PPT

Canon’s Product Life Cycle

Yuanqing Wang

Westcliff University

BUS510 Marketing Management

Professor: Geraldine Goodstone

June 13, 2021

Canon’s Product Life Cycle

Canon is one of the most prestigious brands in the camera industry. It is believed to be one of the best digital cameras worldwide (Samanta,2009). Its high quality is associated with its speed, dust remover system, low battery consumption, image quality, and through-the-lens (TTL) viewing. It has a sensor technology that provides original equipment manufacturers (OEM) capabilities and offers user-friendly imaging factors (Onda &Shelton, 2021). This paper will focus on the product life cycle of canon camera and the various marketing objectives in each stage. Also, it will focus on how to develop a marketing strategy at each stage using the marketing mix.

A product life cycle (PLC) refers to the marketing concept where an organization assesses a product in terms of the revenues made from its sales right from the time it is introduced into the market until it gains popularity (Jeong, 2010). Introduction, growth, maturity, and decline are the four major stages of the product life cycle. This program is helpful to many organizations regarding decision-making on issues such as business expansion, pricing strategy, product promotion, and cost reduction. The description of the product life cycle of the canon camera is as follows:

Introduction stage

This is the first stage of PLC, where an organization is expected to invest heavily in making its product known to the public. This involves integrating marketing campaigns and advertisement programs to reach out to the public (Jeong, 2010). Therefore, the initial stage in marketing can camera should be the introduction stage. The main marketing objective in this stage is to create awareness to the consumers about the new product and the benefits accrued from this particular product.

When introducing canon to the market for the first time, the sales were generally low because of minimal demand. Therefore, it was important to integrate the marketing mix concept to help generate the most effective marketing strategy. According to the marketing mix, four concepts are integrated: place, price, promotion, and product (Išoraitė,2016). To stimulate demand for canon, the organization had to avail quality products at affordable prices. Also, it had to distribute them to its branches globally for ease of access by its widely dispersed consumers. Canon organization had to promote its brand through a series of marketing campaigns, social media advertisements, and discounts and coupons (Walker, 2010). The competition was not so trivial by the time; canon was being introduced because there were few camera brands.

Growth stage

This stage comes immediately after a new product has been successfully introduced into the market. Once the launch of the canon camera proved successful, the organization had to work on ways to maximize its sales. Here, the product is said to be taking off. The main marketing strategy in this stage is to increase customers’ demands for the product. Canon firm had to increase its production rate and expand its activities to accommodate their clients’ demands. They had to increase the number of cameras produced slightly higher than in the days of its introduction.

Furthermore, they also had to modify their product according to the feedbacks made by the consumers. It is majorly done to achieve maximum customer satisfaction. Feedbacks were essential in helping them to customize canon according to the preferences and needs of the customers. It was also much easier to attract more customers because of the affordable prices they were offering. It was also an advantage to have their product available in most retails around the world. Canon organization promoted its brands majorly through the social media platform after it was introduced to the market. The use of social media advertisement is instrumental because it attracts a vast range of consumers. However, the competition was getting rampant at this stage because new camera firms were cropping up.

Maturity Stage

This is the third stage of PLC, where a product has stabilized in the industry, thus more profits for the organization. Here, the product has taken off, and there is a need to maintain the demand. The main aim during the stage is to promote innovativeness to avoid early entry into the decline stage. During this stage, canon managed to achieve an extensive market share due to widespread awareness about the product. At this point, the cost of production is reduced due to economies of scale.

To maintain the marketing strategy, canon invested in advanced technology to maximize innovation and creativity. This was done to improve the original canon model to resell the new version of the camera. In this stage, competition is very intense; therefore, canon had to reduce its prices to achieve a competitive advantage (Tatsuno, 2006). There was also a need to execute more distribution channels to reach out to the consumers. Also, they had to make efforts to differentiate the canon model to entice new employees into buying it. With the intense competition rate, Canon Company had to direct its effort towards the new target audience.

Decline Stage

During this stage, there is decreased customer demand, reduced profits, and low sales rate. However, the competition rate remains high since many firms within the same industry are already established. The main marketing strategy in this stage is to develop new ways to remain relevant in the industry. Canon should strategize to develop more innovative ways to maintain its relevance within the camera industry at the decline stage. There is a need to invest in promotional activities to woe the target audience in purchasing the product.

In conclusion, canon is a highly reputable brand that has attracted numerous customers worldwide. This is because it offers high-quality pixel sixes and counts useful in machinery and photography visions, scientific applications, and medical use. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain its quality to avoid harming its reputation.

References

Išoraitė, M. (2016). Marketing mix theoretical aspects.  International Journal of Research-Granthaalayah,  4(6), 25-37.

Jeong, J. (2010). Stages of the product life cycle.  Wiley International Encyclopedia of Marketing.

Onda, Y., & Shelton, D. (2021, March). Canon USA, Inc.: Canon LI8020SA 250M Pixel CMOS Sensor. In SPIE Exhibition Product Demonstrations (Vol. 11716, p. 117160C). International Society for Optics and Photonics

Samanta, A. (2009). Brand of Canon India Limited.

Tatsuno, K. (2006).  Current trends in digital cameras and camera-phones. NISTEP Science & Technology Foresight Center.

Walker, O. C. (2014). Marketing strategy: a decision-focused approach/Orville C. Walker, Jr, John W. Mullins.