Product Launches
How are marketers handling their product launches?
Successful and resonant product launches are the key to connecting with consumers. A product could be best in class, but if it isn't appropriately introduced to consumers in a way that is exciting and relevant, then it won't have a broad impact. With a crowded marketplace, it's more important than ever to plan product launches that are fun, inspirational, and nurture community.
According to ANA/Demand Metric, new product failures can be high "depending on which industry statistics you choose to believe" which could be "between 25 and 50 percent." That leaves a lot of room for confusion and uncertainty; that being said, brands shouldn't shy away from taking risks. Instead, brands need to become more curious about their consumers, and learn what they truly want and need.
For instance, SOUR PATCH KIDS partnered with gas station franchise Circle K to launch a new flavor line aimed at gen Z. Through in-store displays and targeted digital activations, the campaign drove a sales lift "with a 95 percent lift versus prior period and an incredible 340,000 incremental units sold as a result of the program," according to the ANA case study.
In addition, Meow Mix partnered with *NSYNC member JC Chasez to relaunch its wet food line and create buzz for the brand, leaning into 90s nostalgia. The brand "promoted the campaign across TikTok, including through a Q&A video with Chasez and a TikTok duet video where he invited his followers to sing along," as stated in the ANA event recap. This effort ultimately resulted in "295 million social impressions (and influencers made up 36 percent of total social impressions)... [and] 11 million TikTok views on #MeowMixDuet."
Researching your product's demograpic and target audience is at the heart of developing product launches that surprise and delight. Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer at The Procter & Gamble Company, poignantly addressed this challenge, stating, "You've got to gain an insight into a consumer's job to be done their problem, to solve what their habits are so they can actually transform that into a creative idea that demonstrates how the product actually works, why the brand is better for people, and do it in a very creative way."
The resources below provide examples, trends, and tools on product launches. Check out this guide on successful product marketing.
Best Practices and Trends
- Conducting Successful Product Launches. ANA/Demand Metric.
Depending on which industry statistics you choose to believe, the percentage of new products that fail is high: between 25 and 50 percent. For companies where products are their path to revenue and growth, the failure of a single product is often crippling. There are many reasons products can fail in the market, but a poor product launch is perhaps the most preventable of them all.
The product launch is a critical step in the go-to-market strategy for a product, yet it is often neglected. A well-planned launch will accelerate product revenue, establish the product in the market the way you've positioned it and provide a springboard for post-launch product marketing efforts. This guide will define a product launch, when one is needed, who should serve on the launch team, what the critical success factors are, and concludes with an action plan on how to plan and execute your own product launch.
- How to Launch a Product: Your Complete Guide. Product Marketing Alliance, December 2023.
A product launch is a process in which a new product or service is brought to market by a company. The primary purpose of a launch is to provoke a sense of anticipation and generate awareness of your product amongst your target audience. As a collaborative exercise, product launches require input from different people within an organization to ensure the process is successful. These include sales, customer success, product, and product marketing. This comprehensive guide from the PMA includes all you need to know to launch your product, including pitching, metrics, post-launch, tactics, and more. - The Anatomy of a Product Launch. ProductPlan, December 2019.
After putting so much effort into designing and building a product, it's easy to minimize how much energy is required to complete the final steps needed to bring it to the market. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. A successful product launch requires much more than simply activating the "buy" button beneath your product. Every launch needs to be a company-wide effort that involves the coordination, research, planning effort, and enthusiasm of departments across your company.
To give your product the best prospects for success, you'll want to leave as little as possible to chance. That's where a detailed product launch plan comes in handy. A plan that covers all your bases and leaves no stone unturned along with enough built-in lead time. ProductPlan created this guide and its accompanying checklist to help you think through all the challenges, processes, steps, and assets you and your team must complete before your product launches. - Product Launch Playbook. Crayon, June 2021.
Your deliverables and process will differ based on the level of your product launch, but Crayon has broken it down into four main tiers. Tier 1 is a complete product launch, Tier 2 is a new feature launch, Tier 3 is a feature launch, and Tier 4 is a simple internal launch. Use this chart to decide what you need and what you don't for each level of your product launches.
- Product Launch Marketing Brings Brands to Life. ANA, October 2019.
Long ago, before the internet was really a thing, a product launch was a relatively straightforward exercise. But what a difference time and technology can make. As marketers ponder the challenges they now face when launching a product or line extension, they must pine for those halcyon days pre-web. Just about every facet of marketing a new product or service has changed dramatically, including the nature of the consumers who purchase the products and the demands of the retailers who distribute them. So, while technology makes launching a product more complicated than ever, it also opens up new venues for marketers to connect with consumers. - The Ultimate Product Launch Playbook — Strategies Best Brands Use to Go to Market. ANA, November 2018.
Savvy marketers know building a great product is just the first step — after all, you've got to drive awareness and make people want to buy it. You don't have to be a big brand with a big budget to map out an effective strategy for day one and beyond. In this webinar, Bazaarvoice walked through the anatomy of a successful product launch. Get strategies for every stage of your launch: - Pre-launch: map out the buyer journey, position your product, and stand out from the competition.
