Ted Judson
- Launched and relaunched more than 350 products during 22 years at Electronic Arts
- Launched Brands (Gonzo Games), Services (ea.com) and Platforms (EA Mobile)
- Advertising executive for consumer food products such as Orville Redenbacher Popcorn, Maxwell House Coffee and Country Time Lemonade and financial service products for Wells Fargo and American Express
- All 7 Best Practices
- Pre-Meeting Discovery Process
- One-on-One Call with Expert
- Meeting Summary Report
- Post-Meeting Engagement
Product Life Cycle Management
Overview
Products and services go through life cycles of growth, maturity and decline. However, they don't all die.
Product life cycle is really about product innovation and reinvention.
As with most things in today's business world, if you do not adapt, adopt and wisely reinvent yourself, you become a dinosaur. And we all know what happened to them.
Not all creatures at that stage of Planet Earth's life cycle died. Those that survived had certain characteristics that helped them change.
The same is true for products and services in today's business environment. Why? Because the business environment is changing at an ever-increasing rate. Change is great for innovation. And innovation is great for changing your product to attract new users, reach new markets and apply new technologies. Product life cycle is not a linear birth-to-death process. Rather, it is a process of constant reevaluation and reinvention.
What are the critical methods of maximizing a product's life cycle? Continuously ask yourself these questions:
- How are my sales numbers trending over the sales cycle for its category?
- What levers can I pull (pricing, advertising, entering new markets) to extend my product's life cycle without changing the product itself?
- Through what new channels can I distribute my product or service?
- What new technologies allow me to reinvent my product or service?
- Which technology offers the best return on my investment?
- Does that technology have legs?
- Do the innovations disrupt my brand?
- What strategic partnerships can I develop that can extend my product's life cycle?
By asking these questions, you force innovation and reinvention – the lifeblood of maximizing product life cycle.
(Note: The stages of growth, maturity and decline are preceded by a product's development stage, which is covered by TrustedPeer Expert John Carter in Product Strategy - Consumer Electronics and Technology, https://dev.trustedpeer.com/t/211.)