Secrets to a Successful New Product Launch

Avoid mistakes that can ground the business at liftoff...

You may agree new product introductions are the lifeblood and engine powering growth of most CPG food, beverage and lifestyle brands. Annual company income forecasts often project incremental balance sheet gains, based on successful outcomes to secure velocity and repeat purchase of innovations. While it’s true that the vast majority of Emergent’s assignments are related to new product introductions, we often encounter challenges at the front door.

While a trip around the convention floor of any food industry trade convention like the Fancy Food Show or EXPO West dramatizes the significant levels of investment and priority given to new product innovation in the food and beverage business, it is ironic that misfires occur all too often on the path to securing sustainable retail traction.

What could possibly go wrong?

• If you build it, they will come – a mistaken belief that an optimal product will sell itself. Rarely, if ever, does that turn out. Even great products fail because of this point of view.
• Brought in too late – we’re retained late in the game to apply a layer of outreach tactics and as such likely devoid of the strategic foundation that guides relevance and resonance.
• No consumer insight to inform approach and messaging – essentially, we’re flying blind on how best to achieve authentic resonance with the consumer.
• Complicated story – people just won’t burn the mental calories to decipher a complex, dense proposition that self-promotes a new solution technology.
• Spray and pray – without the proper homework upfront to define cohorts most likely to buy, the media defaults to pursuing all things to all people, a classic recipe for connection failure.
• Pushing features, benefits and analytical arguments – at a human hardwired to make decisions and take action based on emotional cues and their feelings about the brand.

The smarter play here is a considered, strategic approach with experienced hands helping guide the decisions and plan development. Failing to apply the right approach can be costly in unrealized business because consumers aren’t swarming to buy. Here we will dive into best practices that will impact your new product intro success rate.

What we hope for…

• This is a top planning priority because so much is riding on the outcome
• Everyone is acutely aware of the failure rate of new product launches
• The team has appreciation for getting it right, given first impressions matter greatly
• We’re on board early because our instincts and strategic view honed over decades of directing successful launches are sought after

We have witnessed over and over the unique alchemy of how story, insight, neuroscience, relevance, resonance and strategy play out in helping create new product wins. Especially when the innovation involved is truly a swing for “new” vs. the more common line extension that is really a modest effort to extend the status quo. Some believe this is less risky but then the win is also proportionate compared with the solid gains from launching of a bright new category.

We have introduced hundreds of new products, helping us acquire the experience to see into the future of what is likely to win. Today’s article offers guidance on new product launch best practices, designed to build trial and momentum among consumer cohorts most likely to buy.

Product launch law # 1 – different is better than better

“Better than” is code for the same, only by degree improved, and that is not a competitively sustainable proposition. Better reinforces sameness, which commoditizes your brand.

Important decisions will inevitably be made in how to package and present new product innovation stories. There will be great temptation to focus on the formulation and specs, given its legacy precedence in CPG marketing. However, people don’t buy fact-based arguments. That said, knowing the food and beverage marketplace can be a sea of similarity in product presentations, it’s important to note here that sound strategy is founded on the opposite: a laser focus on uniqueness and differentiation.

Said another way, your ability to dial an innovation far enough to the left or right that a new category is formed, one that you own and therefore are the “only” option vs. one of many. Some marketers may believe that familiarity is a virtue. While it’s important to present new products in ways that make sense to people, familiarity can also be a trap. Different is usually sticky, memorable and persuasive. “Another one” is less engaging and will require more spending in the chase for competitive “awareness” -- at the expense of singularity and a unique story.

Product launch law # 2 – the curious and reliable impact of the bandwagon effect

All humans are emotional creatures. We’re systemically concerned about perceived risk, so we look for permission to buy from credible voices. Perceived popularity of something new acts as a form of crowd verification. When multiple sources agree, it can be all that’s needed to tip the scale to trial. That’s why we intentionally plan for what we call the “bandwagon effect.” Based on early adopter audience characteristics, we look for media channels and social platforms where a story in multiple locations will create an impression that the innovation is gaining momentum, popularity and acceptance thus acting as reassurance the buyer won’t be disappointed. We’re always working to build in a sense of certainty.

Product launch law # 3 -- Insight, insight and more insight

Wouldn’t you agree that a resonant story has a better shot at engagement? Thus, why deep dive consumer insight research is never a bad idea. Insight in this case is about understanding their lives and attitudes more fully -- their own wants, needs, desires, fears and aspirations. Connecting your new product to lifestyle relevance is essential for engagement. Their views of your brand, what they believe about you and themselves can be an eye-opener to gaps in the story that need closing. This sensitivity to human understanding is essential to success.

