Special K. Product Life Cycle
Special K added special k bars to the product range in 1999, to target the lucrative female market. The company has gradually introduced a range of flavors and varieties such as Special K bars apple & Pear, chocolate, and Red berry. The parent company for special K is Kellogg’s and it’s a worldwide company for producing cereals. In 2010 sales reached nearly $12 billion, Kellogg Company is the world’s leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, cereal bars, and fruit-flavored snacks, with leading brand such as Pop-Tarts® and Nutri-Grain®. My assessment of Kellogg’s Special K is that they are doing well at managing the product line, particularly in the area of advertisement, which has lead to the brand become a household name in the category of healthy snack bars. Despite this still improvement that could be made.
Product Life Cycle (PLC): The life expectancy of a product is thought to be finite; the product life cycle diagram is used to describe the change in sales during various stages of the product life. The first stage is Introduction where the product is launched into the market and the sales will most likely start low. The second stage is Growth this means the product is becoming successful and sales will start to grow rapidly as it becomes established. Moreover, the third stage is Maturity; this occurs when the product is at its peak and has displaced the previous market leader for example replacement of CD’s with MP3. The final stage is Decline this is when the product sales begin to fall, this is usually due to lack of successful innovation or creation of new varieties to keep consumer interest or expand the target market.
Source: Mintel
The graph of percentage market share below shows Special K bars has maintained a steady hold of the market share at 10-11 % over the past 3 years, this lack of change in sales suggests that Special K bars is in the Maturity
Product Life Cycle (PLC): The life expectancy of a product is thought to be finite; the product life cycle diagram is used to describe the change in sales during various stages of the product life. The first stage is Introduction where the product is launched into the market and the sales will most likely start low. The second stage is Growth this means the product is becoming successful and sales will start to grow rapidly as it becomes established. Moreover, the third stage is Maturity; this occurs when the product is at its peak and has displaced the previous market leader for example replacement of CD’s with MP3. The final stage is Decline this is when the product sales begin to fall, this is usually due to lack of successful innovation or creation of new varieties to keep consumer interest or expand the target market.
Source: Mintel
The graph of percentage market share below shows Special K bars has maintained a steady hold of the market share at 10-11 % over the past 3 years, this lack of change in sales suggests that Special K bars is in the Maturity
References: : Baker,M & Hart,S (2007) Product Strategy and Management. Prentice Hall: Englend Kellogg 's annual report, (2010) URL: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/K/1556851769x0x448599/a9b46c48-9b3b-41d4-9350-e902636df788/kelloggs_2010_ar.pdf [ Accessed 4 December] Kellogg convenience (2011). Grow my store: Retailing trends. URL: http://www.kelloggconvenience.com/smartSnacking_RetailingTrend [Accessed 3 December] Kellogg’s Q3 report, (2011) URL: http://investor.kelloggs.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=620572 [Accessed 4 December] Mangleburg, T. (1990), Children’s influence in purchase decisions. Advances in consumer research, volume 17. Association for Consumer Research. URL: http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/display.asp?id=7108 Mintel (2011) cereal bars market share. URL: http://0-academic.mintel.com.lispac.lsbu.ac.uk/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show&/display/id=545264/display/id=566377#hit1 [Accessed 3 December] My special K (2011) health plan. URL: http://www.myspecialk.co.uk/SplashPage.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHome.aspx%3fcid%3dppc_Google_kelloggs_diet%26gclid%3dCILC86PC_awCFdQhtAodoke8Sg [Accessed 11 December] Sarginson, R (2010) Special K sign with channel 4 to sponsor Desperate housewives. URL : http://www.sponsorship-awards.co.uk/sp_blog/news/special-k-signs-with-channel-4-to-sponsor-desperate-housewives/ [ Accessed 11 December]