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Join us tomorrow for the 2012 Most Memorable New Product Launch Webinar!

 

Register FREE ($60 value) with shareable code: 2012TopTen 

It's never been more difficult to launch a new product. Consumers are more fragmented than ever.  With 40,000 products launched each year, how can marketers make sure their launch will stand out?Join us in this Google+ Hangout with brand experts from the 11^th Annual Most Memorable New Product Launches who will share how they leveraged earned, owned and paid media spend to create a launch that captivated consumers and led to incredible sales. Launch Expert and Author, Julie Hall, Behavioral Research Expert Aaron Reid, and moderator the Founder of The CMO Club Pete Krainik and brand representatives from Taco Bell, Pepsi, and McDonald's will talk about the 2012 Most memorable new Product Launch findings, like:

• How "Men Are The New Women' on Madison Avenue
• Why "Made in the USA" is more important than ever
• How social media may not be considered "earned media" anymore
• Don't launch your new product in an election year, and
• A look back on the best launches of the past decade what marketers can learn from them

MMNPL Top 5 Picks from Tom Kraeutler, Host of The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show

Our home products expert, Tom Kraeutler, is the Host, Founder and Chief Home Improvement Evangelist of The Money Pit. He is a hands-on home improvement broadcast journalist and the kind of guy homeowners want to call at midnight when their basement floods. He first earned his home improvement stripes as a professional home inspector, amassing over 20 years experience learning how houses are put together, and how they fall apart!

 

Here are Tom's selections for the Most Memorable New Home Product Launches of 2012:

Andersen 400 Series Tilt-Wash Double-Hung Insert Window

These windows are an excellent choice to replace old, drafty windows that are hard to open or require frequent scraping and painting. Andersen has made it so that installing these windows couldn’t be easier.  The 400 Series Tilt-Wash Double-Hung Insert Window is custom sized to fit inside an existing window frame. Just remove the top and bottom sash and insert the new window. It’s a great DIY project that requires only basic skills and no special tools. Plus, you can install the window from inside your home, making it easy to replace even second-floor windows.  The tilt function makes it easy to clean them, and the low-maintenance exterior eliminates the need for paint. Plus, the high-performance Low-E4 glass provides superior energy-efficiency.

Black & Decker Gyro

Every once in a while a company comes out with a truly unique innovation that completely takes me by surprise. Gyro is one of those products -- the world’s first motion activated power screwdriver. It’s really cool and fun to use.  Here’s how it works: the trigger is on the back of it, so when you squeeze the Gyro you engage the power switch. To turn it on, you rotate it to the right. It starts very slowly, and the more you turn, it goes full throttle. To slow it down you simply turn it back towards neutral or center, wherever you started with it. And then to reverse the direction, you simply turn it to the left. Gyro was developed by Black & Decker to give users more control over the application, both in speed and direction. And at a suggested retail price of $39.99, it’s both innovative and inexpensive!

Lutron Maestro Occupancy Sensing Switch

The age-old problem of leaving lights on in empty rooms is solved with the Maestro Occupancy Sensing Switch from Lutron. It can detect motion so that it turns lights on when you enter a room and off when a room is empty. This hands-free technology makes life easier when you’ve got an armful of laundry or groceries, and it’s great for a household with kids who might not always remember to turn off the lights when they leave a room. It’s also convertible to manual on/off vacancy sensors for use in bedrooms and homes with pets. You can install it in 15 minutes or less, and it works with all types of light bulbs, including LED, CFL, tube fluorescent, halogen and incandescent.  And by replacing just one standard light switch with a Maestro Occupancy Sensing Switch, you can save up to $25 in energy costs.

 

Philips L Prize-Winning 10 Watt LED Bulb

This $10 million prize-winning light bulb is an answer to our energy future that’s here today – selected by the U.S. Department of energy as the most energy efficient-alternative to the standard 60-watt incandescent bulb. Philips 10-watt LED bulb lasts 30 times longer – up to 27 years!! – and can save you up to $165 in energy costs over the life of the bulb. Wave goodbye to the hassle of changing bulbs frequently and pat yourself on the back for choosing a bulb that’s smart for the planet AND your wallet. Philips 10-watt LED bulb is fully dimmable and provides soft white light with virtually no UV in the beam, so it won’t fade fabrics. And it’s designed in a traditional bulb shape that will fit right into your existing fixtures.

