| Course | MKT 353 Product and Brand Management (MKT/353) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Product and life cycle analysis |
| Length | about 1,077 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MKT 353 Week 1
Lip Balm, Lotion Bars and a Product Still Being Born: The Product Life Cycle at a Portland Skin-Care Brand
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
MKT/353: Product and Brand Management
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Bramble and Bee and all sales figures are composites written for a model paper.
Bramble and Bee began in 2013 when Maya Chen started selling beeswax lip balm at a Portland Saturday market. The composite company now sells eight products through its website, 300 boutiques and natural food stores in the Pacific Northwest and a regional pharmacy chain. Revenue last year was about $5.2 million, and the company employs 34 people. Its products are not all in the same place: one has been sold for twelve years, another is growing quickly and a third has not yet launched. Treating every product the same way wastes money, because a product that needs defending and a product that needs fuel call for very different plans. This paper analyzes the company's products and places each on the product life cycle.
What a Product Is
A product is anything offered to satisfy a need or want, including physical goods, services, experiences and ideas. For Bramble and Bee, products are physical goods, but the experience of buying from a small, local company is part of what customers value.
Product Levels
For the lotion bar, the core benefit is soft, comfortable skin without the mess of liquid lotion. The actual product is a two-ounce solid bar of beeswax, shea butter and oils in a compostable tin with a recognizable bee label. The augmented product includes free shipping on online orders over $35, a recycling program for tins and an online guide to using the bars.
Product Classification
Bramble and Bee's products are consumer convenience goods, bought frequently with little comparison, but they also have some characteristics of shopping goods, since buyers often compare ingredients and prices before choosing natural skin care. Classification matters because it shapes distribution and promotion.
The Product Line
The line includes lip balm in four flavors, lotion bars in three scents, a hand salve, a foot balm, a bar soap and a baby balm. Lip balm accounts for 38% of sales, lotion bars 27%, the soap 12% and the remaining items 23%.
The Product Life Cycle
The life cycle describes a product's sales and profits over time. In introduction, sales grow slowly and profits are low or negative as customers learn about the product. In growth, sales accelerate and competitors enter. In maturity, sales level off, competition intensifies and prices fall. In decline, sales drop as needs change or better options appear.
Research on the Life Cycle
Day (1981) cautioned that the life cycle concept is useful only if managers define the product market carefully and use evidence rather than assumptions, since a category, a product form and a brand may follow different patterns. Golder and Tellis (2004) studied 30 consumer durables and found that the move from introduction to growth often comes as a sharp takeoff, and that sales in early growth can slow sharply at a turning point that managers should anticipate. Although their study focused on durables, it suggests that growth rarely continues smoothly.
How New Products Spread
Bass (1969) modeled the adoption of new durable products as driven by two groups: innovators, who buy because of outside influences such as advertising, and imitators, who buy because others already have. Early sales depend on innovators, while growth accelerates as imitators follow. For Bramble and Bee, this suggests that lotion bar growth is now driven largely by word of mouth among friends and online reviews, while the sunscreen stick will need outside influence, such as samples and retailer support, to reach its first buyers.
Lip Balm: Maturity
Lip balm sales have been roughly flat at about $2 million for four years. Competition has grown, with national brands launching natural lines and dozens of small makers at markets and online. Prices have stayed level, but promotions have increased. These are signs of maturity in both the category and the brand.
Lotion Bars: Growth
Lotion bar sales rose from $560,000 two years ago to $1.4 million last year, with growth of about 40% this year. New retailers ask to carry them, and two competitors have launched similar bars. These are signs of growth.
Sunscreen Stick: Development
A mineral sunscreen stick, requested by customers for years, is in testing. It must meet federal requirements for sunscreen, which is regulated as an over-the-counter drug, so development will take longer and cost more than past products.
Other Products
The bar soap shows slow decline as customers move to liquid soap. The salves and baby balm are small and stable.
Reading the Evidence
Stage judgments rest on several signals together. Sales growth is the most visible, but competitor entry, price pressure, the share of sales coming from repeat buyers and the cost of acquiring new customers also matter. For lip balm, repeat buyers make up about 80% of sales and new customer costs have doubled, which confirms maturity. For lotion bars, more than half of buyers are new each year and retailers are seeking the product, which confirms growth.
Strategy for Maturity
For lip balm, Bramble and Bee will defend share rather than seek rapid growth. Tactics include refreshing flavors seasonally, adding a tinted version, offering multipacks to loyal customers and holding shelf space in pharmacy stores. Costs will be managed to protect margins.
