The Effect of Marketing Strategies on Product Life Cycle
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The major objective of this research is to appraise the effectiveness of marketing strategies on the various stages of product life cycle. This will also look at how the various stages can be expantiated to exploit the dynamism of the life cycle through aligning the stages and connecting it to marketing strategies to reap out the tremendous result by effectively studying he MTN service in Nigeria Kaduna.
This study will be geared towards stressing the importance of effective application of marketing strategies to product life cycle. It effect on the performance of telecommunication sectors, especially the one on study. Also such as its contributions to management decision making to achieve their organizational goals and objectives. In doing this, it is necessary to identify the importance of marketing strategies on product life cycle. Its effects on the performance of organization activity. Also, such as contributing to the management of MTN would be highlighted.
CHAPTER TWO
INTRODUCTION
This chapter dealt with various tools and strategy that may lead to a successful implementation and execution of marketing strategy to bring about effectiveness and efficiency on the administration of it to a smooth and easy movement on the Product Life Cycle to the maturity stage without facing stranious problems that may come from the aspect of the competitor and the potential customer as a result of change of preferences so also loyalty switch.
THE CONCEPT OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
Overtime, different authors of marketing, have analyzed the concept of product life cycle based on their own perspective of the subject matter.
Kolter (2006, page 321) states that a company’s positioning and differentiation strategy must change as the product, market and competitors changes over the product life cycle (PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE ).
Kolter from his own point of view saw that for a product to have a life cycle is to assert four things.
- Product have a limited life
- Product sales pass through a distinct stages, each posing different challenges, opportunity’s and problems to the seller.
- Profit rise and fall at different stages of the product life cycle.
- Product requires different marketing, financial, manufacturing, purchasing and human resources strategies in each life cycle stage.
THE PRODUCT CONCEPT
This is one of the oldest concept guiding sellers. Here the management thinks and believes that consumers will favour those product that are available and affordable and therefore the major task of management is to engage in improved production and distribution efficiency (Kotler, 1997).
In pursing this concept, management believes that:
- Consumer are primarily interested in product availability and low price.
- Consumer know the price of competitive brands.
- Consumer do not see or attach much importance to the non price differences within the product class.
- The organization task is to keep improving production and distribution efficiency and lowering cost as the key to attracting and holding customers.
In Nigeria, the production concept has worked for management particularly where the demand for the product exceeds supply. In this situation, the buyer is ready to buy version of product he see on the shelves. Take for example, the current dearth in the telecommunication market as long as few service provider operates in the market, buyers are ready to do with all type of service offered to them.
The product concept is a management orientation that assumes that consumer will favour those product hat offer the most quality for the price and therefore, the organization that devote its energy to improving product quality. For instance, many telecommunication service providers in Nigeria believe that if they can operate and participate effectively in community development and some promotional activities, the world will beat a path to their outfits, but this can only be sustained at the short run. In the first place, patrons are looking for a solution to communication and not necessarily efficient service and additional services. The service providers that operate on the ethic of offering mere service of communication are losing out and changing brand names because they have not taken positive steps to design their offerings to meet the needs of their customers.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
This chapter centres on the various techniques and methods employed towards achieving the objectives of this study. It explain the justification for the method used, research population and sample size. It also discusses the sampling procedures employed and the statistical technique in the data analysis.
RESEARCH METHOD USED
A research of this requires approach that could ensure consistency and accuracy better understanding of the problem what need to be measure formally and final valuable results. In order to achieve this purpose the researcher has adapted the use of survey research method for this study. In the course of this work, questionnaire and personal interview was employed to gather relevant data on the subject matter from the staff of MTN Nigeria limited kaduna head office branch and consumers/distributor within the kaduna metropolis.
The medium was taken to achieve quicker result in view of time constraint and also to reduce the financial outlay which might have delayed the completion of the work if the other media had been used.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
INTRODUCTION
The chapter aims at analysis and presentation of data collected from the respondents of the survey research.
The responses as collected through the use of questionnaire are presented in tabular form using simple percentage.
CHAPTER FIVE
INTRODUCTION
In the last chapter, the data collected for this work was presented and analyzed this chapter contains discussions of findings where theories and empirical data are closely integrated to provide a relevant functional and informative text for this chapter and the proof of hypothesis.
