The document discusses the product life cycle and how Netflix successfully managed its product cycle. It started as a DVD rental service by mail in 1997 which grew rapidly, introducing a subscription model in 1999. In 2007, it launched streaming services marking the introduction of a new product. By 2010, streaming had surpassed DVD rentals in traffic and subscribers. Today, Netflix has over 200 million paying subscribers and continues to grow, showing it has not yet reached maturity in its product life cycle through strategic expansion into original content and interactive storytelling.

1. PRODUCT
STRATEGY
Pritam Singh
Product
Management

2. What is The Product Life Cycle?
Before introducing a new product or service to the market, it’s
important to understand the concept of ‘The Product Life Cycle’. As
human beings have a definitive life span that starts with birth and
concludes with death, the products we consume experience a similar
journey. Various stages make up the cycle, commencing with the
inception of the product through to its final removal from the market.

3. Managing the Product Life Cycle
Good management of the product life cycle is vital to the success of
any business. It’s a tool used to determine the strategies that need
to be implemented at any stage in a product’s development. Alongside
maximising profitability, prolonging the life cycle of a product
should always be a priority. Netflix is a well-known example of a
product that continues to enjoy a particularly long cycle. On the
other hand, a product is considered a failure when it is - for any
reason - unable to achieve either profitability or the anticipated
life cycle as defined by the organisation. Remember Pokémon Go? A
product with a poorly managed life cycle, introduced as a global craze
that went on to experience rapid decline.

4. The Stages of the Cycle:
Idea Generation
Although it isn’t technically a stage in the cycle, brainstorming
ideas for a new product or service marks the beginning of the
product life cycle. At this point, it’s important to understand the
expectations of the target audience and how the product will act
as a competitive alternative.
Introduction to
Market
The product is introduced to the
market through a focused
marketing effort, which is
designed to establish a clear
identity and promote maximum
awareness. This stage will often
require significant investment.
However, all product research
and development expenditure
must be weighed up against the
likely return on investment.
Growth
Consumer interest should activate
the growth stage. This is the point
at which the product’s position in
the market is established. It is
distinguished by increasing sales
and the emergence of competitors.
Product Maturity
Arrival of the product’s ‘maturity
stage’ is evident when competitors
begin to leave the market, sales
velocity is reduced and the volume
of sales begins to level off. It’s
difficult for manufacturers to
achieve a lengthy phase of maturity
in a product; this is due to a number
of different challenges that tend to
present themselves at this stage.
Decline
A continuous fall in sales
indicates that the product is
entering into the decline stage. A
saturated market, unfavourable
economic conditions and the
emergence of new fashion trends
are just a few possible reasons
why a product might enter this
stage.

6. DVDs, first introduced in the United States on March 24, 1997, Netflix tested the concept of selling
or renting DVDs by mail by mailing a compact disc to Hastings's house in Santa Cruz. When the disc
arrived intact, they decided to take on the $16 billion home-video sales and rental industry.
Netflix launched as the world's first online DVD-rental store, with only 30 employees and 925 titles
available—almost the entire catalogue of DVDs at the time using the pay-per-rent model.
Netflix introduced the monthly subscription concept in September 1999, and then dropped the single-
rental model in early 2000. Since that time the company has built its reputation on the business model
of flat-fee unlimited rentals without due dates, late fees, shipping and handling fees, or per-title rental
fees
In 2007, Netflix recruited one of the early DVR business pioneers Anthony Wood to build a "Netflix
Player" that would allow streaming content to be played directly on a television set rather than a PC
or laptop.By 2010, Netflix's streaming business had grown so quickly that within months the
company had shifted from the fastest-growing customer of the United States Postal Service's first-
class service to the largest source of Internet streaming traffic in North America

7. .
STRATEGY SERIES :
1. Get big on DVDs
2. Lead downloading
3. Expand worldwide
4. Original content
5. Interactive storytelling

8. It was originally a rent-by-mail DVD service that used a pay-per-rental
model. Users would browse and order the films they wanted on their
website, put in an order, and Netflix would post them to your door. After
renters had finished with the DVDs, they would simply post them back.
From 700,000 Netflix subscribers in 2002 to 3.6m in 2005, there was
clearly a demand for DVD rental.
Later in 2007 Netflix started online streaming services for their subscribers
with new introduction cycle

9. While begining with streaming services
Netflix Had 6 million subscriptions in
2007.
It was introduction stage for streaming
By the timing reaching to Growth stage
it had 23 million
subscriptions and increasing.
Today it has 203.66 million paying
members and it hasn’t reached it’s
maturity stage as subscribers keep on
increasing continously.

10. While Dealing with DVDs and rentals Netflix realised it’s
maturity stage and perfectly advanced its product with good
product managing.
Which lead to making Netflix biggest streaming and
Entertainment Platform with largest paying members that is
200+ millions.