THE EFFECT OF MARKETING STRATEGIES ON PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
 (A CASE STUDY OF MTN NIGERIA ILORIN)
TABLE OF CONTENT
1.1    Background of the Study
1.2    Statement of Problem
1.3    Research Questions:
1.4    Research Objectives
1.5 Research Hypotheses
1.6 Significance of the Study
1.7 Scope of the Study
1.8 Definition of Key Terms
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Preamble
2.1    Conceptual Framework
2.1.1    Concept of Product Life Cycle
2.1.2    Product Development
           2.1.3    Product life Cycle
2.1.4    Selecting a Market – Oriented strategy is target Marketing
2.1.5      Marketing strategy – Showing the 4PS of a Marketing Mix
2.1.6    Management of products over their life Cycles
2.1.7    Marketing Strategies
2.2    Theoretical Framework
2.2.1    Stages of product life Cycle (plc)
2.2.2    Variations in Product life cycle
2.2.3    Technology adaption across life Cycle
2.2.4    International Product life Cycle
2.3     Empirical Framework
2.4      Identification of knowledge gap in Literature
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0    Introduction
3.1     Research Design
3.2     Population of the Study
3.3 Sample Size and Sampling Technique
3.4   Research Instrument
3.5    Validity and Reliability of the Instrument
3.6    Method of Data Collection
3.7     Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS OF DATA AND DISCUSSION
4.0    Introduction
4.1    Data Presentation
4.2    Re - Statement of Hypotheses
4.3    Testing of Hypotheses
4.3.1    Hypotheses One
4.3.2    Hypotheses Two
4.3.3   Hypotheses Three
4.4    Discussion of Findings
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1         Summary
5.2     Conclusion
5.3    Recommendations
REFERENCES
APPENDIX I
APPENDIX II
TABLE
Table 3.1 Objectives, Hypothesis and Statistical Techniques
Table 4.1 Age of Respondents
Table 4.2 Gender of Respondents
Table 4.3 Educational Level of Respondents
Table 4.4 Marital Status of Respondents
Table 4.5 Department of Respondents
Table 4.6 Category of Staff
Table 4.7 Monthly income of Respondents
Table 4.8 Period of working in the Company
Table 4.9 Awareness of products lifecycle stage
Table 4.10 Effective marketing strategy have always have impact on product lifecycle
Table 4.11 Product lifecycle is associated with changes in the market situation, thus impacting market strategy
Table 4.12 Advertising tactics including promo and freebies is an effective marketing strategy
Table 4.13 Understanding of target audience and market behavior is a market strategy means
Table 4.14 Through effective marketing strategy, the MTN company is having good return and stronger clientele base on market investment
Table 4.15 The call of effective market strategy is for the top management of the MTN company
Table 4.16 Integrating effective competitive evaluation helps market strategy
Table 4.17 Traditional marketing channels such as advertising, direct marketing and public relations still delivers enough value to warrant the investment
Table 4.18 A major challenge posed at product introductory stage is building brand awareness, that is, advertising
Table 4.19 Increment of brand preference is challenge at the growth stage of products
Table 4.20 Developing alterative competitive strategy is a challenge at product maturity stage
Table 4.21 Looking at ways to reduce product cost, improving or even change product is a challenge at the fourth (declining) stage
Table 4.22 Challenges posed at the different stages directly affects lifecycle of products
Table 4.23 Marketing strategy plays an important role in the success of an organization
Table 4.24 What are the risk associated with marketing strategy program?
Table 4.25 What other challenges are posed to the stages of product lifecycle
Table 4.26 State other effective management strategies that MTN can use to counter challenges and improve product life cycle
Table 4.27 Model Summary
Table 4.28 ANOVA
Table 4.29 Coefficients
Table 4.30 Model Summary
Table 4.31 ANOVAa
Table 4.32 Coefficientsa
Table 4.33 Model Summary
Table 4.34 ANOVAa
Table 4.35 Coefficientsa
FIGURE
Figure 2.1     Product development and modification
Figue 2.2     Product Life cycle curve
Figure 2.3    Developing a marketing mix for Target Markets
Figure 2.4- Life cycle of a typical Product
Figure2.5     Stages of product life Cycle
Figure 2.6   Cycling Variations
Figure 2.7-   Landscape of the Technology adoption Life Cycle
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.5     Background of the Study
Man since creation has learned communication by instinct through spoken words, signs and signals. In the ancient African communities, war messages were communicated to the entire community through the use of drums and songs (perhaps from the center of the town or the chief’s palace).
However, communication nowadays do not only enhance mutual understanding and social integration of disperse communities, but also fosters harmonious relationship which contributes immensely to the overall socio-economic, political as well as cultural developments of human  society. The recognition of this dynamics in the overall development of any nation has unrestrictedly inspired man in search for more sophisticated and yet simplified means and methods of communicating.
