Product Life cycle

Product life cycle (PLC) is a portrayal of the life of a product in the market attempting to capture the dynamics of a brand from the perspective of business/commercial costs and sales measures. Product Lifecycle has 5 stages through which a product or its category bypass, from its development to introduction to the marketing, growth, maturity to its decline or reduction in demand in the market.

Sunsilk was launched in India in 1964 and it grew with the growth in the hair care industry, specifically the shampoo market, in India, launching a number of product variants.

Steps taken by Sunsilk at each stage

·         INTRODUCTION - The introduction stage of the product life cycle is where a new product is launched into a market.

Sunsilk was launched as a cosmetic beauty shampoo, and was positioned the same way during its initial years in India. Sunsilk began its publicity efforts in 1955 with an advertising campaign that focused on specific hair "issues".

OPPORTUNITY- In its early years in India as well, Sunsilk focused much of its marketing attention to position the product as a beauty shampoo.

·         GROWTH - In the growth stage of the product life cycle, the market has accepted the product and sales begin to increase.

In the early 1970s, Sunsilk was advertised with the punch line “All you need is Sunsilk”. In its growth stage, the communication of Sunsilk was focused on different product variants and promoting the use of Sunsilk conditioners.

Within ten years of its launch in India, Sunsilk introduced a tonic shampoo for dandruff, which was the first anti-dandruff shampoo in India. In the subsequent years, it launched many shampoo variants such as Sunsilk Silky and Straight Shampoo, Sunsilk Care & Repair Shampoo, Sunsilk Hydra, Sunsilk for Hair Damaged by Daily Wear and Tear. Sunsilk also came out with its range of hair conditioners such as Sunsilk Daily Repair Conditioner and Sunsilk Soothing Conditioner.

·        MATURITY- In the maturity stage of the product life cycle, sales will reach their peak.

Sunsilk attained maturity as a global brand, with its products being sold in 69 countries. To prolong the set in of the decline stage, Sunsilk went for Brand rejuvenation in 2003 and came out with “SUNSILK NATURALS”.

From 2009, Sunsilk has started working with a number of professional hair experts to develop new and improved products. Each hair issue variant has been linked to an expert with the relevant specialist hair knowledge. For example, Dr Francesca Fusco, a New York dermatologist, co-created a “hairfall” variant for the brand. Sunsilk created a new look with new variants, new packaging, new advertisement and a new tagline “Life can’t wait”.
Sunsilk has managed to stand apart from its rivals. Sunsilk understands that different girls have different needs and hence has created 7 products that cater to a variety of them.

On June 17, 2006, Unilever launched Sunsilkgangofgirls.com, India's first "online all-girl community" which quickly caught the attention of the target group as it was promoted through a 360-degree media communication blitz. The site was branded space to promote Sunsilk, while at the same time it provided a social networking platform for girls. The site offers its users access to a variety of local and global experts to address various hair care needs through its content, blogs and live chat room.

COMPETITION & CHALLENGES- Sunsilk faces tough competition from the ‘sachet’ market which accounts for 70 percent of the market. Also Sunsilk still neglects the rural market which is the major chunk of the shampoo industry in the present day scenario. Further, the brand is restricting its target to 20 something women only and in hence neglecting the middle aged customers. They have also lost a huge segment of male users by naming them ‘Desperate Guys’.

·        DECLINE- In the decline stage of the product life cycle, sales will begin to decline as the product reaches its saturation point. Most products are phased out of the market at this point due to the decrease in sales and because of competitive pressure. The market will see the product as old and no longer in demand.

SUNSILK is in its maturity stage, as it already made its impact on the market and is still far away from the decline stage.

CONCLUSION

In the early years, Sunsilk focused much of its marketing attention on gaining international presence. A new campaign was launched to recruit younger users. The new products focused on hair color, texture, feeling, dryness, etc. The updated Sunsilk campaign, "Get Hairapy", followed the same strategy, marking a bold move towards users in their 20s and upwards said to be in their "quarter-life crisis". Around 20% of the brand’s current users are new users after repositioning while 40% are brand loyal. The brand is also approaching the rural areas with “Sunsilk Sahelian”.