Launching a New Product or Service.

Your R&D department have developed a new fandangle product (or service). It cost thousands of dollars in development time. Now the CEO wants some return on investment. It’s over to you to create some noise and get people interested in buying it. What’s the best way to go about it?

Here are a few tips on how to make a big splash with your product launch.

Media

A product launch is a perfect time to garner media attention. A new product is after all, ‘news’. You can hold an event, or reveal it at an exhibition, both of which are fantastic opportunities for a touch/feel experience, particularly if you do not sell your product through retail outlets.

Celebrity Endorsements

If you’re holding a glitzy launch event, it’s an ideal opportunity to try and get a celebrity endorsement while the cameras are flashing and the media attention is fully turned on your new product.

Promotion

Traditional methods of marketing such as advertising, bill boards, web, DM work very well for new product releases and it’s advisable to use a combination of these methods for maximum impact. You may also want to consider a social media or viral campaign to generate some attention.

New Name

You’ll probably already have a name for your product by the time you’re launching it (see my earlier blogpost: Naming your new product – top ten tips). Alternatively you may consider launching a competition to name your new product to generate some consumer involvement. This would then generate a two stage launch plan where later on you will reveal the new name.

Stock Levels

Assess the availability and distribution outlets for your new product. Try to avoid a situation where people have to wait to receive their product. It’s a poor customer experience after all the hype. Of course, you could turn over-demand to your advantage, whereby owning the product becomes a status symbol. This won’t work with every product and is usually confined to luxury goods or technical gadgetry. You know your product – judge stock levels carefully prior to launch.

Internal Communications

Make sure everyone in your organisation is pumped about your new product or service. Sales people will need to be well genned up on it as well as call centre staff and service/technical support people, in case of any issues with it.

What techniques have you tried when launching a new product or service? Was your launch a success? I’d love to hear your comments below.

Naming your New Product –Top Ten Tips

It’s a tricky process coming up with a name for a new product. Here are some things to consider that will avoid landing you in legal trouble, or worse, deter customers from buying it.

1.       Is it easily pronounceable by your target market? You might dream up an exotic sounding French-inspired name, but can it be pronounced by English speakers?

2.       If exporting the product, check the word doesn’t have a silly or offensive meaning in another language.

3.       Check trademark availability before commencing any packaging design. This could be an expensive stuff up if you’ve got to go back to the drawing board.

4.       Think about all the connotations of the new name. Think laterally across generations and cultures. What means one thing to a 20 year old may mean something else to an 80 year old.

5.       Check the name isn’t used for some other product category. You may have the rights to use it, but it will be unhelpful to your marketing efforts if people already associate the name with another product.

6.       Conduct some research among your target market. Remember I-snack 2.0? A very funky clever name but it irritated Vegemite consumers to a point where the name had to be changed after the product was launched.

7.       Does it fit well with other product names in your portfolio? If you have a naming convention in your brand guidelines, you will need to stick to this.

8.       Choose a name that will convey the quality or essence of the product.

9.       Consider the consumer. Will they be proud to say “I’ve got a XXX” without thinking “stupid name.”

10.   Check that the internet domain name is available for your chosen name. You might not be planning to use it now, but it could be important in the future.

Have you had any interesting experiences in naming a product? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to add your comments below.

Struggling to come up with a product or business name? Contact CraftWrite for help. jill@craftwrite.com.au