High risks of road accidents and plane crash on a simple transaction have become avoidable.
Telecommunication industry right from the colonial period was under the civil service                 bureaucracy, for that reason, it could be  said that  the sector within that period never      experienced modern marketing management. But with the commercialization of the industry, it  has become very much necessary for the organizations to have full business re- orientation to enable them achieve the basic objectives of commercialization, i.e. service efficiency, reliability and profitability. The industry therefore needs the adoption and proper application of marketing strategy. According to Aremu (2017) marketing strategy can be defined as a consideration, appropriate and visible sets of principle through which a particular company hope to achieve its long run customer and profit objective, It is also a set of objective, policy and rules that guild overtime the organization marketing effort, level, mix, allocation partially independent and partially in response to changing environmental and competitive condition. He divides marketing strategy into two, push and pull marketing strategy. push marketing strategy is where the channel of distribution rather than the manufacturer assume a greater share of burden for promotional effort usually through the use of personal selling effort directed to customer while the pull marketing strategy is where the manufacturer rather than the channel of distribution assume a greater share of used of advertisement directed at potential ingredient.
This calls for everyone in the industry to think of customer satisfaction in his or her duties. In marketing, the customer always takes the first place, therefore the personnel of communication industries must receive the orientation to behave and act towards their customers’ satisfaction.
Staying successful in business requires constant analysis and adjustment of changes in what customers want and competitors offer. It is therefore apparent that firms will have to be market oriented, tightly focused on customer needs and desires, and highly adaptive to succeed and prosper.
Therefore as Marketing evolves from an element under the shadows of Management Science into a discipline in itself, a complete appraisal of all variables which affect consumer behaviour is highly essential. An important concept underlying most dynamic business planning models is the Product Life Cycle (PLC). Because a product’s sales position and profitability changes over time, every firm needs to revise its product strategy periodically. Using the concept of the Life Cycle, the firm recognizes distinct phases in the sales history of the product and its market and thereby develops strategies appropriate to those various stages. Product Design, Engineering, Cost and Environmental implications also play important roles in Product Life Cycle. Muller (2011) emphasized that the life cycle of a product category in the market determines many aspects of the architecting approach, which includes four (4) phases: infancy, adolescence, mature and aging.    
A discontinuity, positively or negatively, in market success is seen in the transition from one phase to the next phase. The explanation given is that the phases differ in characteristics and require different approaches. The right approach for one phase is sub optimal for the next phase. Therefore like human beings, products, generally, also have a life-cycle. From birth to death, human beings pass through various stages e.g. birth, growth, maturity, decline and death. A similar life-cycle is seen in the case of products. The product life cycle goes through multiple phases, involves many professional disciplines, and requires many skills, tools and processes.
Product life cycle (PLC) has to do with the life of a product in the market with respect to business/commercial costs and sales measures. Product Life Cycle can be measured in terms of it sales in the market place or space as the case may be, or in terms of its longevity in the product portfolio of the firm.
Thus, the effective performance of marketing activities particularly those associated with tracking, analyzing and satisfying customers needs have become even more  challenging  and  critical  for  the successful formulation and implementation of marketing strategies, especially in the telecommunications industries. It is these challenges that have prompted the choice of this research work.
 This statement basically on the case study, MTN Nigeria is part of the MTN group, Africa’s leading cellular telecommunications company.  On May 16, 2001, MTN became the first GSM network to make a call following the globally lauded Nigeria GSM auction conducted by Nigerian communication commission earlier in the year.  Therefore the company launched full commercial operations beginning with Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
 MTN paid $285m for one of the four GSM licenses in Nigeria in January 2001 to date; in excess of US $1.8 billion has been invested in building telecommunication infrastructures in Nigeria.  Since launch in August 2001 MTN has steadily deployed its services across Nigeria.  It now provide service in more than 223 cities and towns, more than 10,000 villages and communities and a growing number of high-ways across the country, spanning the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.  Many of these villages and communities are being connected to the world communication for the first time ever.
The company is digital microwave transmission backbone, the 3,400 kilometer Y’ellow was commissioned in January, 2003 and is reported to be most extensive digital microwave transmission infrastructure in all Africa.  The Y’ellow has significantly helped to enhance call quality on MTN network.
The company subsists on the core brand values of leadership, relationship, integrity, innovation and “can-do”.  It prides itself on its ability to make the impossible, possible connecting people with friends, family and opportunities.
 MTN Nigeria has been expanding its.  Network capacity to include the numbering with the prefix 0806 to 070, marketing the MTN the first GSM network in Nigeria to have adopted an additional numbering system having exhausted its initial subscriber numbering range – 0803.
In its resolve to enhance quality customer service, MTN Nigeria has also introduced self-help full-free 181 and 180 customer care line through which subscriber can resolve their frequently asked question free of charge.
