New product launches are part art, part science — and you can royally miss the mark if you don’t know what you’re doing. Step one? Keep your mouth shut. Make like you’re part of the Game of Thrones cast and zip it. Follow the silent treatment with a strategy built from the endpoint backward and utilize your skills to tease your target audience and spark excitement. Then, when the buzz begins to fizzle, leverage the lingering ripples of conversation to fuel your follow-up.
It all sounds shockingly simple, but underestimating the monumental task of not only crafting a new product launch strategy but executing it properly would be a tremendous mistake.
There’s a widely tossed around but unattributable rumor that some 80% of product launches fail. According to the Journal of Product Innovation & Management, the real number is likely closer to 40% once you discount products that never make it past the idea stage, but 40% is still a daunting figure.
I recently participated in a podcast with Alicia Williams, co-founder and CEO of a marketing company. We discussed some actionable deliverables and industry best practices to execute a stealth product launch marketing strategy, and determined the following as top takeaways.
