What does launch look like?

Launching a new product is no small feat. There’s an awful lot of effort and people involved and there are late nights, weekends, and too many cups of coffee—no matter how well you plan. In terms of launch strategy, there’s a sliding scale of effort running from the traditional full-scale, big bang launch to simply launching a holding page for a website to measure interest (10.1).

10.1. Sliding scale of launch strategies.

Big bang theory

Cosmology theory tells us that there was a time when nothing (as we know it, Jim) existed. Then there was a massive explosion of matter and the universe was born. Many products are born this way. Explosions don’t just happen; a great buildup of energy is required for an explosion. With a big bang launch the idea is to create as much buzz and anticipation for the product as possible so that you’re guaranteed customers on the day of the launch. Think about the various iPhone and iPad launches around the world. Apple are masters at big bang launch. However, it’s not an undertaking for the faint of heart or the light of wallet. It takes months of coordinated PR and marketing effort to create the hype and the excitement needed for a launch of t....