IB Business Product Life Cycle Guide

When Your $45 Water Bottle Almost Didn't Exist: Product Life Cycle At Its Best

It happened in 2019. The Stanley Quencher tumbler was dying. Company executives openly admitted that "the tumbler wasn't prioritised." Sales were abysmal. The product, launched in 2016 with minimal fanfare, was heading for discontinuation. Stanley's revenue sat at a respectable but unspectacular $70 million annually, mostly from rugged outdoor bottles that hadn't changed much since 1913.

January 2024. Target shoppers were camping overnight in car parks. Stampedes broke out when stores opened. People were literally jumping over counters to steal boxes of cups. The same tumblers that nobody wanted five years before were reselling online for $200. TikTok videos of Stanley collections racked up millions of views. Stanley's Revenue? Around $750 million.

Late 2024. The craze was cooling. The product that seemed unstoppable was showing its age. Influencers who once showcased their collections were making "why I'm done with Stanley" content.

Birth. Life. Death. (And if you're a clever company, resurrection.)

This is a good introduction to the Product Life Cycle.

The Five Stages Every Product Goes Through

The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is a marketing theory that maps out a product's journey from "brilliant idea" to the stage "remember when everyone had one of these?" It tracks sales revenue over time. A good summary might be: what goes up doesn't always stay up.

Here's the classic model:

Let's break down each stage with IB Business Management Real-life Examples:

Stage 1: Research & Development (R&D) "We Think This Might Work"

This is where products exist only in labs, design studios, and very optimistic PowerPoint presentations. Companies pour money into:

• Designing and testing prototypes

• Running market research (remember that from a previous lesson?)

• Figuring out pricing, distribution, and promotional strategies

• Praying to whatever deity handles innovation that this doesn't flop

Cash flow: Massively negative. You're spending millions and earning exactly £0.

IB Business Management Real-life example: Remember those self-driving cars everyone's been promising us for the last 20 years? Companies like Waymo and Cruise have spent billions in R&D over the past decade. They're testing, tweaking, and occasionally causing traffic chaos. But they're not properly "launched" yet in most markets. That's R&D.

Stage 2: Introduction (Launch) "Please Buy This"

Your product finally hits the market! Congratulations! Now comes the interesting part: will anyone actually buy it?

Characteristics:

• Sales are low (people don't know you exist yet)

• Marketing expenditure is astronomical (it costs to be everywhere hoping someone listens)

• Distribution is limited (you can't be everywhere at once)

• Prices might be high (to recoup R&D costs, especially if there's no competition yet) or low (to grab market share quickly)

Cash flow: Still negative, but improving. You're selling something, at least.

IB Business Management Real-life example: Coca-Cola Spiced launched in February 2024 as "Coke's boldest tasting brand innovation yet" - combining classic Coke with raspberry and spice flavours. They intended it to be permanent. It was discontinued in September 2024, just seven months later. Not every introduction makes it to the growth stage. Sometimes you die at launch.

The Stanley Quencher in 2016-2019 was also stuck here - limping along with minimal marketing, limited awareness, and executives wondering if they should just kill it off.

Stage 3: Growth "We've Cracked It!"

Sales explode. Your product becomes well-known. Customers tell their mates. Competitors start noticing you.

What's happening:

• Brand awareness and loyalty develop

• Sales increase rapidly

• Marketing focuses on building preference and switching customers from rival brands

• Prices stabilise as you balance growth with profitability

• More retailers want to stock your product

Cash flow: Finally positive! This is where businesses start breathing again.

IB Business Management Real-life examples: Stanley Quencher, 2020-2023. After The Buy Guide blog promoted them to female audiences, TikTok went mad for them. Sales increased 275% in 2021 alone. The hashtag #StanleyTumbler racked up billions of views. Revenue went from $70 million (2019) to $750 million (2023). That's growth indeed!

Electric vehicles are also in their growth phase globally. Tesla's been leading the charge, but now everyone from Volkswagen to Hyundai is flooding the market with EVs. Sales are climbing, infrastructure's improving, and more people are convinced that electric works. Does it really?

