Sep 28 2008
Product Launches - Strategy Issues
What are the strategy issues involved in a product launch?
This begs the question what is a strategy and there are plenty of different versions of this. Here’s a few for you to muse over while we look at some strategies involved in product launches.
“Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term: which achieves advantage for the organisation through it’s configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and stakeholder expectations.” Johnson
“course of action for achieveing an organisation’s objectives.” De Witt & Meyer
“Goal-directed descisions and actions in which it’s capabilities and resources are matched with the opportunities and threats in the external environment.” Coulter
“Strategy of a corporation is a comprehensive plan stating how the company will achieve it’s mission and objectives.” Hunger & Whellen
It is not a short term aim. This is a massive issue that most one man bands cannot fathom when they come online, when they purchase their product and it doesn’t change their lives in a month they become disheartened with marketing and they believe that the only successful strategy is to be a conman and cheat their way to riches like they think the over hyped product they purchased promised them.
Strategy depends on the competitive environment.
This requires an ongoing undestaning of the marketplace you exist within it’s customers as well as consumers. Existing competitive products and potential new entrants into the same marketplace. With regards these points why would anyone want to enter the affiliate marketing for marketers market place?
Opportunities
There is a never ending stream of new customers entering this marketplace. More of the world is coming online every day and the speed and increase of quality connections is growing every day.
The competing products in this marketplace can be improved upon. Even the very good ones you can add your input and offer support to the product that some other product owners cannot match if anyone has downloaded Soren’s internet marketing success formula. Then leave me a comment on that post with anything else you require clafification off.
There will always be a new medium that you can promote your business through if you watch the market leaders and general super-affiliates then you can get a handle on what is new and working before it becomes saturated and your voice is one of many. Become a first mover and you will be noticed and gain presence.
Threats
Monetisation of leads and customers is becoming harder. There are many reasons for this a major one has been the increase in jv giveaways in our industry. Customers are expecting things free. See my previous post a change in internet marketing
Change in technologies if you are not looking at audio and video then you are already behind the times, this is also an opportunity if you embrace the moment.
For your own product launch
consider if?
- You can compete on price and still offer value.
- Are you looking to dominate a market or trying to block a competitors domination.
- Is a prelude to a bigger and better offer.
- Is it easily copied - People will rip you off.
If after you have looked at the four above then you must choose whether there is a need for what you have to offer and how it relates to your long term plans and goals.
Related Issues from this post
Kansas Reflections - A reflection on Problem-solving vs Decision-making
WarHistorian.org - Strategic Blogging
MiXT Media - 10 Strategic Communications Insights–from the Government, no less
Welcome back!
I think Coulter’s and Johnson’s definitions resonate most strongly with your points. Strategy must incorporate some sense of robustness and fixity of purpose over a time period. It has to be more than just the “next thing to do”. Its the theme that links together sets o of choices. It drives not only “what to do now” but “which things to do” and “which opportunities to seek”.
in marketing and commerce it must relate to something like a persistent niche where you have competitive advantage, something that gives a reasonable belief in the ability to add value and recieve an ROI.
i’d compare strategy to tactics in the sense that tactics describes those immediate specific decisions made and actions taken that move us along the path towards realizing the endstate envisioned in our strategy.
I agree with your point that implementation of strategies should be termed slightly differently and sports analogies are a good way to convey this to an inexperienced reader.
A strategy is a blueprint to a certain extent what will we do to pursue global domination or win the championship by 10 points. Obviously strategy is never going to be enacted exactly and therefore you must have different formations to continue in the sports analogy - or contingency plans in a business sense.
The implementation of a contingency plan would be a tactical play. (Measuring results and progress is key).
Thanks for the quality input Ken,