Through the process of research a lot of facts have been uncovered about marketing strategies in MTN Nigeria Kaduna. Operations and it shows a clear revelation that communication industries has shifted from its traditional application to a more appreciable business acceptance faced with various challenges. Thus MTN Nigeria Kaduna have no alternatives than living up to present expectation and creating room for more improvement and innovation. This implies that those involved in selling telecommunication service are to fully appreciate importance of marketing strategies on product life cycle because of the fact that such organization depends on the market for profitability survival and must therefore, adopt to changing requirement and environment of the economy in which it operates. This is vital because, before now telecommunication sector has neglect marketing activities as it survive on a basis of monopoly. After the globally landed Nigerian GSM auction conducted by the Nigerian communication commission earlier in the year 2001. When the sector was deregulated, the business became more challenging and competitive that the need for marketing activities is required.
CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Before now much emphasis had not been given to marketing strategies with relation to product life cycle, but with the rapid development in the telecommunication sector a lot have change in recent times that warrant the application of marketing strategies to product life cycle of a product.
Like any other product there is a period when the product is introduced into the market and moved in stages to the maturity stage where profit is maximized.
MTN Nigeria kaduna has been proactive in tis operation also effective in the use of marketing strategies which placed the company on its maturity stage in its life cycle.
Right from the beginning the company has adopted various strategies ranging from promotional, segmentation, distribution and pricing e.g. extra cool and extra connect. They are both segmentation and pricing strategy combined to gain high market share.
The distribution strategy is also another effective tool used by MTN to create new users, new usage and new uses through the sale of number to some firm who will serve as their distributors. This give them the privilege to produce small value recharge cards in their name.
The company modern customer care centers make it easy for patronizers to lodge complain of different kind and be rest assured that it will be hard and treated satisfactorily.
The company undertake series of event. In other words they sponsor events and shows in which people get socialized and educated more about their product.
In conclusion, MTN has proving beyond reasonable doubt that marketing strategies has a significant effect on product life cycle and as a determinant of its success or failure in the various stages.
MTN Nigeria kaduna as effective as they are need to improve in their services and standardize their product to meet up with the present challenges in order to shake off challengers for it to maintain its position as market leader in GSM business.
SUMMARY
The level of development of the country (Nigeria) has change positively that the market today has become highly competitive which requires not just knowledgeable hands of management, but rather leveraged knowledge that is dynamic and based on the concept of innovation.
The researcher was able to explore necessary information regarding strategies that are available for effectiveness and efficiency in the movement along the product life cycle of a product.
The area of study (MTN) Nigeria Kaduna reveals how sensitive the strategies could be as a determinant of the companies market share.
The conventional product life cycle stages that moves from the introductory stage to the maturity stage which terminates at declining stage depends on the well managed strategies that will take the product to the green zone where profit could be maximize and cost minimized.
Product just like human beings is given birth to nurtured to growth and to maturity where if not well equipped with calories and variable that will keep it at per with the environment will surely declined and may lead to death of that being.
Such is also the case of the product, it requires thorough observation and care to live up to expectation in the market arena.
CONCLUSION
Since the advent of GSM in 2001, the Nigerian telecommunication sector has witnessed an avalanches of subscribers that has led to over 38 million subscribers connected.
Looking back at the fact that before the introduction of the GSM technology only about 400,000 Nigerian were connected to telephone services in the nation over 130,000,000 million people, it is no wonder that the mobile platform has emerged as the key that Nigerians use to open the door of communication. The MTN network GSM services enable multimedia messages, video, high speed internet access, digital camera and PDA functions.
Despite the power spread and reach of the GSM technology, the poor service quality of recent in the country has led stakeholders to seek for a viable alternative that will ensure that the gains recorded in the last six years with the introduction of GSM technology is not eroded by poor services. MTN Nigeria Kaduna has taken this challenge before it to innovate new product and provide more reformed service to their customers.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Hardly will you see any businessman in Nigeria today with one mobile phone chances are that he will have two or three phones all mobile. This multiple phone syndrome is not peculiar to only businessman government officials, student and those who have the means and can afford it all have two or three phones they carry around. The reason is not far fetched – poor quality service has been the lot of Nigerian in recent times. This is really an irony when compared with the advance countries where subscribers do not need to carry multiple phone around since they are assured of quality service from their mobile operators.
Most of the time a subscribers in Nigeria may spend the whole day trying to make a call that ordinarily should take a few minutes. Nigerians have had to buy the sim card of all the networks so that if network A is down and cannot connect a subscriber will at least have the option of trying network B or C and that is the sole reason why it is common trend at the moment to see Nigerian clutching two or more phones particularly everywhere.
These are the challenges facing MTN in the market. The company need to employ full marketing strategies that were reviewed by the researcher to place it ahead of its competitor and reap the benefit of large market share at profit.
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