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October 30, 2010

Anatomy of a Product LaunchWhat we can learn from Rocket Science

Douglas Johnson

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Launch - Tubeless Toilet Paper

• biggest change in 100 years

• test launch at Walmart in Northeast

• $9 billion market

• 17 B tubes annually in US = 160 MM lbs of trash

• special winding process

• potential for paper towels

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Launch Profile Drivers

Launches vary widely by industry

• Innovation frequency

• Asset vs. technology driven industry

• Product liability (e.g. software vs. drug)

• Life cycle for products (consumed vs. durable)

• Installed base adoption rate

• Switching costs

• Market size 5 Anatomy of a Launch – Douglas Johnson

Launch Phases

• Prelaunch

• Lift Off

• Early Ascent

• Throttled Ascent

• Full Throttle Ascent

• Orbital Insertion

• Sustainable Orbit

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Where do Launches fit in?

Corporate Business Plan

Integrated Marketing Plan

Product Marketing Plan

Product Launch Plan

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Prelaunch

• Product ready – 4P’s

• Launch objective

• Strategy and type

• Launch team assembly

• Schedule & milestones

• Metrics & tools

• Securing resources

• Problem resolution

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Plan for Contingencies

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Lift Off

• Prelaunch complete

• Day One availability

• Full commitment

• Team fully engaged

• Resources engaged

• Metrics start

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Early Ascent

• Beyond the launch customer(s)

• First snapshot of health of launch

• Attention turns to longer term process of ascent

• Challenge: stay focused

• Watch for anomalies

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Throttled Ascent

• Assessing launch progress

• Validating a priori assumptions

• Potential corrections

• Power down vs. Power up

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Full Throttle Ascent

• Monitoring of progress

• Validation of corrections - metrics

• Continued team commitment

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Orbital Insertion

• End of launch phase in sight

• Progress in adoption and market share

• Larger adjustments now possible

• Follow on possibilities

• Increasing market feedback

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Sustainable Orbit

• Launch completed

• Marketing and Sales now in total control

• Life cycle orientation

• Sustainable pipeline

• Launch post mortem

• Launch team prepares for next launch

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About the Author

Douglas Johnson

Doug is a business builder, leveraging his marketing and

business development expertise to drive organization-

wide strategic initiatives that deliver on corporate

growth and profitability -- bringing innovative

technologies to market and establishing new lines of

business through cross-functional teams. He has held a

variety of key positions with a number of Fortune 500

companies.

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Contact Info

• Douglas Johnson

• djjohnson@earthlink.net

• 919.308.5288

• www.linkedin.com/in/douglasjjohnson

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