MTN’s overriding mission is to be a catalyst for Nigeria economic growth and development, helping to unleash Nigeria’s strong developmental potential not only through the provision of world class communications but also through innovative and sustainable corporate social responsibility initiatives.
1.6     Statement of Problem
The major problem of product life cycle has to do with inefficiency of the executive, which make it difficult to achieve success in the various stages of the LIFE CYCLE curve.
So many products have died before they were being launched into the market because of the poor introduction of marketing strategies.  Therefore, a lot of companies are into debt to remain in operation.
Producers are no longer interested in marketing profitability or profitable sales through satisfying customer’s needs, but they are only interested on marketing high profit which consequently has lead to inflection as one of the major problems facing product survival within the business world.
Irregularity like bribery and corruption practices, blackmailing so as to gain large market share between companies and competitors, companies no longer use quality and efficient service delivery to gain large market, but instead they use obsolete equipment in providing services which result into poor service delivered at an exorbitant price all in the bide to make high profit, therefore, this project will look at the effective way of applying the marketing strategy to gain good and healthy result on the cycle of a product, and also it will highlight the impact the concept has made in telecommunication world especially in MTN service in Nigeria.
1.3 Research Questions:
The following questions will be asked
I.    What is the effectiveness of marketing strategy on various stage of product life cycle?
II.    What are the challenges pose at each stages of product life cycle?
III.    Which stages poses challenges to marketing strategy?
1.4 Research Objectives     
The objectives of the study are to:
I.    examine the effectiveness of marketing strategy on various stages of product life cycle;
II.    examine challenges at each stages of product life cycle; and
III.    identify the product life cycle challenges on marketing strategy.
1.5 Research Hypotheses
I.    Ho:    The applications of marketing strategies of MTN have no any significant effect on the various stages of their product life cycle.
H1:    The applications of marketing strategies of MTN have significant effect on the various stages of product life cycle.
II.    Ho:    The applications of marketing strategies of MTN have no any significant effect on challenges at each stages of product life cycle.
H1:    The applications of marketing strategies of MTN have significant effect on      challenges at each stages of product life cycle.
III.    Ho:    The applications of marketing strategies of MTN have no significant effect on the product life cycle challenges on marketing strategy.
H1:    The applications of marketing strategies of MTN have significant effect on the product life cycle challenges on marketing strategy.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to analysis different kinds of strategies that company    can or should observe for managing a profitable product life cycle. So, product life cycle will not be only the routine stages which companies should go through but should also take precedence of profit gaining among market competition.
Also I would like to know more about the variety of strategies in each stage as to what should be considered more in each phase to forward and how does it effect on the profit. Finally is help to know how we can advance more benefit in each stage by the considerations.
My struggle is to remind essentiality of the chosen strategies due product life cycling; some controllable strategic consideration that effect on the profit of products life cycling through each stage will be focus of the article.
This thesis will show efficient of considering strategies before entering to market and thus cause a better evaluation for firms and students to protect with better forecast which will reduce solution and research expenses and cause higher benefit at the end.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study is limited in context. As a case study research, it is limited to its objectives, which is to critically evaluate the effect of marketing strategies of product life cycle, laying particular emphasis on MTN Nigeria.
The categories, which this study encompasses, are the selected customers and marketing staff of MTN Nigeria, in Ilorin. The study covers the period of 2011 – 2015
1.8 Definition of Key Terms
Product Life Cycle:    This means product life cycle.
MTN:            This mean mobile telecommunication network.
Product:    This is anything that is viewed as capable of satisfying a need or want or set of tangible and intangible attribute including packaging, colour, price, manufacturer prestige, retailer prestige and manufacturer and retailer service which the buyer may accept as offering want, a satisfaction.
Marketing:    This is any human activities that are directed at satisfying need and want through exchange process.
Market:    This is a set of all potential buyers and seller of a product in a particular market.
Market Segmentation:    This is a process of talking the total heterogeneous market for a product and dividing it into several submarkets or segment each of which tends to be homogeneous in all significant aspect.
Marketing research:    This is a systematic gathering, recording, analyzing and interpreting facts for purpose of arriving at a market decision.
Marketing concept:    This involves concentrating of all marketing effort toward satisfying consumer at a point.
Marketing Mix:    This is the term used in describing the combination of the four input that constitute the core of the marketing unit or department.
Marketing system:    This is the product, the price structure, the promotional activity and distribution system.
Life cycle:        This is the existence stages of a particular thing.
Product line:    A group of product within a product class that is closely related either because they function in similar manner as old to the same customer group, and market through the same type of outlet or falls within a given price range.
New product:    Any product which is perceived to be completely new findings, modified product and old product in new market.
Market environment:    It consists of all factors and forces that influence the marketing function of an organization.  It includes micro or controllable environment (market mix) and macro or uncontrollable environment (external variable)
Obsolete:        Out of fashion.
LIFE CYCLE:        Life cycle.