the old launch codes won't work

March 15, 2010. Call in at 12:55 p.m. Eastern time

The Old Launch Codes Won’t WorkTom GrantSenior AnalystForrester Research

2Entire contents © 2010 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Agenda

• The traditional launch

• What changed

• The new launch


Agenda


• What changed

• The new launch


The old assumptions for launches

• New company!

• New product/service!

• Major product/service release!

• Minor product/service release!

• New partnership!

• New market!

• New marketing campaign!


Tech industry trends redefine launches

• Trends

– SaaS/cloud

– Agile

– Social media

– Shift from information technology (IT) to business technology (BT)

• Results

• Launches detached from releases

• New criteria for having launches

• Boundaries of the launch spread and blur

• Earlier involvement of key participants

• New ways to assess outcomes


Traditional problems with launches

App. 75% of launches

fail to get desired results

Something’s lost in

transmission, or the wrong message is being sent

Vendors use launches to communicate value to customers


Newer problems with launches

Some industry trends have increased the

amount of noise in the channel

It’s harder to get the attention of the intended audience

The number and diversity of

relevant audiences has increased

The answer is not to yell more

loudly


Who owns the launch?

?

Corporatemarketing Product

marketing

Productmgt

Development

Partners

BusinessDevelopment

Fieldmarketing

Sales

Consulting

Support

Executivemgt

Training


What do we hope to achieve?

• Deliver a quality product

• Generate leads

• Retain customers

• Increase awareness

• Increase sales generally

• Differentiate from competition

• Increase sales within existing accounts

• Establish a foothold in a new market

• Position the company

• Deflect a competitor

• Maintain company morale

• Satisfy someone’s internal agenda


What’s our preferred way of marketing?

Source: February 2010, “Organizing For B2B Tech Community Marketing”


What didn’t work as planned?

• The product?

• The messaging?

• The event?

• The people in charge?

• The rest of the company?

• The follow-up?

• The assessment?


Agenda


• What changed

• The new launch


Launches and SaaS: EFFECTS

• Greater frequency

• Greater pressure on company-wide readiness

• More immediate success or failure at demonstrating value

• Easier reach into new markets

• New options for campaign management

• Easier marketing assessment


Launches and SaaS: BEST PRACTICES

Be certain that you’re communicating value

on launch day

Use the impact on the customer as

leverage for getting the company ready

Take advantage of the SaaS opportunity to assess products, marketing, and sales

in new ways


Launches and Agile: ALIGNMENT


Launches and Agile: EFFECTS

• Provides more opportunities for launches

• Most vendors launch after several iterations

• Re-defines concept of the product

• Re-defines customer engagement

• Disruptive to downstream groups

• Forces a new approach to the value developed and delivered


Launches and Agile: BEST PRACTICES

Perfect “just in time” launch techniques

Use short iterations to make corrections before the launch,

and assess the results afterwards

Involve key players in earlier iterations, including partners

and customers


Launches and social media: EFFECTS

• Unhappy customers become unhappy networks of customers

• Longer ramping-up to the launch

• Opportunities for earlier customer feedback

• Greater leverage for company readiness

• The conversation continues after the launch event


Launches and social media: BEST PRACTICES

Plan for a period of follow-through and assessment

Use the ongoing conversation to bring customers and partners on board before the

launch

Re-define the launch as an

ongoing discussion, not a one-shot

event


Launches and BT: EFFECTS

• Pressure to demonstrate the value of what’s being launched

• Pressure to demonstrate the ability to deliver

• New stakeholders that the launch must address

• New markets have different BT requirements


Launches and BT: BEST PRACTICES

Use channel and implementation

partners to deepen your

understanding of the customer

Make customer-facing groups’

understanding of the customer’s perspective a

precondition of the launch

Make product managers and

product marketers experts in the

customer’s adoption of technology


Agenda


• What changed

• The new launch


The purpose of the launch is changing

NEW HOTNESS:

It’s all about the customer

OLD AND BUSTED:

It’s all about the vendor

Here’s our new product, and the

price list, and the data sheet. Look at all the features. Aren’t you glad?

You’re a busy person, so I won’t waste your time. Here’s something that

should be valuable to you, and here’s how it will

help.


The new model

• Launch when you have something of value for the customer

• Launch when the customer can absorb it

• Launch when you can execute

• Launch when you can assess

• Launch when you can learn

Launch value, not products

!


Equip your champion to

make a compelling case

to other stakeholders

Launches need to reach champions

Design the launch to reach your

champion within the customer

organization


Thank you

Name

+1 650.581.3846

[email protected]

www.forrester.com

Blogs.forrester.com/tom_grant

Blogs.forrester.com/product_management

@TomGrantForr


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