Stage 4: Maturity "Holding the Fort"

Your product reaches peak sales. The market's saturated - most people who want your product already have it. Growth flattens out.

The challenge:

• Maintaining market position becomes crucial

• Product differentiation is vital (you need to stand out from all those copycats)

• Promotion becomes widespread

• Price competition can get intense

• Extension strategies get deployed to prolong this goldmine

Cash flow: Positive and strong. Profit peaks here.

IB Business Management Real-life example: The iPhone. Yes, really. While Apple constantly releases "new" models, the iPhone as a product category is firmly in maturity. Most people in developed markets who want a smartphone have one. Apple's not discovering vast untapped markets of people who've never heard of an iPhone - they're fighting to get existing smartphone users to switch brands or upgrade.

This is why Apple has become a master of extension strategies (more on this in a minute). They're desperately trying to keep the iPhone in maturity rather than letting it slip into decline.

Stage 5: Decline "Farewell, Old Friend"

Sales fall. Continuously. Sometimes it's gradual, sometimes it's catastrophic. The product becomes less relevant, outdated, or simply eclipsed by something better.

What's happening:

• Lower prices (desperate attempts to shift remaining stock)

• Reduced marketing (why throw good money after bad?)

• Distribution narrows (retailers drop you)

• Decision time: do we keep selling at a loss, or pull the plug?

Cash flow: Declining, potentially negative again.

IB Business Management Real-life examples:

• Diesel cars: Can't solve pollution issues, electric and hybrid alternatives are surging, governments are banning them in cities. Decline.

• VHS tapes and fax machines: Obliterated by DVDs/streaming and email/digital documents respectively.

• Physical media generally: When was the last time you bought a CD? Exactly.

And possibly... Stanley Cups by late 2024. The same influencers who built the craze are now making "I'm done with Stanley" content. The backlash is real. Overconsumption concerns, market saturation, and the inevitable "that's so last year" effect are kicking in. Stanley might not be dead, but it's definitely not growing like in 2023.

How Your Marketing Mix Changes At Each Stage

The sooner you understand this the more marks you will save on your exam: your marketing strategy needs to change dramatically depending on where your product sits in the life cycle.

Stanley's marketing evolution is textbook perfect:

• Introduction (2016-2019): Minimal marketing. Targeting outdoor enthusiasts. Limited distribution. Nearly discontinued.

• Growth (2020-2023): Partnered with influencers (The Buy Guide, TikTok creators). Expanded distribution (Target, Starbucks collabs). Introduced 100+ colourways. Marketing shifted to lifestyle accessory for women aged 25-50.

• Maturity/Decline (2024): Increased distribution but facing backlash. Price competition from dupes. Marketing trying to maintain relevance but consumer fatigue setting in.

The Money Side: Investment, Profit, and Cash Flow Across the PLC

Here's the financial reality:

Here's how sales and profit track differently:

Notice: Profit lags behind sales (you're losing money initially) and profit peaks BEFORE sales peak. Why? Because by maturity, you're spending more on marketing and facing price competition, which eats into your margins even though sales are still high.

This is why companies get desperate to stay in the maturity phase as long as possible. It's the golden goose.

Extension Strategies: How To Delay Death

Nobody wants to watch their product die. So when maturity threatens to tip into decline, smart companies deploy extension strategies - marketing techniques designed to prolong the product's life cycle.

Extension strategies are the Product Life Cycle equivalent of Botox, gym memberships, and pretending you're still down with the kids.

Common extension strategies include:

1. Cutting Prices Make your product more affordable to attract budget-conscious buyers or compete with cheaper alternatives. High Risk: this eats into profit margins and can damage your brand's perceived quality.

2. Product Enhancements / "Special Editions" Add new features, improve quality, or release limited editions that make existing customers want to upgrade. IB Business Management Real-life examples:

Apple's playbook: Every September, new iPhone models with "improved cameras," "faster processors," and features that make your current phone feel ancient. The iPhone 11 added new camera features and colours. The iPhone SE targets price-sensitive markets. Each model essentially restarts the growth phase for that specific variant.

