Ürün yaşam eğrisinde pazarlama stratejileri ve (blue) jean sektöründe bir inceleme

Abstract

Rekabetin yoğun olduğu ortamlarda, rakipler in- rekabetin durumunu, pazardaki fırsatları- tehlikeleri ve uygun pazarlama stratejilerini belirlemek, firmanın geleceği ve pazardaki yaşam süresi bakımından oldukça önemli ve yararlıdır. Temel amacı bir firmanın pazarda kalma süresini arttırmak ve firmadaki çalışmaların, kontrollü bir şekilde, uygun pazarlama stratejileri ile başarılı olmasını sağlamak olan ürün yaşam eğrisi, her aşamada seçilecek uygun pa,zarlama stratejileri ve başarılı bir stratejik planlama ile işletmeleri geleceğe hazırlamaya ve yaşam süresi boyunca işletmelerin pazardan maksimum fayda sağlamasına yönelik bir çalışmadır. Ürün yaşam eğrisinin sağladığı pazar analizi ile, organizasyonun ve çevrenin daha iyi tanınması, daha fazla.alternatifin keşfedilmesi, tehlikelerin ve fırsatların belirlenmesi, daha doğru tahminlerde bulunulması ve en uygun pazarlama stratejilerinin belirlenmesi gibi avantajlara sahip olunacaktır. Ancak, ürün yaşam eğrisinin söz edilen bu yararları tam anlamıyla sağlaması, organizasyonların daha bilimsel bir yaklaşımla stratejik planlama doğrultusunda işletilmesine bağlıdır. Ürün yaşam eğrisinin ilk aşaması olan giriş aşamasını geçebilmek, başarılı bir şekilde uygulanacak, uygun ürün, fiyat, dağıtım ve tutundurma stratejileri ile mümkündür. Daha sonraki aşamalarda (sırası ile büyüme, olgunluk ve düşüş aşamaları) da başarılı olabilmek ve pazarnda kalma süresini uzatabilmek yine herbir aşamada başarı ile uygulanacak uygun pazarlama str ate j i 1er ine bağ 1 ıdır. ürün yaşam eğrisi il® ilgili ternül alinan bu bilgiler doğrultusunda çalışmanın araştırma kısmında ele alman Türk jeans pazarındaki jeans firmalarından tam bağımlı firmalarda konuyla ilgili çalışmaların yapıldığı fakat Türkiye'deki pazarlama bilgi sistemlerindeki eksikler ve hatalar nedeniyle ürün yaşam eğrisi çalışmalarının sistematik ve başarılı bir şekilde (Türk jeans pazarı için) gerçekleştirilemediği gözlenmiştir. Yarı bağımlı firmaların konuyu bildikleri halde uygulamadıkları, yerli firmaların ise konunun içeriğini ve işleyişini tam olarak bilmedikleri gözlenmiştir. Jeans sektöründe olduğu gibi çevredeki değişikliğin, firmalar açısından önemli sonuçlara yol açabileceği, global firmaların da varlığı ile yoğun rekabetin şekillendirdiği sektörlerde firmalar, uzun vadede kalıcılık ve rekabet üstünlüğü sağlamak, faaliyetlerinde etkinliği yakalamak açısından ürün yaşam eğrisinin sağlayacağı avantajları göz ardı etmemelidirler.

