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Fad Life Cycle Fads as defined by Kotler in Marketing Management 13th edition “Fads are fashions that come quickly into public view, are adopted with great zeal, peak early and decline very fast.”. (Kotler:293) There are 3 types of product life cycles Style Life Cycle, Fashion Life Cycle and Fad Life Cycle.

Fads can be harder to follow simply because they tend to be short-lived and they don’t satisfy a strong need. Heelys is a classic example of a company facing the fad life cycle. Heelys (Nasdaq: HLYS) is the company which launched sneakers with built in wheels to look more like skates. The fad was popular amongst the younger generation who were quite excited about the fact that their all time favourite sneakers could now be modified as skates. However, the fad dint last long and revenue from more than $250m in 2007 drastically fell to nearly $50m in 2008. You can see clearly see the Fad life cycle in Heelys revenue chart. The sudden growth in 2007 was followed by a drastic fall within a year.

Stage 1: Introduction + Growth-	 Product/services which is different and excites the audience to buy it. For example: Roller skates in shoes were different and the audiences were enthusiastic about trying the new innovation. The audience desire for something new. The adoption of innovation -	The audience here is the innovators who are willing to try and adopt new products/services. It introduces a new concept or a new concept is taken over the old one The product gets appreciated for by the audience and high promises for the future are made

Stage 2 : Maturity Highest sales revenue is reached during this stage This is the first time when the question regarding whether the product/service is a fad is asked. Producers are worried as they can now predict that the product was a fad and sales are going to drop down significantly.

Stage 3 : Decline Problems, pitfalls, and failures become prominent The question asked in the decline stage if the product/service is worth carrying forward

A fad is “unpredictable, short-lived and without social, economic and political significance.” A company can cash on a fad such as Bottled water, Energy drinks, Harry Potter, Beanie Babies, Furbies and Tickle Me Elmo dolls but getting it right is more a matter of luck and good timing than anything else. (Kotler : 68)