MARKETING PLAN: PUTTING IT TOGETHER4IntroductionSam Colt built the very first revolving chamber weapon prior to the United States CivilWar.He began the making the process that would manufacture these weapons which led to othertypes of pistols and rifles that had the Colt name.The brand of Colt quickly became known forits ingenuity, unique designs, and manufacturing capabilities.The reputation that Colt had madeit easy for customers to choose Colts when purchasing a large number of high-quality weapons.This resulted in Colts being used in every war/conflict that the United States being part of.Afterthe Vietnam conflict, Colt made a highly portable, semi-automatic, three round burst, orautomatic rifle.The rifle was also fully capable to uphold during operations in the roughestenvironments.That rifle was then modified into the M16 (which was a longer version) and thenagain to a smaller version M4.However, during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts the M4 wasmodified and then became the weapon of choice due to the close quarter battles that occurredduring these conflicts.Due to the shorter barrel and collapsible buttstock, it made the perfectweapon to quickly sweep rooms while ensuring you still had the firepower when needed.Thisperfect balance of adaptability and efficiency led to the Colt getting millions of dollars’ worth ofFederal Contracts.However, even with its success and the legacy of the brand, Colt is stillfacing financial difficulties and sales that have slowed.Product Life CycleIt is important to point out that there are four basic stages of the product lifecycle before Idiscuss the M4 lifecycle itself.You first have the product introduction, followed by growth,maturity, and decline.In most cases, there is a small change to the existing product that wouldlikely place the product in the growth or even maturity stage.Now, in this situation, the changethat I introduce to the existing M4 will be important enough that I will place it in the introduction