The great value of the product life cycle concept is to allow the management to know what typically happens at different stages in a product's life, and to enable it to improve its forward planning. Knowing, for instance, that sales and profitability curves characteristically follow certain patterns, management can, to a surprising extent, plot its moves in ways that result in changing the shape of the life cycle curve - e.g., well-timed and effective implementation of specific marketing actions may succeed in extending, or stretching out, a product's life, especially if they are taken soon enough in the market maturity stage. Planning in advance what steps should be taken to build sales and obtain the best profits during different product life cycle stages is important. Companies that have these plans can take aggressive actions in the competitive environments. All products, like people, have a certain length of life, during which they pass through certain stages. From the time a product idea is conceived, during its development and up to the time it is introduced to the market, a product is in various prenatal stages. The life of a typical product can be divided into four major stages : 1. Introduction 2. Growth 3. Maturity 4. Decline Introduction Stage : For many reasons such as high costs of production, distribution and promotion, profits of a new product are very low. Consumers do not know anything about the new product. So that, they move cautiously through the process of adopting a new product. XX Marketing strategies of introduction stage : (a) Product Strategy : - To consider consumer wants and needs, - To create standart price and quality image, - To give importance of physical characteristics of product (b) Price Strategy : There are two price strategies which can be prefered. 1. Market Skimming Price : A firm enters the market with high price and tries to sell its products to high social group who has purchasing ability 2. Market Penetration Pricing : Price is low to enter the market (c) Distribution strategy : Distribution is increased slowly so that selective distribution is used in introduction stage. As a way of selective distribution, push strategy is prefered. Meanwhile, the functions of physical distribution must be considered. (d) Promotion Strategy : In introduction stage, the main aim is to create demaid. So primary advertising is prefered, sales promotion is also important. Growth Stage : As a result of sales increase, new competitors enter the market. Early adopters continue to purchase the product, and large numbers of late adopters buy the product for the first time. So demand increases rapidly in the growth stage. Profits start to increase but at the beginning of the growth stage, profits might still be low because firms spend heavily on product refinements or additional promotion to attain or retain a dominant position. Marketing strategies of growth stage. (a) Product Strategy : Reforms are made on product quality and innovations are in a made on product. To answer the new demand, new models are produced. (b) Price Strategy : In the gorwth stage, the price strategy depends on the introduction stage's strategy. In general conditions image price strategy is used. Image Pricing; Price can be low or high depending on the image of the firm. (c) Distribution Strategy : There are two alternatives in growth stage for distribution strategy : 1. Intensive distribution strategy 2. Limited distribution strategy In accordance with these distribution strategies, pull strategy is prefered. In that stage, the margin of profit which is given to distribution channels, is low. (d) Promotion Strategy : New informations about brand benefits are given to consumers. And the firm tries to create consumer preference. So selective advertising is used. Advertising must be intensive. Maturity Stage : Sales' increase inevitably slows down when almost all potential customers have tried the product and use it at some regular rate. This stage often lasts langer than any of others. Demand starts to decrease. Although sales are maximum, profits begin to decrease in maturity stage. Maturity stage can be examined into three stages : a) Early Maturity b) Middle Maturity c) Late Maturity Marketing strategies of maturity stage. (a) Product Strategy: There are three strategies : 1. Quality Improvement : The aim is to increase the performance of the product. When enough buyers exist. 2. Feature Improvement : It adds new features that expand the product's usefulness, safety or convenience. 3. Style Improvement : it aims to improve the attractiveness of the product. All of these strategies are functions of Market modification strategy. (b) Price Strategy : In the growth strategy, there are three alternatives which can be prefered. 1. Market Penetration Princing: After skimming of the market, price is lowed. The aim is to have competitive ability and penetrate the market. XI 2. Promotional Pricing : This strategy is used for increasing the demand, market share and profits or for decreasing the stocks (inventories). Price can be low or high. Firms musut be careful when they determine their price and consider their competitors. 3. Elastic Pricing: Price is elastic. It can be changed acording to geographic conditions, social class and characteristics of product (Market Modification). (c) Distribution Strategy : In that stage, intensive dristribution is used. For the way of that distribution, pull strategy is prefered. But the margin of profits which is given to distribution channels, is high. (d) Promotion Strategy: 1. Sales promotion, 2. Advertising, 3. Personel selling are especially important. In this stage the aim is to create brand loyalty and to find new users. Decline Stage : As time passes, consumer needs change or other companies introduce substitutes for the product. Consumer loyalties decline and so do sales and profits. Marketing strategies of Decline Stage. (a) Product Strategy : There are two alternatives. 1. Products can be successfully revived and come back to the growth stage. 2. Or products may decline from the market slowly. (b) Price Strategy : Price must be lower then that of other stages. So espacially promotion price strategy is useful in this stage (look at Maturity Stage for promotional pricing). (c) Distribution Strategy : In decline stage, selective distribution is prefered. In decline stage, asa way of selective distrubition, elimination strategy is used. Elimination strategy : Firms eliminate the distribution channels that do not provide profits to the firm. (d) Promotion Strategy : Promotion budget is decreased, sales promotion is dominant. Advertising and personal selling are less then sales promotion. XII Some products never pass successfully through the introductory stage. Product availability to consumers may be poor because wholesalers and retailers are reluctant or slow to stock the product. Moving from small-to-large-scale production, capacity takes time and may expose design problems. So while a firm determine its marketing strategies, it must consider market conditions, competition conditions and determined its place on product life cycle. Because all strategies depend on contrallable and uncontrallable factors such as characteristics of product and consumers, market conditions, competitors, competition, goals of a firm and environmental conditions. Eight jeans firms are selected which have bigger market share than other firms Turkish jeans market. Their market share marketing strategies and sales change investigated. At the end of the study, some results have been provided and some advices are given to the Turkish jeans firms.