Moreover, we learn exactly how to speak to them in language they will see themselves in. Some leadership teams think they inherently know what the consumer believes. It’s been our experience that a fair amount of this is likely misinformed, while exploratory research will unearth relevant insights into their lives that you can connect to storytelling for added context.

• In our view this is how you place the consumer at the center of your planning efforts and work backwards from there. The more you know, the better the communication gets because it is truly a mirror of user lives and priorities.

New Product Launch Practices Hall of Fame

Here’s some top-level guidance we routinely build into new product launch strategies. How this is done specifically will forever and always be based on the brand’s unique heritage, story, advantages, purpose and mission. That said, this represents the hit parade of de-risking new product introductions.

1.???? Purchase decision science and the rule of emotion

We know from neuroscience that the decisions and actions taken by every human centers in the limbic region of the brain. This amazing part of our anatomy is driven by emotion not analytical arguments. Want to influence a purchase decision? Let emotion be your guide rather than specsmanship.

This always about context and how the product fits into the consumer’s lifestyle as an enabler on their journey to a happier, healthier and more secure life. It’s how they feel about your brand more than the details of ingredients, sourcing, recipe and manufacturing technique.?

2.???? Consumer is always the hero

Brands notoriously default to talking about themselves and product features to the detriment of consumer engagement. Every consumer wakes up every day believing they are the hero of their life journey. Your storytelling should focus on them, their lifestyle wants, needs and desires. Your brand is should be an essenial partner on their journey and should serve as their guide and coach. In terms of communications effectiveness, when brands talk incessantly about themselves it competes with the consumer for the hero role, putting the brand in conflict with them right out of the gate. They will simply move on, continuing to search for a brand that is focused on their aspirations.

3.???? Identify and remove any lingering sense of risk or uncertainty

Research continues to reinforce -- the most significant barrier to trial and acceptance of new products is any perceived risk of making a bad decision. It is human to avoid disappointment and so if there’s any sense of uncertainty in how the purchase will turn out, consumers usually walk away. This is where validation and verification of what you want them to believe is essential to the assurance and certainty they crave.

Outside expert, credible voices can be effective here to affirm what you want people to believe and then accept the promises you’ve made. Trust is everything and courting it is an active and intentional effort on the brand’s part. This core move is often missing in the launch scheme.

4.???? The role of higher purpose, deeper meaning and values

Trust is essential to new product launch traction. Best way to earn that trust is the extent you correctly mine your brand’s “why” – its higher purpose and mission that transcends commerce (profit motive) and represents an expression of your beliefs and values.

Simply stated consumers care more about why you do what you do than either what or how. People want to be part of something greater than themselves so give them something to believe in. This will help imbue your brand with a value system that exudes integrity. The impact of this helps seed rapid acceptance of your innovations.

5.???? Awareness vs. relevance

Chasing awareness has been a dominant feature of CPG marketing for decades. It is usually founded on ‘better than’ thinking instead of differentiation, the real fuel for new product attraction and growth. Yes, consumers need to be ‘aware’ but media tonnage as a tool can be expensive and counterproductive, when the real thing you’re after is engagement founded on emotional connection feeding brand evangelism.

6.???? Core message and story packaging

Authenticity matters here. That said your story should aim for differentiation and new category creation. How you package and present the innovation story is vital to making this work. Strive for separation from everything else at shelf. Always look at this in the context of solutions to problems consumers are trying to answer that they can only get from you. It’s always about them and their priorities. This is what we mean by correctly “packaging” the story.

7.???? Launch and leave

We have spent enough time in the saddle here to observe the all-too-frequent move of heavy up outreach at launch and then three months later going dark, hoping the brand will make it after retail trial incentives have been deployed. However, your product likely hasn’t as yet reached “habit” status, so sustaining levels of investment matter as you move to remind consumers why they made the right decision in the first place.

New products are the lifeblood of your business plan. It’s worth substantial financial gains to think strategically through this process, with the consumer firmly positioned at the center of your thinking and work backwards from there. Retail marketing support is vital in this grand effort due in no small part to the challenges of a crowded shopping environment where products often appear to be identical brand-to-brand.

• Consumer relevance and resonance is the key to your success, thus why knowing them as well as you know your own family members is vital. If you begin here, the rest of what you do will benefit from it.

If this article has you thinking about new product launch best practices, use the email link below to ask questions of an experienced source.

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Bob Wheatley is the CEO of Chicago-based Emergent. Traditional brand marketing often sidesteps more human qualities that can help consumers form an emotional bond.?Yet brands yearn for authentic engagement, trust and a lasting relationship with their customers. For more information, contact [email protected] and follow on Twitter @BobWheatley.

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