Fluidmaster Duo Flush System

As a nation, we flush away billions of gallons of water every day. You can be part of the solution by improving a water-wasting toilet in your own home. Fluidmaster’s Duo Flush is an innovative system that converts any toilet into a high-efficiency, water-saving dual flush toilet that saves you money to boot. It provides up to 50% water savings with every flush, and can knock your water bill down by more than $120 a year per toilet. It’s easy to install – takes just 20 minutes – and easy to use: Just lift the handle up for a half flush and push it down for a full flush. You’ll be reducing your annual water usage by more than 15,000 gallons, and the planet will thank you.

Launch Expert Julie Hall Adds 5th “P” – Participation – to the Classic 4 P’s of Marketing

The Holmes Report featured an op-ed by Schneider Associates’ EVP and Launch Expert Julie Hall about how social media is changing the way we launch new products. 

Hall and Schneider Associates introduced the Most Memorable New Product Launch (MMNPL) Survey in 2002, and since then, the poll has surveyed thousands of consumers about the most memorable product launches each year, analyzed media consumption and purchasing habits, and predicted trends based on the results. 

Hall highlighted one significant change in this year’s MMNPL findings: “Facebook was nowhere near the top 10 sources of information about new products – and in the span of one year, it became the third most used source of information on new product launches, jumping from 17% to 40%. And this is just Facebook.”

Based on this and other findings, Hall coined the fifth P in the product marketer’s arsenal – Participation (the original four: product, price, promotion and place). Hall insists that consumers can be engaged by “Relationship Marketing,” which allows them to interact more closely with brands and products they love. Going forward, campaigns must consist of a blend of participatory marketing through various sources of old and new, traditional and social media marketing techniques in order to succeed.

Read the full article here.

If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR.

SXSW is a Hotbed of Digital Innovation & Food Product Flavor Experiences

  

At this year’s SXSW 2012 event, brand names vied for exposure in a space teeming with messages and activity, with everything of course being shared in existing and new social media platforms. For more about what’s hot in the digital world and being launched and experienced by the 20,000 visitors to SXSW, be sure to watch the following videos with Launch Expert Julie Hall of Schneider Associates and our on-site correspondent, Lynne Viera, president and CEO of Rival Marketing.

 

No SXSW conference is without free food and sampling, and this year was no different. Some of the brands displaying innovation and creativity include Chevrolet, Nikon, Miller Lite, Monster Energy, and Doritos. Doritos JACKED, the newest tortilla chips from Doritos, were being sampled at a Doritos sponsored concert that also featured a chance to win special prizes. Doritos also displayed a nearly six-story tall pop-up vending machine with giant oversized quarters, to help promote the new extra large chips flavored as Smoky Chipotle BBQ or Enchilada Supreme. Doritos also recently launched a Doritos branded taco shell which is being served at Taco Bell. For additional commentary on food brand promotions at SXSW, check out the post from Dom Celentano, The Foodpreneur, on About.com.

 

SXSW also launched its first Tex-Mex Taco Table that featured participating restaurants Taco Deli, Habanero Mexican Café, and Matt's Famous El Rancho. What better place than Austin, Texas to promote foods and restaurants with Hispanic flavor profiles and influences?  This year, FedEx delivered food and free coffee from their food truck, along with providing a power up from their human chargers (see photo). Even world champion eater Kobayashi showed up to scarf what we think was a record number of grilled cheese sandwiches. The Today Show also had a food truck, as many brands find it is easier to get the attention of attendees outside the convention by offering free food or other services.

