Summit 2018 Preview: Introducing the Launch-Plan-on-a-Page Template

Launching new offerings can be a complex process involving multiple functions and stakeholders across the organization. For portfolio marketers, it can be a challenge to get colleagues excited and engaged for yet another product launch. Contributors or stakeholders often have different perspectives about a launch because they might be working on just one part of it. Or, functional plans to support the launch may be stitched together from various prior launches without consideration of the desired market impact. 

How do you engage critical stakeholders and provide them with the right focus so they can help make a launch effective?  To ensure new offerings get off to the right start and become commercially successful, portfolio marketers must provide the right context and direction for the marketing, sales, product and executive teams.

When launching new offerings, portfolio marketers also face the daunting task of informing all stakeholders about upcoming launches. Questions may arise from executives, sales or business leaders, product management, and marketing functions – all of whom have different perspectives and informational needs. It’s incumbent on portfolio marketers to provide an overview of the launch without delivering unnecessary detail about launch tasks, activities, deadlines and checklists. Communicating the big picture of the launch to keep functions aligned and focused on achieving the business objectives is critical to ensuring a successful launch.

A high-level business overview of the launch is needed to inform executives, sales, product and marketing functions, as well as service and supporting functions. A one-page summary – in effect, a Launch-Plan-on-a-Page template – can engage and direct colleagues by providing them the appropriate context for a launch. This document also ensures alignment with business goals, the go-to-market approach and announcement strategy. With a high-level focus on market impact and audience goals, the Launch-Plan-on-a-Page template can be leveraged so functional plans track to business objectives or to inform management about the goals and expected market impacts of the launch.

Come visit us at Summit for an interactive lab session where we will help you create your own Launch-Plan-on-a-Page template. This one-page summary can be used to communicate with leaders and colleagues and ensure that your launch plans:

• meet overall business objectives
• are audience-focused instead of product-focused
• have measurable goals so the success of the launch can be tracked

SiriusDecisions Summit 2018 will be held May 8-10 at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas.