The Promotional Mix vs Product Life cycle

Promotional Mix: the combination of promotional techniques that a firm uses to communicate the benefits of its product to consumers.

8 stages in deciding on a promotional mix
1. Decide on the image of the product
2. Develop a profile of the target market
3. Decide on the messages to communicate
4. Set an appropriate budget
5. Decide on how the messages should be communicated
6. Establish how the success of the promotional mix is to be assessed
7. Undertake the promotional plan and the mix elements
8. Measure its success

Product life cycle: the stages through which a product or its category bypass.

4 stages to the product life cycle -> How would the promotional mix change at different stages of the product life cycle?

1. Introduction: This is the stage where a product is conceptualized and first brought to market. The goal of any new product introduction is to meet consumers' needs with a quality product at the lowest possible cost in order to return the highest level of profit. In this phase, sales may be slow as the company builds awareness of its product among potential customers while advertising is crucial, so the marketing budget is often substantial. 
2. Growth: At this stage, a company can decide if it wants to go for increased market share or increased profitability. The goal for any company is to stay in this phase as long as possible, because this is the boom time for any product. Production increases, leading to lower unit costs. Sales momentum builds as advertising campaigns target mass media audiences instead of specialized markets (if the product merits this). Competition grows as awareness of the product builds. 
3. Maturity: At this stage, sales growth has started to slow and is approaching the point where the inevitable decline will begin. Defending market share becomes the chief concern, as marketing staffs have to spend more and more on promotion to entice customers to buy the product. More competitors have stepped forward to challenge the product, some of which may offer a higher-quality version of the product at a lower price. This can touch off price wars, and lower prices mean lower profits, which will cause some companies to drop out of the market for that product altogether. The maturity stage is usually the longest of the four life cycle stages, and it is not uncommon for a product to be in the mature stage for several decades.
4. Decline: This occurs when the product peaks in the maturity stage and then begins a downward slide in sales. Eventually, revenues will drop to the point where it is no longer economically feasible to continue making the product. Investment is minimized. The product can simply be discontinued, or it can be sold to another company.