The Death of the Life Cycle

Pew Research states that nearly two thirds of North Americans own a smartphone. To be exact, 66% of of us own these devices that provide us with a gateway to the world. However, while the growth of technology in our lives is significant, the life cycle of these devices underscores a more important trend to marketers.

According to Recon Analytics, we change our mobile phones every 21.7 months. And while mobile technology technology may be advancing and changing at a more rapid pace than other industries, it is clear that product life cycles are vanishing. We see this occurring in all kinds of businesses where the relentless pace of new model launches is now exceeding the ability to communicate those rollouts. From printing to pharmaceutical, it simply takes less time to create stuff now. So the opportunity that marketers have is huge.

In progressive organizations, marketing teams will not be handed a product and asked to create a campaign. They will be intimately involved in the development of the product and the corresponding community building that will take place at the same time. In addition, the most successful product developers and marketers will possess a superior understanding of their audience’s needs, and commit to focusing only on those needs, when developing new products and services.

Unfortunately, there are countless brands that will become irrelevant over time because they will fail to understand the ever-changing landscape of the consumer or B2B buyer. For example, some marketers may fail to recognize that the millennial generation’s way of interacting with brands is not just a fad. The reality is that their brand preferences will become mainstream over time.

The way a product or service is marketed will become as valuable as the product or service itself. Marketers will need to create a brand story that is worth following and add chapters to their story as it evolves over time. As product life cycles die, telling stories about your respective communities will lead to long-term health.