How We Launch Products (With Client Examples)

Over the years we’ve launched more than 100 new products and services for our clients.

Everything from new paint brands, doors and windows, foods, soft drinks, toys, games and footwear through to insurance products, software, training courses, boiler parts, water treatment systems, wind turbine technologies and just about everything in between.

Just as the variety of products we’ve launched is huge, so is the way we’ve launched them. That’s because every product deserves a launch tailored to its particular needs and situation. With every launch we’ll consider:

• The target audience
• How unique the product really is
• Its key USPs, personality and message
• The reputation of the company behind it
• The timing
• What else is the company doing to support the launch
• Budget

For every PR campaign, including product launches, the audience has to be front and centre.

We need to know who they are – their profile, traits, attitudes, needs and concerns. How they graze for information. How they search and buy, who influences them and who else affects their decision-making. The answers matter. They influence the tactics we’re going to use, any media and social media channels we’ll need and how and when we’ll use them.

Our audience insights will also tell us whether influencers need to be part of the launch and whether we need to get other people such as intermediaries, distributors or retailers excited about the product too.

Our audience analysis will identify any barriers to be overcome, whether we need to educate people about the product or simply excite them. And it will help us develop the killer messaging that’s going to deliver market cut-through and get people buying. For more info on how we do this, check out our piece on conducting an audience analysis.

With any launch we have to consider how genuinely ‘new’ the product really is. If it’s completely ground-breaking and will transform things for the customer, it will be much easier to generate interest and noise.

But all too often the product we’re launching is a bit ‘me too.’ It may well have some original features and important benefits, but it is not transformational. In that case, all is not lost. But the launch activity will have to work that bit harder to attract the audience’s attention. Indeed if a product is really ‘me too’ the launch sometimes has to ‘create the story.’

The way a product is launched is massively influenced by its USPs, its brand personality and the key messages. If influencers or celebrity partners are needed for the launch, they will have to ‘fit’ with all of this.

If the product is being launched at an event, the USPs, personality and key messages may be reflected in the venue chosen. They will certainly impact on any creative ideas we recommend for the product launch.

It is perfectly possible for us to launch a product from a complete unknown; we’ve done it countless times. Indeed, if a product is going to really transform things, people will not be at all surprised it’s coming from a brand new player in the market.

But we still need to factor this knowledge into our thinking. That’s because established players will have built up a certain amount of trust and recognition – and possibly media relationships and market support. Their social channels and website may already have good traction. Whereas we will be almost starting from scratch with a relative unknown. The PR will need to work doubly hard. It’s all do-able but needs thinking about.

Ideally we’ll have plenty of time to prepare for the launch. For B2B products 3 months minimum is ideal – and for consumer brands, if long lead time print media are important, we may need 6 months or more. With new toys, games or gifts being launched for Christmas, we need to be speaking to journalists from July onwards and preparing before that!

But we know this isn’t always possible, especially when new products are being readied for market. Things can slip, and timetables shrink.

We can work with that, but time is an important consideration. The amount of time we have before things ‘go live’ will massively impact on the tactics we can and can’t deploy.

We need to know the other activity a company is planning around the launch. What resources do they have for us to work with? Are there themes or ideas they have already had, which we need to run with, or do we have a blank canvas?

Are they advertising around the launch – and where? Will there be samples we can send out?

We also want to understand where they want us to fit in with their team and how we can best support them, so they get the best ‘bang for their marketing buck.’

We can do it all – or just the bit your team can’t do.

We can produce the most exciting and creative launch plan in the world, but if it’s beyond the client’s budget it’s just a waste everyone’s time – yours and ours. So we need you to be candid with us about how much you plan to spend on PR. If you’re not sure, we’re happy to advise.

With seven variables like this, it’s easy to see how every product launched by us ends up with a unique, tailored launch plan. So let’s look at a few examples to show you how this all works in practice.

Launching a product – Galt Toys’ Dazzling Dancers

Top toy brand, Galt Toys wanted to launch its sequin craft kit called Dazzling Dancers to retail buyers.

All the trade buyers would be at London Toy Fair in January, so it made sense to launch the kit there.  But the products were low-tech, not particularly ground-breaking and would be up against lots of other toys and game launches at the show. In other words, we couldn’t rely on the product to generate the media appeal. We needed to create a ‘hook.’

As a real showstopper, we got two Strictly Come Dancing Stars – Kristina Rihanoff and Aliona Vilani – to recreate the kit’s artwork by wearing replica sequin dresses.

Our audience research showed that buyers were particularly active on social media during Toy Fair. 48% followed the show’s # and a further 20% shared content while at the exhibition. To exploit this we created a special branded ‘selfie’ frame. Using this we encouraged people to join in and take and share their own dazzling images with the dancers – creating lasting memories and real social buzz.

As a result, the kit was one of the top 3 most talked about brands at the show securing masses of TV, national and trade media coverage including the mighty MailOnline.

Buyers from 17 of the UK’s top 20 retailers all came onto the stand and Galt secured distribution deals with the vast majority of them.

Launching a sponsorship – Sanlam’s sponsorship of Saracens

Wealth management firm, Sanlam Private Investments wanted to launch its sponsorship of Saracens rugby.  The sponsorship needed to be seen as much more than simply a logo on a shirt, but Sanlam wasn’t the lead sponsor – that was Allianz.

In short, the sponsorship wasn’t ‘news.’

Sanlam in particular wanted to reach City workers – many of whom would never make it to a Saracens match – so their chance of seeing and hearing about the sponsorship was slight. Added to all this, we had limited access to the busy players.

We thought our way around all of these barriers. Thinking smart, we knew the team’s nutritionists and coaches would be available to us and worked with them instead to create the Saracens Ultimate Fitness Guide for desk-bound busy workers.

This was packed with diet advice, recipes and exercises you can do in the office and accompanied by demonstration videos and imagery.

We launched the Guide to the media, positioning Sanlam as the place to get yourself and your finances fighting fit. Media coverage included 27 radio interviews and features plus 2,300 guide downloads followed.

Being both Sanlam and Saracens branded, the guide was a brilliant Trojan horse – an ingenious way to turn the sponsorship into news and get Sanlam’s name and offering into the hands to the target audience in a powerful, memorable way.

Launching an insurance brand – ActiveQuote

ActiveQuote is a price comparison site for medical insurance. It’s ideal for people who are new to medical insurance and who aren’t personal finance-savvy.

To launch the brand among this target group we therefore needed to secure national exposure that wasn’t confined to the personal finance pages. And given a very tight lead time we needed it fast!

We recommended a poll which quickly and quirkily measured the vulnerability of people to everyday ailments, breaks and sprains – and charted some of their less healthy habits. We turned this data into the health diary of the typical Brit. Neatly showing how ordinary people may easily need medical insurance too and that ActiveQuote understood and was there just for them.

Strong, fun photography of the founder supported the launch and reinforced that this was an exciting new market entrant – and not a stuffy financial brand.

The coverage flowed in.  In the first week we secured exposure in the Independent, Daily Mail and Daily Mirror, The Oldie plus masses of specialist medical titles.

This is just a flavour of our product launch expertise. Need to ensure your launch is a resounding success? We can do just that. Get in touch with me at louise@energypr.co.uk to find out how.