Best Successful Product Launch Examples
It can be tough to coordinate a successful product launch.
Examples of Successful Product Launches
Check out these three brands that managed to do it right.
Starbucks VIA Instant Coffee
Launched in February of 2009, Starbuck’s instant coffee made use of 100 percent natural roast coffee. Unlike many other instant coffee options, the VIA mix was high in quality and made without any preservatives. This launch is one of the biggest Starbucks product launches to date, and was a resounding success. What made this launch so successful? Time.
Starbucks spent nearly twenty years developing and perfecting VIA. Once they had the recipe down pat, Starbucks hit the street to orchestrate sample and feedback sessions with customers. They differentiated their instant coffee from other instant brands with a clever slogan: “not instant coffee, but coffee in an instant.” Starbucks was eventually able to launch VIA in a range of different grocery stores, including Safeway and Target. The moral of the story? If you want to successfully launch a product, then you must take your time, solicit customer feedback, and work to differentiate.
2013 Dodge Dart
A compact sedan, the Dodge Dart is both high-tech and luxurious. It boasts a range of sleek features, including specialty lighting, colored dashboard display, a rear cross-path detection system, and spot monitoring. In order to launch the vehicle, Dodge relied on focused television spots and print ads, using New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and musical artist Pitbull as spokespersons for the vehicle. All in all, the launch was a resounding success. Remember, when launching a product, a little bit of fame hanging around your brand can go a long way.
The KFC Double Down
In 2010, KFC decided that it was time to reinvent the chicken sandwich. So, what did they do? They took away the bun and replaced it with chicken, stuffing bacon and cheese between two boneless white meat chicken filets. They dubbed the new creation the “Double Down.” Sure, it might be a heart attack just waiting to happen (The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine actually requested that KFC avoid marketing the sandwich to children and requested that they keep ads for the sandwich from within 500 yards of schools) but the shock and awe tactic worked like a charm.
KFC leveraged the buzz around the Double Down to their advantage, creating compelling social media and Internet advertising campaigns. Double Down fans even created highly entertaining Twitter and Facebook pages for the “sandwich.” The bottom line was impressive to say the least, with the Double Down contributing to 5 percent of KFC’s sales. In total, the brand managed to sell roughly 10 million double downs in the first six weeks. Ultimately, when it comes to successfully launching a product, generating attention is key. Even unorthodox attention is sometimes considered good attention!
Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.
Planning Your Product Launch Event
Once you have a new product that is ready to go, you need to schedule a product launch event. But how can you maximize the power of your product launch? Be sure to keep in mind the following points.
Be cognizant of the timing
Timing is everything when it comes to scheduling a product launch event. You need to launch at a time when your target consumers are available and tuned in. For example, scheduling a product launch in Paris in July would be a recipe for disaster, as Parisians, like most Europeans, are on vacations during the month (and hence not in the city). Your target consumers, as well as major industry leaders and influencers, would likely be completely tuned out. It is important to do a bit of market research here in order to identify the specific times and locations that afford maximum leverage for a launch.
Set a goal for the event
Every successful product launch event has a clearly defined goal that goes beyond just generating exposure for the new product. Are you trying to drive up sales? Is the point to capture media attention? Is the idea to reach out to key industry leaders and influencers? Your event needs to be tailored to reflect your overarching goal. For example, if the goal of your product launch event is to garner awareness of your product by generating media attention, it would probably behoove you to have a media event launch. You might choose to have a press conference, in which you educate relevant members of the media about your product. This ensures that media players can give your product coverage, from writing reviews to filming segments for television programs.
In contrast, if you are trying to introduce the product to consumers directly, a press conference probably isn’t the way to go. In this case you might want to consider an event geared toward consumers directly. Keep in mind that this doesn’t have to be tremendously formal — it can be something as simple as setting up a booth at a county fair or prominent sporting event. It should be noted that in general, it isn’t a wise idea to hold product launch events that cater to multiple audiences. Instead, keep things specific and focus on one audience segment at a time. This will help you to not only market the product you are launching, but also the product launch event itself.
