7 Steps To Bring Your Product Launch Event Ideas To Life
Julia Charles Event Management
A Bold, Creative Event Management Company Producing and Managing Exceptional Events.
After months of fine-tuning your product and agonising over getting every detail perfect, it is now time to bring your product to market with a product launch event.
A product launch event is a perfect way to creatively bring your product to market and get it in front of the right audience. Furthermore, it is an excellent way of showcasing your newest creation to investors, customers and potential stockists.
It is so important that your product launch captures your audience's attention and makes a big impact on launch day, this will ensure that your new product is as successful as possible.
In this blog, we will go through our event manager's 7 tried and tested steps on how to bring a product launch to life.
1. Choose a Theme
The very first thing you want to consider when organising your product launch event is the theme of your event. The reason it is so important to choose a theme is that your theme will tie all your event elements together.
Your ultimate goal is to create a cohesive, well-thought-out product launch event. By ensuring you have a solid theme you will ensure a cohesive event that successfully translates your product and leaves guests with a memorable experience.
2. Pick a Venue
Once you have decided on the right theme for your product launch event, the next step is to consider the perfect venue space. Below are some tips on how to pick the right venue space for your launch event.
Consider your theme and brand
To create synergy and optimise your product you need to ensure that both your theme and product match with your venue space. For example, if you are marketing a high-end product that is sophisticated and elegant you want to pair it with a theme and venue space that reflects this. Likewise, if you're launching a fun, interactive product marketed at a younger audience, you want the venue space to reflect this.
Some examples of different venue spaces to maximise your product launch could include:
Let your product be the star
Yes your venue space is important and you want it to match your product's vibe, however, the last thing you want is your venue space to outshine your product and detract from the launch.
Your venue space should provide a relatively blank canvas for you to work with ensuring you are able to focus your guest's attention on the product rather than the venue itself. Furthermore, venues with blank walls and open spaces allow you to brand and theme the space more easily.
Rember the importance of location
Make sure your venue space is easy to find and in a central and convenient area for your guests. If you are inviting lots of PR and influencers, you may want to choose somewhere in London as it's easy to get to and will ensure maximum guest attendance
3. Build Anticipation
Your product launch's goal is to market your product, however, you also need to consider how you are going to market the event that markets your product.
Therefore, you'll want to plan a marketing strategy around building anticipation for your product launch event, and, in turn, the product that will be featured at this event.
In the weeks leading up to your product launch event, you need to make your audience aware of your product to drive traffic and awareness. You'll want to come up with a marketing strategy of how to start teasing your product to the audience and why they need to buy it.
Look to create conversation about your new product, host Q&As, do sneak peeks and create hashtags for customers to engage with. You may also want to consider videos of behind-the-scenes of the product launch campaign, demos of the product as well as sneak peeks.
You will also want to consider who is attending your product launch event and what they will be posting as this can be really valuable exposure to your product.
4. Consider How to Emphasis Your Product
When planning your product launch event and deciding how it will look, you want to consider how the production elements of the event will affect the product.
Setting your product in an optimal environment which emphasises rather than draws away from the product is critical. It is way too easy to get carried away with how your venue space will look and not consider how the surroundings may affect the way your product is perceived.
Below are some different examples of event production tools you can use when creating your product launch event.
Lighting
A key production element at product launch events that can often be overlooked is lighting, and how good lighting can impact your product.
Not only is lighting an excellent tool for setting the mood and vibe of your product launch event, but is also a great way of enhancing your product and the way that your guests engage with it.
For example, by providing well-lit areas where your guests can pick up and interact with your product, they are more likely to take pictures and share them on social media. By contrast, if you have lower lighting in your venue and then don't highlight your product with different lighting, guests are less likely to engage with it.
Venue Styling
Venue Styling is a great way to transform your product launch space and create an optimal environment to enhance your product. From using podiums to highlight your product, to hiring furniture to create unique seating areas for your guests.
You may also want to consider booking bespoke staging for your product launch event. Often at product launch events, there will be a presentation from the director or demos on how to use the product. By having bespoke staging built you will be able to create an elevated area as a focal point at your event.
5. Book Engaging Entertainment
Entertainment is an excellent way to stay on brand with your product whilst also creating a fun environment. Whether you are booking certain musicians or singers to entertain guests in the background, or you are booking walkabout entertainment to entertain guests throughout the night it is a fantastic opportunity to create an immersive environment.
Some of the product launch entertainment options you may want to consider include:
You will want to theme your product launch entertainment around your product so there is a clear synergy.
6. Consider Date and Timing
The date and timing of your product launch event can often be used as a tool to further align with your brand message. Therefore you'll want to be intentional with when you organise your product launch event.
Product launches can be done in two different ways. You can choose to do your product launch event on the day the product is launched, or alternatively, you might want to have a product launch event a few days before the product is released.
This is a great way of making your consumers desperate to get their hands on the new product, especially if have influencers at your event who are actively engaging on socials. This is something we were able to do really successfully with the XIX product launch for the Sidemen, ensuring that when the product was launched to market it sold out instantly.
You will also want to consider what season you are launching your product in and what your consumer's shopping habits will be.
For example, if you are hoping to get in on the Christmas retail market you'll want to consider launching your product with enough time to be featured in all of the gift buying lists and in different publications, blogs and videos.
7. Post Event Engagement
Your product launch event may be over but your marketing campaign has only just begun. Now your product is actively on the market it is time to really start showing how your product is positively affecting the right audience.
Prior to the launch of your product, you will have sent out your product to key influencers to get them talking about the product, you will also have potentially created promotional videos, shot footage and pictures of the product as well as gained content from your product launch event. You can use all of this to showcase your product and ensure you keep up the momentum created by your launch event.
Furthermore, you will want to make sure you have a marketing team online monitoring hits to the website and engaging on social media with the consumers using and talking about your product. By having a very present team you will ensure to make the most of the opportunities created by the product launch event.
Above we have covered our tried and tested top 7 tips on creating a successful product launch event which we hope will be helpful for you when you come to create your very own launch event.
As an event management company, we have created all kinds of product launch events around the world, therefore, if you need an extra pair of hands to help plan your next product launch event then get in touch with our, team, we can't wait to hear from you!