Sports Product Life Cycle

Western has multiple sport programs that are compatible with this question. However I am going to discuss the swim team because of my connection I can easily see the connections with the sport product tonium. Tangibility it the first attribute to the spectrum. In regards to swimming there are multiple things that fall into this category. Their is the actually apparel on their body that is needed such as the swimsuit, the goggles, and the swim cap. Then there's the equipment that is used during practice such as the pull buoy, fins, paddles, five gallon buckets, and bungies. These are all tools that are used to enhance the training. Then there’s the travel apparel they have specific pants, jackets, shoes and bags and swimsuits that are used

for competing. This is all tangible gear that the athlete uses to improve their performance and training. These products help make the experience of a swim meet possible because of the goggles and suit and swim cap they help provide the basic need to race. This enhances the quality of observing the competition because the competitors ability will be based on their talent and work. As the viewer this level would be mainly intangible because you would simply be observing the race.

2. On campus we have a delightful musical department that put together concerts on a fairly regular basis. I have observed a handful of them and they definitely have a wide variety of talents. For the musicians they have a very tangible piece of it because they have their instruments in hand, as well as their music, stands, and even their chairs. The mixture between the person who pays money for the ticket, the experience, and the apparel at the event. This would be the medium, because they have something tangible as well as the experience. A person who pays for a trumpet lesson is a great demonstration of someone in it for the moments to be remembered. Because they are buying the lesson, however they don’t have a direct reminder of the money spent except for the experience they had. When the musical departments put on an event they are touching on the core benefits, the the actual product as well as the augmented product this is what makes it so successful.

3.

The sport product life cycle goes through four very distinctive cycles which is introduction, growth,maturity, and decline. A great example of a product that is currently in the introduction phase would be something like Boost Oxygen. It is a can of oxygen that has 95% oxygen that is supposed to improve your performance. It is a new idea/product that is just emerging into the market. Then if the product would continue to succeed it would move to the growth stage. A example of something currently in that stage would be something like a nike watch. They have heavy competition, they are used to help pace your runs, time yourself, count the calories you burn and the amount of laps you do and is water resistant. The watch has been out for a while and has made is past the first phase and if it were to continue in its strides of success the next phase would be Maturity. I think that the Gatorade product symbolizes maturity because it is something that has been out for a significant amount of time. It has been very successful over the course over its lifespan. Gatorade have evolved with the times because they created bars, and shakes, not just the sports drink. They demonstrate a sense of maturity in their product, they have been around for a while and they will continue to be around for time to come. The final stage is for the product to decline. The iPod is steadily going under with iphones on the verge of take over. Most people would not consider this directly a sport product however I believe that it is because when ever I got to the gym of the running track I always see people with their headphone on jamming to music while they work out. I think that the tunes provide a sense of motivation for all diverse athletes. The iPod is something that is definitely in the decline phase because they are no longer new and they have watches and other gadgets to replace them. So iPods are on their steady spiral to

distinction.

a- The evidence that backs up the idea of these products positions in the rollercoaster of the product life cycle. Each of these product discussed above were selected based on their position in the cycle. Ether they were doing well with lots of media and sales to back up their merchandise, they were in the middle phases or they were coming to a conclusion where their distinction is only a matter of time.
b- Different strategic moves that could be made in an effort to maintain or move the product consumption up. One of the most basic courses of actions that could be taken would be to get the product in the media, this could be through the radio, television, the internet or even the paper. People won’t spend money on the device if they lack knowledge of it’s existence. If they do know it is out there, then the adds will be friendly reminder to use their product. If the product need a new approach, providing incentives such as a raffle where each purchase made enters the consumer in to win a prize.