Choose the venue wisely
When it comes time to schedule your product launch event, don’t just choose any old venue. It’s all about location, location, location. All in all, you want to make sure you are reaching your target consumer. This means the venue itself should be accessible to your target consumer, and ideally, the venue should be relevant to the product you are launching. For example, if you are launching a new brand of diapers geared toward moms, it probably wouldn’t make much sense to host a black-tie event in a formal hall. You would be better off launching in a family-friendly, low-key environment.
Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.
When is the Right Time to Launch Your Product?
When it comes to launching a product, timing always matters. Poor timing can lead to a launch disaster, while the right timing can considerably boost product sales and help your product to garner the attention of consumers. But optimizing your product launch strategy can be a bit tricky. When deciding when to launch your product, be sure to take the following into consideration.
Launch at the beginning of the quarter
Launching at the beginning of the quarter provides a number of advantages, especially if your company reports quarterly. First and foremost, scheduling a launch at the beginning of a quarter allocates a time cushion for a delay. For example, if you schedule a launch date for the end of the quarter and the product development teams encounters an unanticipated technical glitch, that could easily push your launch date into next year. If you schedule to launch at the beginning of the quarter, an unanticipated dilemma or delay won’t necessarily push your launch date into the next quarter.
Be sure to take the sales cycle into consideration
Don’t just arbitrarily launch a product. Be sure to take the sales cycle into consideration, as this will affect product sales. Typically, the longer the sales cycle, the earlier in the year you will want to launch.
Don’t be afraid to pre-sell
Selling a product that isn’t shipping isn’t always a good idea. However, in some cases, it is. Pre-selling before a launch can be an effective way to boost consumer demand and build sales momentum, especially when products have a long and complex sales cycle.
Do your market research
Always take cultural factors specific to your target market into consideration when scheduling your product launch. For example, if you are launching a product in Europe it probably isn’t a good idea to launch in July or August, as most Europeans go on summer holiday during these months. Always be cognizant of any major holidays or dark periods when launching a product.
Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.
How to Launch Your New Product
Successful product launches are key to a long-term growth strategy. When it comes time to launch your new product, be sure to keep the following in mind.
New Product Launch Guidelines
Goals are the key to a successful product launch. Don’t just launch a product aimlessly. Use goals to frame the purpose of your product launch and evaluate and choose launch techniques. What are you hoping to accomplish with the launch? Is the goal to get 30,000 downloads of your app within the first 30 days? Is the goal to get your product on the shelves of 10 different stores? Guide your product launch around your ultimate goals, and make sure you have the necessary tools and resources to track your progress. These goals don’t have to be elaborate — the simpler the better. Simple goals tend to keep efforts more focused and produce better results.
Generate demand
In the pre-launch period you need to generate excitement around your product and create demand. This means getting customer support involved, developing a sales team, and channeling partners.
Keep your position and message clear
Positioning refers to the way in which you place your products in the mind of buyers. If your positioning is unclear, your buyer will be confused. Remember, a confused buyer does not buy. Effective positioning is essentially a communication process. It means clearly communicating the benefits and capabilities of your product to your target market. Messaging is the language used to convey your position. A clear message will typically consist of several, concise phrases that clearly reinforce the value and benefits of your product.
Time the launch to maximize sales
Timing is everything. Launching before your product is ready is a recipe for a disaster. But if you wait too long to launch, your customers could lose interest. Do market research to identify the specific times and locations that afford maximum leverage for a launch.
Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.
Taking the Pain Out of Product Launches
Coming up with a noteworthy idea is impressive on its own, but managing to get your product manufactured and actually launched on a market is by far a much greater feat. Typically, engineers may not always be the greatest market specialists, and to be able to get a product noticed by a potential buying public, needs teamwork outside of a pure engineering sphere. Every year thousands of new products are introduced to market but fail because they have not been marketed to the right buying group in the right way. Simply designing and manufacturing a new product is not sufficient in itself and no certainty of international sales.
Product Launch Rules
Getting your new product noticed is a tricky business, but can be made easier and a lot less stressful if you plan and follow a few simple rules.
Understanding the market
What market is your new product heading for? You must select and understand your market before you can even plan a marketing strategy, as different markets may rely on and use advertising and marketing in different ways. If your product is a new hair-styling device, you may need to consider trade shows and industry magazines, whereas if it is destined for the medical industry, then direct contact with hospitals or governing bodies may be the best method. By understanding your market, you will begin to define your marketing strategy and which channels – such as internet, catalogues, or dealerships – are best suited to your product.
