Product Life Cycle (PLC)

A new product progresses through a sequence of stages which is called PLC. These changes have a great impact on marketing strategy. It has four stages.

Introduction:
In this stage, a firm developes a market for the product and its purchase.

Growth:
In this stage, the product increases its market share.

Maturity:
In this stage, sales growth slows down.

Decline:
In this stage, the product sales decline.

PLC Of McDonald’s
McDonald is one of the best corporations in Fast food industry. The requirements of customers change over time and thus the product offering has to be changed accordingly. To counter these changes McDonald has continuously introduced new products and has phased out the old ones which were at the decline stage of their PLC. The French Fries have been an important part of the McDonald menu worldwide. But now it was in the stage of decline and was actually generating no proper return. In an attempt to revitalize, a new variant was introduced in Europe namely Shake Shake Fries. This is being served with spice mix which has resulted in increase in the sales of French fries and has elevated it from the decline stage. This is used to delay the decline of an established product which has the potential of generating further revenue.

Reference:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11520753/Marketing-Strategies-of-McDonalds