Planning a Product Launch: Your ‘How To’ Guide to Success

Credit: CeBIT Australia

You can have the best idea in the world, with the potential to become extremely successful and earn billions of pounds, but without a strong product launch, you’re not guaranteed to have any success. Approximately 75% of consumer packaged goods and retail products do not even reach a £4.5 million profit in their first year. Research shows that an average family will not stray from their favourite products by specific brands for 85% of household items, illustrating just how hard it is for new products to break the market.

There are some important do’s and don’ts that are vital when it comes to planning a product launch and we thought we would share them with you here.

1. Do Not Launch Until Completely Ready

If your product has not been refined and tested until every fault has been found, you could find yourself with a great product launch ruined by bad reviews exclaiming the flaws of your brand new product. With the presence of social media growing constantly, this piece of advice is even more important than a few years ago. People can publicly shame your name and completely ruin a product launch, not to mention that fact that your product may not function to the standard you wanted it to.

It is worth delaying your launch if you need to, making sure that both you and your product are ready to make an impression that you will be proud of. In 2007, Microsoft launched Windows Vista, and with a $500 million budget for marketing, the world was ready for a big step in technological advancement. Unfortunately, due to a launch before the product was entirely ready, Vista’s poor performance caused many customers to stop using Microsoft altogether. If this can happen to Microsoft, it definitely can happen to you.

2. Make Sure Your Product is Easily Understandable

If your product does not have a clear specification, or a marketing campaign that simply outlines its main functions and uses, it may become unclear as to exactly what your product can be used for. Be careful with your marketing, advertising, and product specifications as small things such as images, celebrities on adverts, or a confusing design, can prevent a successful product launch. You want your customers to see an advert, or hear the product name and know what it is for, otherwise people will avoid making the effort to try and figure it out.

3. Invite the Right People and Use the Right Venue

Make sure you carry out your market research in the most efficient way so you know exactly who your target audience is and who is most likely to buy your product. With the relevant companies and representatives at your product launch, you are more likely to get great reviews and an accurate idea if how successful your product will be.

Choosing the right venue is also important, as everything about your launch will represent your product. Companies such as Bruntingthorpe Events offer a variety of venue options for different atmospheres depending on individual products. Make sure you tailor your theme, venue and presentation to the product at hand. For a more extensive guide on executing the perfect product launch and the details needed to make the night truly impress, Evolve Communications have put together a whitepaper.

4. Be Prepared for Success

The most important step to creating a great product launch is preparing for the success that you will experience when the product becomes popular. Make it one of your priorities to schedule in the work and planning that it takes to market your product, as many companies fall into a trap of leaving it too late. It is easy to get so caught up in designing and developing your new product that when you begin on the marketing, it is a little too late.

Schneider Associates, Schneider and Hall, looked at 70 products that came top in the Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey from 2002-2008 and found that over a dozen of them are no longer being sold. This shows just how difficult it is to maintain the success of a product even after a prosperous product launch. Make sure that your business plan caters for the success that will lead on from the popularity of your product as you will need to prepare for sudden and fast moving growth.