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Books, Articles and Consulting Services by Catherine Kitcho, The Launch Doctor |
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Too Many Choices, Too Little Time
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TOO MANY CHOICES, TOO LITTLE TIME for the Northern California Business Marketing Association July 28, 1999 The pace of technology development and today's economy have created an environment where there are more ways than ever to market products. That's the good news; it's also the bad news. With companies being in the mode of constant product launches and the launch cycle itself becoming shorter, it's becoming more difficult to get all of the marketing materials completed before the launch date. Let me begin with a review of the New Product Cycle, and a definition of what I mean by product launch. The idea generation phase is the first part of the new product cycle. Someone has an idea for a new product or service. The next phase is the idea analysis and validation phase; when the idea is examined in terms of its marketability and technical feasibility. Some people refer to this early phase as the "launch" - before the development begins. Indeed, some marketing needs to be done during the early phases, in terms of identifying the customer, and doing market research to assess market trends and size. Competitive analysis is done as well. But I believe that the true product launch occurs after the product emerges from the development phase, after the beta testing is done. This is the time of greatest pressure to get to market and finally realize that return on investment. Everyone is in a hurry. The launch phase is also the shortest phase of the new product cycle: 3 to 6 months in most companies and sometimes shorter. It is total chaos and the time of greatest challenge. And this is the phase I decided to focus on in my consulting business. When I decided to write High Tech Product Launch, I wrote a first draft that addressed everything that needed to be done during launch. When I had my husband edit it, he recommended that I rewrite it in the order that the steps are done. I told him that everything is going on at once during a launch. He persisted, I took another look, and finally I came up a sequence of tasks that do indeed follow some type of order. That order is reflected in the chapters of the book. There are three parts to the launch phase. The first is the Product and Market Assessment, when all the data is gathered and analyzed. All the usual tasks are included: customer description, market size, competitive analysis, and identification of distribution channels. However, I included two other chapters that most companies don't think of: the Product Description, and the Strategic Objectives. The product description task forces you to objectively list all of the features and functions and everything that is known about the product when it comes out of product development and beta test. This gives you key content that you will need when you develop marketing materials later. A clear understanding of the strategic objectives and how they relate to the product you're launching is absolutely essential during the launch. All of your messaging must tie back to the strategic business objective for the product. The second part of the launch phase is the Marketing Strategy Development. Your positioning statements are developed, along with the corresponding messages that you will use during the marketing campaign. When the messages are complete, it's time to determine which venues and vehicles you will use to convey the messages; i.e., the marketing programs. These programs are divided into two types; those that are external and are directed toward the customer, and those that are internal and include the programs that reach the sales force, employees and channel partners. The positioning, messaging and marketing programs are all documented in the marketing plan. The last part of the launch phase is the Launch Planning and Implementation. This is the "project management" phase when the marketing plan is implemented. My talk today will touch on material from several chapters in the book: Strategic Objectives, External Marketing Programs, Public Relations and Advertising, Internal Marketing Programs, and the Launch Plan. External marketing programs include traditional print collateral, a new category called electronic collateral, and events, along with miscellaneous programs. Here are some of the possibilities in these categories: PRINT COLLATERAL
ELECTRONIC COLLATERAL
EVENTS
MISCELLANEOUS
This is a very long list. Most of the launches that I have worked on have included ALL of the things on this list, and more. That's a lot to do in a very short time. In addition, there are the internal marketing programs that also need to be done during launch. Internal programs usually include some level of company-confidential content and some information about the overall strategy. Examples of internal marketing programs include:
All of these internal programs need to be done during the launch phase also, resulting in an even longer list of things to do. Internal and external programs need to be carefully planned relative to launch date. Internal programs need to be in place 4 to 6 weeks before launch date. This is especially true for sales training; sales people MUST have all the information about new products before it's announced to the external world. You don't want to put your sales people in the position of having to hear about new products from their own customer when they are in a selling situation! Press tours need to be done 2 to 4 weeks before launch date. This is driven by trade press deadlines and the desire for columnists and editors to write the news before you announce it to the outside world. All the other external programs are usually clustered around the launch date and 4 to 6 weeks after. The dilemma? There are too many choices, too many programs…and too little time. This is true for every launch. You need to meet your marketing objectives, get all the work done, satisfy all the constituencies, meet the schedule, and maintain your sanity. So what do you do now? There are four things you need to do: ORGANIZE PRIORITIZE LEVERAGE THE WEB AND INTRANET CREATE THE PLAN Start by creating that long list of programs. Organize them by external or internal, then group them in terms of need date, using the timing constraints outlined above. The next step - prioritization - is key to your effort. The best way to prioritize is to apply these three questions to each program (deliverable) on your list:
The first question is the most important. Highlight those items on your list that are directly related to your high-level strategy for the product you're launching. Are you entering a new market? Are you in growth phase? Do you need to improve your customer satisfaction? Which programs on the list will support the goal? The next pass is to identify the programs that represent the best opportunities to reach your target customer. Do they read the trade press? Will they only use data sheets, or do they prefer the web? Do they pay attention to ads or ignore them? This requires a thorough understanding of your customer, which is one of the early tasks that needs to be completed in the data gathering phase of the launch. The last pass through the list involves identifying those items that are "always done", just because. These are the "check the box" items. I suggest you challenge these items. If they are not going to support your strategy, and they are not necessarily the best way to reach your customer, then perhaps they don't need to be done. It will free up scarce marketing dollars for your truly strategic programs. Once you have completed the prioritization, take a look at the list to find out ways that you can leverage the web or intranet to save resources. Corporate websites have evolved to the point where there are unofficial standards for what people expect to find there. Today, the corporate website is expected to be your company's public relations center as well as a product and service information center. In addition, there may be e-commerce considerations if you sell products and services directly through your website. Often, there are links to your channel partners' or strategic partners' websites as well. When a launch is going on, the website will have to be updated in several areas to accommodate the new marketing information. The good news is that it's very fast and inexpensive to do this, compared to the cost of developing everything in print form. You could decide to only do web versions of certain types of collateral, such as data sheets, brochures, or white papers. The corporate intranet can be used as the primary delivery vehicle for the internal marketing programs. It's possible to even conduct sales training using a webcast (teleconferencing plus presentation slides on the intranet). A separate launch area can be set up in order to post draft versions of marketing materials for review, as well as the marketing plan. The intranet can be used to communicate information to all employees, and even your channel partners (with a special password-controlled area). To illustrate this process, I will go through a hypothetical example: PRODUCT: Wireless device for physicians to transmit prescriptions directly to pharmacies. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Enter a new vertical market (physicians), by developing awareness and effecting sales in the new market. CUSTOMER: Physicians. In this particular case, the hypothetical company already sells the device to utility companies to transmit meter readings, and to police departments for transmittal of crime scene data. You have researched the need, and worked out an arrangement for pharmacies to be able to receive the incoming data into their online systems. Now you need to sell the device to physicians. Your company is an unknown player in the medical market, and your challenge will be to make the customers aware of you as a company, as well as your product. The first step in the process is to list all the deliverables, sort by external or internal, and then group them by need date (pre-launch, launch, etc.). The following list of programs has been compiled by the company, with the key announcement event being a medical trade show (AMA convention). There are other things on the list that are new, along with items that the company always does, irrespective of target market. EXTERNAL PROGRAMS: Pre-Launch:
INTERNAL PROGRAMS: Pre-Launch:
The first pass is to identify the most strategic programs, and highlight those in some way. We will put an "S**" next to those items. The second pass is to identify the most effective vehicle for reaching the customer. We will put a "V*" next to those items. The remaining items are probably "Check the Box" items; we will put a "cb" next to those, and while we're at it, we will identify those we might be able to eliminate. Here is the list of programs, prioritized: EXTERNAL PROGRAMS: Pre-Launch:
Launch:
Post-launch:
INTERNAL PROGRAMS: Pre-Launch:
Launch:
To summarize the thinking of this prioritization, the primary strategy is to enter a new market where you're not a player. Presence at the AMA convention is the biggest strategic item in terms of exposure to the new market. Others are the ad in medical trade journals, and a pre-convention direct mail campaign to make your customers aware of your company and product. You will be sending the brochure with the direct mail, so that program is also strategic. For the internal programs, your sales people need detailed information on how to sell to physicians, since this market is entirely new to them. That's a strategic program, along with the marketing and competitive report. Your new channel is very strategic as well, and that new brochure will be essential for them to create awareness and to sell your new product. The items with a "V*" identify those programs that are the best way to get the message to physicians. A demo of the product will be necessary, along with product packaging that has information showing applications for physicians. Also, physicians will look at the brochures as well, so brochures are a good vehicle for that market. In our last pass, we marked the things that also need to be done to support the other programs, with one exception: the white paper. In this case, it was determined that the ad in the medical journal would be better, since a physician is unlikely to read a separate document. The white paper will be eliminated. All the other "cb" items should still be done, however, don't forget to add them to the schedule! Now that everything is prioritized, you can decide how to leverage the web and intranet. Here is a good list for this hypothetical case: WEB:
INTRANET:
In this case, the web can help save some time during pre-launch, in order to get everything done. You can postpone the printing of the data sheet until after the launch. Now you have a prioritized list, in the relative order in which the tasks need to be done. The next step is to identify who will be able to do the tasks, then assign resources. When you identify gaps or overlapping tasks, start looking for additional resources to assign so that you can meet your deadlines. The sooner you identify gaps, the better. Now put together a detailed schedule, implement the plan, meet your budget and your schedule. After launch, you will win high praise from the CEO, get more stock options, and of course, CELEBRATE! |
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