 

(Fedex Human Chargers)

(Today Show food truck)

Beer company Miller Lite gave its consumers a chance to enter the “SXSW 2012 Instant Win Game” for a $200 gift card or more.  Attendees can also "Tweet a Beer" to someone, buying a Miller via PayPal which is redeemable at some bars. They also sponsored giveaways and downloads on Pandora, Spotify, and other music apps.   Another beverage brand, Monster Energy, offered free breakfast and morning beverages during its events.

On the non-food front, Chevrolet developed an innovative promotion by providing taxi cab rides to Austin, Texas venues. Dubbed “Catch a Chevy,” the shuttle service showed off a full line of cars including Cruze sedans, Volts, Camaros, Corvettes and Mailbu Ecos featuring their updated OnStar service.  People test drove the vehicles from the convention center or hailed a car to take them to their next destination. 

Nikon put its new Nikon D4 and D-800 HD SLR cameras in the hands of fans.  SXSW attendees sampled the devices by snapping pictures of featured musicians.

The annual SXSW event began in 1987 in Austin, Texas, at the Austin Convention Center, and has become one of the best chances brands have to get in front of a core audience of influencers and trendsetters.

 

If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR.

 

A New Paradigm—No Longer B2B or B2C, But B2E

                “The omnipresence of the Internet in everyday life has been a prime game changing phenomenon for new product launches, and has created a new paradigm for marketers—the arrival of business-to-everyone, or B2E. In the United States, 74.7 percent of the population has Internet access; that’s over 304 million people. Overall, the Internet is the medium with which users spend the most time (32.7 hours/week), according to IT market intelligence giant International Data Corporation (IDC). This is equivalent to almost half of the total time spent each week using all media (70.6 hours), almost twice the time spent watching television (16.4 hours), and eight times more than reading newspapers and magazines (3.9 hours). 

            "When literally anyone around the world can visit your Web site, you are no longer aiming your messages at only your carefully targeted business to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) customers. Instead, you are talking to everyone—B2E. This may have broader implications for those in the B2B market since B2C companies are more accustomed to thinking of virtually anyone as a potential customer. In the more tightly controlled B2B arena—particularly in the business service sector— companies usually talk to a carefully selected group of target customers and prospects. Now anyone, including your competition, can visit your Web site and see your products, pricing, and case studies, and learn how you are positioning your wares. No one cares whether you characterize your product, service or company as B2C or B2B; all they want is information available 24/7 brought to them by Google, Yahoo, Bing or other search engines that provide rapid search access.”
 
Read more about the emergence of B2E on page 10 of The NEW Launch Plan: 152 Tips, Tactics and Trends from the Most Memorable New Products. If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR

Schneider Associates and Cramer Marketing Team Up for Product Launch Thought Leadership Video

 

Watch the Video Here!

  

Schneider Associates President Joan Schneider joined forces with Ann Cave, SVP at Cramer Productions and moderator, Maura Driscoll, to discuss trends, strategies and tactics for launching new consumer and B2B products. The interactive video discusses different types of launches, how to understand the emotional and rational aspects learned from consumer/customer segmentation, how to use imagery to trigger emotional responses, pointers for dealing with media fragmentation, as well as several other topics. Watch the video and let us know what you think! 

 Ann Cave and Joan Schneider

Schneider Associates launches new, redesigned Web 2.0 site, SchneiderPR.com

 
Schneider Associates is pleased to announce the launch of our newly redesigned, Web 2.0 optimized site at www.schneiderpr.com.

 

We’re doing so much research here at Schneider preparing for our new book, The New Launch Plan: 152 Tips Tactics and Trends from the Most Memorable New Products that is being published first quarter of 2010, that we needed a new Web site and content management system to be able to regularly and easily post news, research, content and video.  Plus with all our work in Social Media, we wanted to lead the way with our own Social Media Newsroom.

 

According to Joan Schneider, president of the firm, “There’s so much happening in the field of new product launch and community launch, we wanted our Web site to be a place where marketers go to learn the latest technology about launching products, services, companies and communities. We’re excited about having a blog, video, Social Media Newsroom, downloadable content and other useful tools to share on our new site.”

