Product Management For Dummies

Chapter 20

Ten Common Product Launch Mistakes to Avoid

IN THIS CHAPTER

Taking steps to ensure a positive customer impression

Planning well in advance and executing consistently

Companies invest millions of dollars each year in developing new products and trying to increase their revenues and profitability. Some of these are good products, and some aren’t. Nonetheless, they all have one thing in common: Without appropriate launch and marketing activities, they’ll most likely fail. In fact, many inferior products have won in the marketplace simply because the company’s launch and marketing were more effective than those of their competitors with the superior product.

The key to an effective product launch is to create and execute a plan that is appropriate to meet your goals given your resource, budget, and time constraints. This chapter covers the ten most common mistakes that occur in product launches so you can avoid making them.

Failing to Plan Early Enough

Many companies wait to plan their product launch until they’re just a few weeks away from the product being ready. Effective launches take much more time and effort than many people realize. Build your launch plan a minimum of four months prior to product availability. This time frame gives you enough opportunity to plan ...