Chapter 10

Professor: Paul Delvy

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 1
 The Product Launch
 Launches can be worldwide or targeted at a single niche

 BDM takes full ownership for the Product Launch

 “Rollout” is the formal launch of the product

 Media usage can be key to the launch

• Trade press
• Newspapers
• Direct mail campaigns
• Seminars
• Professional awards – winning an prestigious Industry Product Award
• Trade shows
• Internet Website “Going Live”
• Magazine articles
• Vocational white papers

 Tell the New Product story

 Establish momentum

 Provide Incentives - promotions

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 2
 Product Promotion

Product promotion and customer visits

 Visit key customers at or near to product release

 Participate in the initial Sales transactions
 Package the product appropriately for different geographies
 Price products to include tariffs, shipping, taxes, etc.

Global Promotions

 Consider how messages are delivered in each geography

• Examples:
 Gerber baby food in Africa
 Chevy Nova in Spain

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 3
 Customer Visits

Role of corporate personnel

 Ensure visits occur with corporate personnel and counter parts

 Set up joint Sales calls with channel members
 A direct customer visits allows corporate personnel to hear directly

Feedback
 Joint visits with the channel partner leads them to empress you
 Joint visits enable you to assess feedback from the channel partner

Modifying the Marketing plan

 Visit a cross section of customers before modifying your plan

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 4
 Initial Sales Evaluation
 Monitor Initial Results closely
• Monitor Regions, National and International rollouts

 Monitor on a monthly basis

 Make the Strategy work – apply appropriate tactics where needed
 Recheck the Price vs. Value matrix periodically
 Poll the channel and customers to ensure the message is getting out
 Find obstacles and overcome them quickly
 Use the energy of the Product Launch to build enthusiasm
All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 5
 Early modifications can lead to success
 The least desirable thing to be done now is the change the product
• Lowering the price will impact the Early Adopters
• Changing the function or performance could destroy credibility

 Give the New Product a chance in the marketplace

 Repackage the Value – if necessary

• Offer rebates to preserve the introductory pricing

 Offer New Products along with existing product to existing customers

 Product Recall – Do it if necessary

• Lavoris mouthwash – the issue with Red dye # 2
• Recalls are extremely difficult to administer correctly for all parties

 Mitigate the damage (Doing Damage Control)

• Customers have very little tolerance for product problems – it ends poorly

 Measure against the planned objects

 Benchmark against like products

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 6
 Production Volume Forecasting

 The Myth of the Hockey Stick forecast

• Waiting to turn the corner? – have a Drop-Dead date set before launching

 Most New Products do Not exceed the expected forecast

• Have the (factory) Manufacturing judge down inflated forecasts

 Not all channel personnel buy-into the New Product simultaneously

 Plan the program based on Realistic results, not Best-case results

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 7
 Inventory Control

 Forecast and Build the Inventory using Data, not suspicions

• Use field- generated forecasts
• Use Internally generated forecasts
• Use Historical forecasts or
• Use a combination of all of the above methods

 Don’t “Stock-Out” – customers may seek out your competitors

 Control Inventory levels carefully

• Managing multiple type of configurations is tricky
• Be in Lock-step with Sales promotions and special incentives
• Be aware the Roll-out volumes are a One Time event
• Balance product demand with long-lead time components

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 8
 Sales Channel Initiatives

 Understand the Essence of New Product Development

• Communications
• Agreement
• Commitment and
• Understanding

 Communicate quickly and accurately to all stakeholders

 Stay on the same track – agree wholeheartedly on:

• Product policy
• Implementation procedures
• Company marketing plan
• Overall company goals

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 9
 Summary
 Follow the checklist to pre-launch,
don’t “wimp out” on doing it right

 Chose the appropriate promotions,

monitor continuously and correct
swiftly

All content is from The Pursuit Of New Product Development by Marc Annacchino unless noted otherwise 10