Strategy for Growth
For lotion bars, the company will invest in wider distribution, adding a national natural foods chain, new scents and stronger online advertising. Because research suggests growth can slow suddenly, the company will watch monthly sales for early signs of a slowdown.
Strategy for Introduction
For the sunscreen stick, the company will plan a careful launch with clear claims, testing and a limited first market. Introduction will require heavy promotion to build awareness and trial.
Strategy for Decline
For bar soap, the company will consider reducing scents, raising price slightly to protect margin or phasing it out if sales continue to fall.
Limits of the Model
The life cycle cannot predict exactly when stages change, and some products, such as lip balm, can remain mature for decades. Marketing decisions themselves can shape the curve. Bramble and Bee will use the model as one input alongside sales data and customer research.
Conclusion
Bramble and Bee's products sit at different life cycle stages: mature lip balm, growing lotion bars, a sunscreen stick in development and declining soap. Research on the life cycle supports careful stage analysis and monitoring for turning points. Matching strategy to stage helps the company defend, invest, launch and prune wisely.
References
Bass, F. M. (1969). A new product growth for model consumer durables. Management Science, 15(5), 215-227. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.15.5.215
Day, G. S. (1981). The product life cycle: Analysis and applications issues. Journal of Marketing, 45(4), 60-67. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298104500408
Golder, P. N., & Tellis, G. J. (2004). Growing, growing, gone: Cascades, diffusion, and turning points in the product life cycle. Marketing Science, 23(2), 207-218. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1040.0057
What the MKT 353 Week 1 instructions ask
The first MKT 353 assignment usually asks students to analyze a company's products and apply the product life cycle. Common requirements include defining a product, describing product levels and classifications, explaining the stages of the life cycle and their marketing implications, identifying where a company's products sit and recommending strategies for each. Other versions of the prompt contrast goods with services or discuss how the life cycle applies to a category versus a brand. Use sales data or market evidence to support stage judgments, apply scholarly research and cite sources in APA style. Include a table that places each product in a stage. Recognize that the life cycle is a guide, not a fixed law, and explain its limits.
How this MKT 353 Week 1 example is built
A small skin-care company in Portland sells products at very different points in their lives, and the paper uses the product life cycle to manage them. Lip balm, sold for twelve years, shows flat sales and heavy competition, signs of maturity. Lotion bars, launched three years ago, are growing about 40% a year. A mineral sunscreen stick is in development. The paper explains product levels and classifications, applies research on how the life cycle should be analyzed and on early sales turning points and recommends defending lip balm through refreshes and loyal channels, investing in lotion bar distribution and preparing a careful sunscreen introduction, while reviewing whether the slowing bar soap should stay.
MKT 353 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Strong product and life cycle papers use evidence to place each product and then recommend strategies that fit its stage. Instructors credit accurate definitions of product levels and classifications, a clear explanation of life cycle stages, stage judgments supported by sales trends and competitive conditions, practical strategies and awareness of the model's limits. Papers that distinguish a category's life cycle from a brand's show understanding. Reviewers look for scholarly sources, a realistic company example and a link between life cycle stage and later decisions about new products and brands. Attention to the cost of each strategy shows business sense. A simple chart or table of products by stage helps, as do organized headings and accurate citations throughout the paper.
MKT 353 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
Students often assign stages without evidence. Use sales growth, competition and margins to justify each placement. Another frequent gap is treating the life cycle as inevitable; marketers can extend or revive products. Students also confuse product categories with brands. Lip balm as a category may be mature even if a new brand is growing. Describe product levels for at least one product. Classify products correctly. Recommend different strategies for different stages. Mention the model's weaknesses, including how hard it is to tell when a stage has changed. Finally, connect the analysis to the company's next decisions, such as which products to invest in, which to refresh and which new products to develop.
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MKT 353 Week 1 questions, answered
What does MKT 353 Week 1 usually cover?
It usually covers products and the product life cycle: product definitions, levels and classifications, life cycle stages, where a company's products sit and strategies for each stage.
Where can I find a free MKT 353 Week 1 sample paper?
The product life cycle analysis for a Portland skin-care brand appears above in full, and our writers can draft one around the product line you are studying.
What are the stages of the product life cycle?
Introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Sales typically rise slowly at first, accelerate in growth, level off in maturity and fall in decline.
What are product levels?
The core benefit a customer buys, the actual product with its features, design and packaging and the augmented product with added services and support.
Can a product's life cycle be extended?
Yes. Companies extend life cycles by finding new uses or users, refreshing designs, entering new markets or changing marketing, though not every product can be revived.
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