- Launch day: how to activate your brand with word-of-mouth marketing and get customer reviews in place for day one.
- Post-launch: tips and tricks to maximize returns, mine customer reviews for insights, and fine tune product descriptions and creative assets Webinar.
Examples
- How Magnum Used a Digital Luxury Auction to Launch a New Decadent Ice Cream Flavor. ANA, May 2023.
To launch the new Double Gold Caramel Billionaire flavor, the Unilever Singapore-owned Magnum ice cream brand created "The Magnum Pleasure Auction" — a two-week luxury auction mobile game in which players could complete in-game missions, take on social challenges, engage with influencers, bid against one another in a luxury auction, and even purchase ice cream to earn Magnum Gold Coins.
- The Launch of New SOUR PATCH KIDS Flavors. ANA, May 2023.
This program fulfilled the target market's demand for new "mash-up" experiences and frozen beverages. It linked a new, limited-time-only SPK Strawberry-Watermelon Froster with the new SOUR PATCH KIDS Candy fruit flavors to increase brand and non-chocolate-candy category sales with a combination of internal PR, social, digital, and in-store efforts.
- How One B2B Brand Used a 3D Animation to Drive New Product Sales. ANA, July 2022.
Trelleborg Marine & Infrastructure, a global leader in polymer solutions, used an interactive 3D animation and a data-rich email and LinkedIn campaign to achieve impressive results in telling prospects about its new DynaMoor product.
- Reinventing an Iconic Brand for a New Era. ANA, April 2022.
Faced with a rapidly evolving business world and the realization that many of its most-devoted clients don't fully understand the scope of its capabilities and offerings, IBM needed to rethink and reinvent its brand messaging. Joe Rivas, VP of brand, product, and content marketing at IBM, shared how his brand did just that, covering how he and his team led an effort to launch a new IBM brand platform, educated the entire organization to achieve full buy-in on this new platform, and activated across numerous media to ensure engagement and success across the entire marketing funnel.
- Sargento and Mondelez International Partner to Launch Balanced Breaks’ Cheese & Crackers Product. ANA, April 2022.
Sargento partnered with Mondelēz International to create a customized track to excite millennial consumers about its new Cheese & Crackers product launch.
- Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair — New Product Launch. ANA, November 2019.
GSK's job was to promote the launch of Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair (PIER) by positioning it as a step change in oral care. Marketing and communications would contribute to that goal by helping to reach potential customers, making them aware of PIER, and encouraging them to buy it. Along this journey of awareness and consideration, business impact metrics like brand recall and product interest would serve to gauge success.
- How Chilly Cow Challenged the Health Craze with Its Ice Cream. ANA, May 2019.
Every year there are 30,000 new products that launch, and 80 percent of them fail. Chilly Cow's challenge was steep. It not only had to launch a new product, but it had to build a brand in a category where consumers were perfectly satisfied with the category leader. Although it knew its product tasted great, functional messaging alone wouldn't break through consumer preference for the competition, Halo Top, so it gave Chilly Cow a distinct role and point of view that no other brand could replicate. Research revealed that consumers adopt strange, unenjoyable behaviors in pursuit of health and neglect what they like. Chilly Cow launched its new low-calorie ice cream with a mission to convince consumers to try its product and "save" health-conscious consumers depriving themselves of delicious treats.
Tools
- Product Launch Plan Template. ANA/Demand Metric.
Use this template to develop a Product Launch Plan, which is an internal document that is shared among members of the launch team. There are 11 sections in this document: Executive Summary, Go To Market Plan, Product Release Milestones, Plans & Deliverables by Department, Launch Budget & Revenue Forecast, Pricing, International, Support Plan, Risk, Launch Status Communications and Appendices.
- Product Launch Team Charter. ANA/Demand Metric.
The Product Launch Team Charter to establish a clear project scope, decision rights, and sponsorship for a product launch. This Microsoft Word template has been pre-populated with an example of what a product launch charter might look like. Change, delete, or add to the example as required.
- Product Launch Checklist. ANA/Demand Metric.
You need to organize the activities surrounding a product launch. Without a complete checklist, it can be difficult to do so given the complexities of a launch. Stages and durations, among others, can be misinterpreted without a product launch checklist. This checklist can help you to organize and standardize your launch process.
- Go-To Market Framework. ANA/Demand Metric.
Use this modern go-to-market framework to define the activities required to successfully build market-driven products and services that customers will accept.
The Marketing Knowledge Center actively connects ANA members to the resources they need to be successful. You can visit the ANA website to engage with the MKC in three ways.
- Explore content to access best practices, case studies, and marketing tools. Our proprietary content includes Event Recaps, which share actionable insights from conference and committee presentations.
- Connectwith our ASK Research Service in real time for customized answers to your specific marketing challenges.
- Stay on top of trends with Marketing Futures Pulse issues, which explore how new technologies and innovations will affect marketers and consumers alike.
Source
"Product Launches." ANA, 2024.