The Product Launch Challenge
“So, in 12 weeks’ time, we’ve got to launch our latest product.”
Yep, so that happened. 12 weeks is ample time for a product launch… when it’s just one product, and you’ve got nothing else to do. What it actually was, was a new piece of software, multiple pieces of new hardware, and a new brand to wrap them all up in, for a new vertical that we were only just scraping into.
Facing an Impossible Task
This happened when I was still in-house, and I was faced with an impossible challenge. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone. There were two other directors, our CEO, and two junior marketers to try and get this over the line. Plus, the product team, sales team, and our developers.
Expanding the Team Ready for Product Launch
However, this was still more than could be handled internally. We drafted in a design and branding agency, a web development agency, and a new PR agency (this was more coincidental than planned). And we had to work fast—really fast.
Branding and Asset Creation
First of all, we needed to get the new branding right so that it appealed to the new vertical. In this case, the vertical was large-scale virtual reality installations for free-roam gaming and experiences. Then we actually had to work on getting the assets created. The only problem with that was the hardware didn’t exist; everything was still in development.
Fortunately, we had some incredible hardware developers who were able to pull together just enough parts to create a product that looked like it might work, ready for a photo shoot. This had me in the office till 9:00 the night before the shoot, leaving home at 5:00 AM, and driving to a studio somewhere near Leeds, which looked like an abandoned warehouse.
The Photo Shoot
This is probably one of the best shoots I’ve ever been on. The studio itself was a fashion studio upstairs and kitchens downstairs, which for me was amazing. They also had the space to do the sort of shoot that we needed, and the photographer was superb. We pulled in art direction from the branding agency, and what came out the other end of this shoot was nothing short of perfect.
Within days, these images had been retouched, resized, and were ready for the web. This was delivered to our web development agency and PR agency. We then started internally on socials and also created packages ready to go out to the distributor network.
Preparing for the Big Show
Now the bit that I’ve left out, and the reason for 12 weeks, was there was a key show coming up which we hadn’t planned on exhibiting at this year. So, in the space of 12 weeks, not only did we have to launch multiple products and a new brand, but we also had to prepare for one of the biggest industry shows we had ever done.
We collaborated with content providers who had team members come in from Switzerland and France. We even managed to get a technical director from one of the largest film and animation studios in the world.
Overcoming Technical Challenges
As the trade show approached, everything was getting more nerve-wracking. Would everything go well? What could go wrong? And given that there was a new piece of software involved as well, if the software failed at the show, we were sunk. To combat that, we booked tickets for two of our developers to come over as well so they could be there on hand to fix things on the fly (they weren’t needed, and they had a lovely time).
Final Preparations for Product Launch
With just a couple of weeks before the show, everything was coming together nicely. The landing page was collecting details, press releases were ready to go out, and email campaigns were ready to go on launch day—all timed to perfection. The branding and artwork were delivered to the show people, and the distribution network was ready to go. So, what was about to go wrong?
The T-Shirt Crisis
We were well known for high-quality branded T-shirts, but our T-shirts hadn’t arrived. This meant they couldn’t be shipped to Canada, and with over 500 needed for the show, it was going to get very expensive very quickly to get them there on time. It turned out the T-shirts had not been produced yet. So, I made some phone calls.
A friend of mine owned a garment printing company (Frank Cox), who I’d used a couple of times in the past for small stuff but never T-shirts. Phone calls were made, artwork sent over, and T-shirt specifications given. The only issue was we didn’t know whether the T-shirts would reach the standards we needed. So, they sent one by same-day courier so one of the product team could try it out. The criteria had to be that it passed the nipple test (that may sound strange, but it was all about chafing when you were running).
T-shirt tested. Order placed. Only to be told we don’t have 1,000 T-shirts. We don’t even have 500. Fortunately, the supplier had a shipment coming in which had those T-shirts on it. It was going to arrive six days before we flew to the show. Three days before the show, the T-shirts arrived. We picked, packed, and put them into suitcases and hand-carried the T-shirts between us. And because of the fact it was commercial, we had paperwork ready in our bags to handle going through customs. Thanks to the wonderful support and logistics.
The Big Day
The stand was built at the show, everything was ready. Everything tested. The doors opened at 10:00 AM the next day.
Success at the Show
Fast forward to the end of the show, and we had dominated all of our competition. We had queues around the stand trying to get demonstrations. We had some of the biggest companies in the world trying out our new experience. And our competition?
Tumbleweed. Even companies who weren’t our competitors were coming over to check out what was going on because we had so many people at our stand.
I’d love to share some of the quotes with you that we got at that show. Unfortunately, because of who gave those quotes, we weren’t able to share them.
Lessons Learned
So why do we talk about this? It’s because it’s all down to planning. Anything can be done in any length of time if there is enough planning and enough resources put towards it. Since launching Bacon, we’ve done the same with clients. We’ve got them ready for shows, we’ve got them ready for product launch, even when the time has been tight.
If this is something that you need help with, we have you covered. Offload the product launch to a team who can seperate it from the day-to-day marketing. Contact us today to discuss your launch project.
