Trident University International Airbus A380 Products Lifecycle Marketing Paper PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING Assignment Overview The Airbus A380 was Europe’s a

Trident University International Airbus A380 Products Lifecycle Marketing Paper PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
Assignment Overview

The Airbus A380 was Europe’s answer to the familiar Boeing 747 Jumbo jet that is still in production. Recently, Airbus announced that manufacturer of the A380 would be discontinued. The right plane at the wrong time?

Case Assignment

Products, like people, have life cycles. The product life cycle is broken into four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. This concept is used by management and by marketing professionals as a factor in deciding when it is appropriate to increase advertising, reduce prices, expand to new markets, or redesign packaging. (By the way, just redesigning its packaging makes something a new product!)

A product always starts with an idea, and within the confines of modern business, and it will not go any further until research and development (R&D) is completed and the idea is found to be feasible and potentially profitable to the company. At that point, the product is manufactured, marketed, and rolled out. If it is not found to be feasible, then R&D continues or the product is scrapped for the time being. One point to note is that no matter how good a product turns out, if no one wants it, it is scrapped.

The introduction stage is where the company invests a lot of money into advertising and a marketing campaign where consumers first become aware of a product and the benefits of having or using it. Assuming the product is successful, it enters its growth phase. Demand grows, production is increased, and the availability of the product expands.

As a product matures, it enters its most profitable stage, while the costs of both manufacturing and marketing decline. (This is when a company can focus its newly available funds on another potential new product.) However, competition increases when competitors begin to copy the company’s newest product. The product may lose market share and begin its decline.

The stage of a product’s life cycle impacts the way in which it is marketed to consumers. A new product needs to be explained, while a mature product needs to be differentiated from its competitors.

You should now review the background material. Use the appropriate analytical tools in addressing the following assignment questions:

After first describing each of the four stages in a product life cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, and decline), determine where the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 jumbo jets are in their own life cycle. Explain why you selected the stages for each one.
Next, explain what a market segment and target customers are, including citations for appropriate references for the definitions. Determine what the market segment is for jumbo jets and who its target consumers are now. What consumers should Airbus target to reverse the decline?
How has the product mix for Airbus changed now that the A380 will no longer be produced?
How can Airbus adjust the marketing mix for its jets to ensure that it is competitive moving forward? In other words, what is your vision for the future of the Airbus? What does Airbus have to do to achieve that future, if it has one?

Keys to the Assignment

Your paper should be 4-5 pages long (not including title and reference pages), which means not less than 4 full pages.
Use at least 3 library resources in your research. At least two of these resources must be high-quality references from peer-reviewed academic journals.
Explain your analysis using terminology and concepts introduced in this module. Terminology definitions must have citations from peer-reviewed academic journals.
Cite all sources and provide a reference list using APA format.