Putting out a new product can be a very difficult task. It’s a challenge that has to be approached strategically right from the beginning. There are so many tools and a lot of knowledge on how to have a successful launch; you have a library on the internet for each stage of the process. If you have done one product launch you have already have some experience as to how the process should go. Once a product does launch and time goes by, you’ll want to keep consumers interested.
No matter how you define it, success is the end all and be all in the world of business. A business that looks like it’s doing well can go on to eventually fail. A lack of innovation and becoming too complacent are among the key reasons why businesses that could have grown stagnate. You need to keep reinventing, readjusting to the world and dreaming up new things to create. This means you may have to update and improve your existing products. When you do, you’ll want to let your customers know all about it. So how do you launch an improved product?
Technically, it’s very similar to the original product launch. However, there are a few things you want to consider.
Drawing the starting line
Much like the giants of the business world such as Jaguar and Samsung, creating an improved product is a certainty. Whether it’s a car that has been around for a long time but is being upgraded or a smartphone that is going through a design overhaul, there is one thing that happens first. You need to discuss what made your product a winning formula. What was it exactly that made your product successful?
Start in the boardroom by gathering input from board members as to what they think attributed to the success of the product. They can also provide input as to what they think could be done differently. You’ll also want to get input from team members throughout the company. All will provide valuable information that will assist in the development stage. You’ll begin to have some ideas they will form the basis of your product redesign.
Start a rumor mill
Nowadays you will see businesses do things much differently than the way they did as recently as the early 2000s. Instead of keeping secrets and demanding that everyone involved in the project stay silent until everything is ready to launch, businesses want rumors to circulate. When you throw something out into the public, a teaser of what is to come, you can test the waters. Maybe the rumor could be that you’re increasing the size, increasing the technological capabilities somehow, or even just better pricing. You don’t want to confirm anything until you are sure of the upgrades or improvements you will be making. In other words, be careful not to make promises you can’t keep.
To get the word out you can contact a media publication such as Business Insider and “share a rumor” with them. You can choose to contact them directly or anonymously. The publication might then run a story about your new product and just stir things up a bit with speculation.
What your customers say on social media and in the comment sections of videos needs to be monitored. Your marketing team should monitor what customers are saying and not saying. Every now and again, throw out another rumor to see how it sits with consumers. Eventually, you’ll have enough public opinion to make an educated guess as to what kind of improvements are desired. In fact, throwing out rumors can be done all the way up until launch day. You don’t have to stop them once you have enough information to act upon. It’s just a great way to keep your name in the media and ears of the public.
Make test units
Methods of manufacturing products have improved drastically over the years. However, this doesn’t mean you should go straight into full production without doing any type of prototype testing. Once you have all the ideas in place and you begin to make the product. You need to keep in mind even though it might look exactly how you imagined, this doesn’t equate to use in the real world.
Prototypes are made not to just see what the finished product will look like, but to see how it really works and how the public will react to it. Rather than just gathering a voluntary consumer group, you can give your product out to influencers as well. It’s important that your product is given a ‘first impressions’ look by someone who has a large audience. When you have a large audience, composed of all types of people with different personalities, you will get broad opinions on the prototype.
If you have been putting rumors out there about the product, more buzz will be created once the prototypes are being tested. The prototypes should be placed in the hands of your testers and influencers a few months before the launch. Although you should be confident in certain aspects of the product, you don’t need to expose everything. The prototype should have all the features you are unsure about while keeping at a minimum the features you know will be successful.
Revamping the style
To attract customers attention, you’ll want to update the packing of your product. Customers will already know that the product is not completely new, but an improvement made on the previous series. However, you want to make the experience different from the initial product launch. You should design a brand new style for the product packaging.
If you are a business that creates retail products then consider stand up pouches as they are taller than most other packaging types. The bottom is structured so the product can remain upright on the shelves and not have to lean on other products. Retail stores regularly look a bit hectic as shoppers look for their products and mess up the shelves. Sometimes products can tip over and the stacking can look shuffled. It’s good to have packaging that’s stiff enough to stay in its original shape and maintain a rigid posture so it can catch the eye of the browsing consumers.
Products should usually stick to their color scheme but if you have a new feature that’s the driving force in your marketing campaign, figure out how to use this in the packaging design. For example, if you were selling a smartphone with an improved camera, a picture of the camera or perhaps a picture of a model using the camera could be on the package. The imagery is better than simply a bland color scheme and logo.
Holding the event
When an improved product is launched, you need to be clear on the initial messages you want to share with consumers and how you will share it. You can hold an event which allows you to do this. Keep in mind, during the event you will be on stage with a live crowd videoing and taking pictures. Rather than present to the world a long trailer or video marketing ploy, you need to talk more in depth about the product. The general public will probably already know what the previous product was capable of. They now need you to share the reasons for a similar but so-called improved version. Nobody wants to just buy the same thing twice.
Give the world your reasons for improving the product. Discuss how you went about this such and include this such as gathering feedback, and discussing ideas with the various departments. You can also speak about improving on things like material, pricing, continual updates, manufacturing practices, quality etc. Companies like Ford will make sure they have great video marketing to show at their event but ultimately, they want the engineering director to make a speech about how and why they have improved the car.
To give you an idea of what you should consider, take a look at this video clip featuring Håkan Karlsson, President Volvo Bus Corporation. In the clip, he was presenting the opening speech at the Volvo Buses “The Journey Beyond Euro 6” event in Sweden.
Be very mindful of not appearing to be doing the same old same when launching an improved product. In some ways launching an improved product is tougher than a new product because the expectations will be even higher this time around. Above all else, start things off with a debate in your boardroom of what to improve and best the way to go about doing so. In the end, you will create a great product and have many happy returning customers and new ones as well! Until next time, here’s to your success…
Carolyn R. Owens has over 25 years of proven experience and serves as a Career Strategist, Executive and Leadership Coach. She is the President of Infinity Coaching, Inc. where she can help you up-level your skills, so you can up-level your income, career, business or life. Infinity Coaching, Inc. provides coaching, organizational training, personality assessments, and a signature program, the Infinity Coaching Inner Circle. Carolyn is certified to give both The Energy Leadership Index Assessment and Myers Briggs Type Indicator Assessment. You can find out more about both assessments and other products and services at https://infinitycoaching.net.