Ensure that there is a market
This may sound odd, but if your new product is truly revolutionary, it may be too much for the people it is intended for. For example, the Segway from Sinclair C5 vehicles befell a similar fate for the same reason – there simply was not a market for the vehicle and so it failed badly. The little two-wheeled vehicle was supposed to be filling the market at 10,000 units a month, but five years after its launch to an eyebrow-raising public, it barely sold 24,000 units. The product itself is great, and works exactly as intended; it’s just that the public don’t see a niche for it.
Define your competition
Almost all markets have at least one competitor, and if your device is going up directly against a competitor, you will need to understand how your product will fare against them. You may be in direct completion, which is always going to be the toughest stance, or may have a new angle on an existing product. If the second case is applicable to you, you may have much more leverage, as customers won’t regard you as a simple “me too” alternative to the existing product. This will be part of your goal setting, which will be a major factor in defining how, when, and where you will launch. Your competitors are the people you are trying to dislodge and replace, so you need to understand them.
Ensure that your product is ready
Once you launch, you only want to hear good publicity and feedback to the market that your product is the one to get. That’s not going to happen if, once launched, you find that you have problems to fix or have to supply software updates. It is said that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but if your product gets a reputation for being incomplete or not up to the job that it was designed for, you run the risk of losing serious sales as a result. Always make sure that your product is tested, up to date, and capable of doing exactly what it is supposed to do. To release your product too early could have devastating consequences.
There is no point in designing your new product and then thinking about how to launch it. The two processes go hand in hand and must be considered as an extension of each other. So, before you even get scrap paper out to start making rudimentary sketches of the idea that is rattling around your mind, start thinking about your market in terms of whether you have one, and how your product is likely to be received before committing good time and money to the launch process. In this way, you will be able to define your market position and create something truly great.
Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.
Launching an Entrepreneurial Product
The process of bringing a new product to market may be difficult enough, but carrying the project through as an entrepreneur with an original idea can be much harder.
How to Launch a new product
If you run a company in the manufacturing field, making periodic updates to your current stock, or introducing a new product under your business umbrella is a fairly routine occurrence, and one that a savvy company will have built into its profile. However, attempting to do the same with a product with which you may have encountered an opening can be far more difficult of a task to achieve. This task may carry a far greater risk of failure because an entrepreneur may be acting on gut feelings to place a new product or device into a market that could be largely unknown to them.
To launch an entrepreneurial product effectively, there are a number of safeguards a professional entrepreneur can take to minimize potential risks and maximize profits.
Create a credible business plan
It is likely that your new niche market device or service is going to require some investment to get it off the ground. If, as an entrepreneur, you don’t have the necessary financial backing to fund development and launch, then you may need to seek it elsewhere. You must be able to demonstrate to investors that you have developed a coherent business plan. The plan should outline details of your product or service, your market, investment required, and expected sales. A business plan is the center of your proposal.
Know your competition
In identifying a market niche, it won’t take long to also identify the major players that are already in the field. Perform an Internet search to research the backgrounds of companies in the field and request information from relevant companies. A review of background work and a search for existing patents held by those companies will provide you with good insight into what they own and what you can exploit.
Identify your target market
Part of your business plan will identify the market into which you intend to launch. By identifying and targeting a market, you may be able to maximize revenue within the earliest possible opportunity. You may also be left with the choice to either stay in the business to capture the next tier of buyers, sell the concern at a profit, or simply close down the business and move onto the next major market opening that you have identified.
Construct a flexible marketing plan
Your product or service may be useless if nobody one knows that it exists. You must be able to announce your product to the people who are most likely to benefit from it and will be quick to purchase it. To do this, you must devise a plan to get your product in the public eye. Whether you choose traditional methods such as television and radio, national press, industry magazines, or through newer methods such as social media and Internet marketing, you must develop an effective campaign that will present your product or service to your intended audience.
Launching your product correctly is more important to your success than inventing it in the first place. If you cannot showcase your product to potential buyers, then there is little point in creating your product in the first place. By having a properly designed launch plan in place, you can make the most of your new product’s potential.
Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.