 

Check back for excerpts from the new book that will be posted on the site, and let us know what you think! Message us on Twitter @SchneiderPR, join our Facebook community (http://bit.ly/2AQPq5) or email: launch@schneiderpr.com

B2B New Product Post: MacuChek Offers Proactive Approach for Fighting Leading Cause of Blindness

Our friends and Worldcom partners, Hermanoff & Associates, work with MacuChek, a medical technology company based in West Bloomfield, MI. MacuChek has recently pioneered a device that is the first available to eye care professionals to assess a person’s risk of developing the leading cause of legal blindness, macular degeneration which affects approximately 30 million worldwide.

The MacuScope™ is the first commercially available, scientifically validated instrument that accurately measures macular protective pigment density, assesses a patient’s risk of developing macular degeneration decades before symptoms begin. With increasing lifespan and an aging population, the number of people affected by the disease is expected to double in the next 20 to 30 years, so this device will prove to be increasingly useful to the medical world.

Following a painless, non-invasive and brief examination, the MacuScope™, is able to quantify macular protective pigment density changes (MPPD) in the macula and then categorizes patients as either high-risk or low-risk for developing macular degeneration.

The MacuScope™ has already allowed for some fascinating success stories. “There was a recent case in Ireland where the MacuScopeTM was used in assessing and treating a patient who was told he would be blind within a year,” said Dr. David Segel, president and CEO of MacuChek. “Through the proper combination of MacuScopeTM screenings and corresponding dosage of ocular supplements, LMZ3 – known as MacuShield in Europe -- he has been able to regain his sight and begin driving again within six months.”

Besides Europe, The MacuScope™ is currently being used in 21 states throughout our country, Canada and will soon be available to Asian countries as well.

B2B Launch Tip #10

Schneider Associates recently collaborated recently with the Center for Business Innovation at Babson College on the Schneider Associates Business-to-Business Launch Survey, which polled sales and marketing executives most involved in successful B2B launches to determine best practices and success factors for launching new products and services.

The study identified 10 tips companies can use to improve their odds of launch success in the highly competitive B2B market.  Over the next 10 days, Launch TV will profile these tips so you can have a better sense of how to have a successful B2B launch.

We’ll also be showing you some clips from a presentation given by Joan Schneider, President of Schneider Associates, at The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) New England Chapter meeting in November.

Today’s Schneider Associates B2B Launch Tip is:

10. Fight for Bigger Budgets

Asked what they would do to improve their next launch, the response that drew the largest number of votes was “increase the budget,” selected by 37% of respondents. By being last in line in the new product process, the launch team may get short shrift when budget dollars are being allocated. This is another reason to start launch planning as early in the new product process as possible before R&D and production gobble up the lion’s share of resources.

“Having an adequate budget is especially important if your new product has a high degree of newness,” said Schneider. “Introducing something revolutionary requires a comprehensive launch program with a significant budget and an expanded timeframe for product education and acceptance.”

B2B Launch Tip #9

Schneider Associates recently collaborated recently with the Center for Business Innovation at Babson College on the Schneider Associates Business-to-Business Launch Survey, which identified 10 tips companies can use to improve their odds of launch success in the highly competitive B2B market. Launch TV is profiling these tips so you can have a better sense of how to have a successful B2B launch.

This video contains a clip from a presentation given by Joan Schneider, President of Schneider Associates, at the PDMA New England Chapter meeting.

Today's Schneider Associates B2B Launch Tip is:

9. Include the right external profesionals on your team.

Make sure the skill set of the external professionals on your launch team matches the launch activities in your plan. It’s worth noting that the most critical success factors chosen by nearly all the B2B launchers in the survey were tasks that are best accomplished by a marketing communications firm. These factors included educating the sales force and internal audiences and generating word-of-mouth excitement. Yet, unfortunately, an ad agency is often the first –and sometimes only– outside source many companies tap for launch advice. “To avoid this trap, make sure the skill set of the external professionals you add to your launch team matches the launch activities in your plan and includes Web experts, public relations professionals, channel distribution and sales promotion consultants,” said Schneider.