 1. Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

Select a product with which you are familiar.

Based on your knowledge of the product lifecycle, what types of changes will occur to your selected product? How will this affect the marketing of your selected product?

Part 2. Reply to the following classmate in a minimum of 100 words:

“For this weeks topic, this might date me a little bit. Thinking of a product and its lifecycle, the first product that comes to mind is the VCR. The VCR was introduced in the late 60s to early 70s and at this time consumers really had no other way to consume media besides television broadcast. In the early years of the products lifecycle, the product enjoyed huge success, so much so that other competing formats were developed by several companies. Each company would take the existing technology and enhance it rather by extending the capacity of the tape or increasing the amount of data that could written to the tape. This competition led to consumer confusion and ultimately the format wars of the early 80s. One product was able to market its particular product, the VHS system to a burgeoning market that would eventually grow in the VHS rental market and spawn another brand that many people my age has so many memories of and that was Blockbuster. The VHS product was the dominant player for almost a decade until the next evolution of media came along and that was the DVD which ultimately moved the VHS product into the decline phase of its lifecycle.” – James F.

Part 3. Reply to the following classmate in a minimum of 100 words:

“The Blackberry comes to mind instantly as going through all phases of the lifecycle. First it basically created a new market leading the door open for Apple to come in and introduce the true smartphone. Blackberry was able to market itself to businesses to capture innovators and early adopters. It was then able to switch to consumer marketing during the growth stage. They were hugely popular and marketed accordingly. They used corporate branding to market several different models including the Blackberry Pearl and the Blackberry Bold. During the decline of Blackberry, after the release of the iPhone, Blackberry released new products including the KeyOne and the Blackberry Z10. Unfortunately, their marketing and product could not keep up with the iPhone and newer smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy series leading to the demise of Blackberry. I believe part of Blackberry’s decline was their marketing strategy to promote themselves as an exclusive product for an exclusive group. Apple however was able to market their products, as well as Samsung, LG, and other competitors, to the masses. iPhones were so simple to use that any could benefit from them.” – Janet S.