Stanley's attempt: Introduced 100+ colourways, collaborated with Target (Galentine's Collection), Starbucks (Winter Pink edition), country star Lainey Wilson... essentially turned one product into dozens of "collectible" versions. Worked brilliantly but not for long.

3. Redesigning or Repackaging Make the product look fresh and modern. Sometimes it's purely cosmetic, sometimes it's functional.

4. Short-Term Promotions "Buy One Get One Free," "20% Off This Week Only," loyalty programs... anything to spike sales temporarily.

5. Entering New Markets Export to countries where your product is still new. Sell to different demographic segments who haven't discovered you yet.

Stanley pivoted from outdoor men to lifestyle-conscious women aged 25-50. That's not just entering a new market - that's discovering a market you didn't know existed and it had £680 million sitting there waiting for you.

6. Finding New Uses Convince customers your product solves problems they didn't know they had.

Baking soda started as... baking soda. Then someone realised it deodorises fridges. Then it became a toothpaste ingredient. Then a cleaning product. Same chemical compound, extended life cycle through new uses.

The problem: Extension strategies aren't free. They cost money - sometimes a lot of money. You need to weigh the costs/reward against potential benefits. If you're spending £5 million to extend a product's life by six months and only earning £2 million extra revenue, you're in trouble.

Not Every Product Follows the Perfect Curve

The textbook PLC model is lovely and neat, but reality is often different:

Some products skip introduction entirely. When Apple releases a new iPhone, there's no "introduction" phase - millions of people already know about it and are queuing to buy it. They jump straight into growth or even maturity.

Some products have VERY short life cycles. Fashion trends, viral social media crazes, novelty items... they can rocket through the entire cycle in months. Remember fidget spinners? Exactly.

Some products seem immortal. Marmite, Coca-Cola Classic (after they learned their lesson), Levi's jeans - they've been in "maturity" for decades through constant but subtle evolution.

Some products experience resurrection. Vinyl records nearly died, then became a profitable niche market charging premium prices. Retro gaming consoles have made similar comebacks.

And some products just... fail. They never escape introduction, die in growth, or crash helpless in maturity. Coca-Cola Spiced lasted seven months. New Coke barely made it three. The Google Glass looked revolutionary in 2013 and was dead by 2015.

IB Business Management Exam Corner

Understanding the PLC is basic for companies, it tells you:

• When to invest heavily (introduction and growth)

• When to harvest profits (maturity)

• When to cut losses (decline)

• How to adjust marketing mix (different at every stage)

• Whether to innovate or abandon (extension strategies vs. withdrawal)

In your IB Business Management exams, you'll get case studies of companies at different PLC stages. You'll need to:

1. Identify which stage a product is in (look for clues about sales trends, profit levels, market saturation, competition)

2. Recommend appropriate marketing strategies for that stage

3. Evaluate extension strategies and their cost-benefit trade-offs

4. Analyse how investment, profit, and cash flow change across stages

Every Product Has An Expiry Date (But You Can Extend It)

Stanley Quencher went from obscurity to phenomenon to potential decline in under five years. That's the PLC on fast-forward.

The iPhone has been in "maturity" for over a decade through relentless extension strategies. That's the PLC in slow motion.

Coca-Cola Spiced died in seven months. That's the PLC saying "it's not going to work out for you."

Here's what separates success from failure:

1. Know where you are. If you're in maturity and still marketing like you're in introduction, you're wasting money.

2. Plan for the next stage. Don't wait until decline hits you start thinking about extension strategies.

3. Accept that death is (usually) inevitable. VHS had to die for streaming to thrive. Diesel cars are making way for electric. That's progress.

4. Sometimes it's better to let go. Coca-Cola recognised Spiced wasn't working and killed it quickly rather than throwing good money after bad.

5. Or reinvent completely. Stanley nearly discontinued the Quencher in 2019. Instead, they pivoted to a completely different market and created a phenomenon. Sometimes your product isn't wrong - your audience is.

The Product Life Cycle is the heartbeat of every business decision, the rhythm of innovation and obsolescence, the drumbeat of capitalism itself.

Your Stanley cup might be losing its cool factor, but somewhere in a lab or garage, the next viral product is being designed, ready to start the cycle all over again.

Stay well,