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
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
8. Do a great job educating your sales force and other internal audiences about your new product or service.
When asked to select the top three factors that contributed
the most to launch success, sales force preparation earned the most votes as an
important success factor by far with both product (55%) and service companies
(66%). Both types of companies also selected word-of-mouth campaigns as one of
their top three success factors.
The third highest contributor to launch success was
different for product and service firms. Educating internal audiences was named
by 29% of service companies, compared with just 16% of product companies.
On-line campaigns also received 29% of votes from service companies. For
product companies, distributor/retailer/dealer education earned the third
highest number of votes, with 33% calling it a top three success factor.
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.
Surveyed companies used two types of success metrics: 1) results-based measures, which focus on business outcomes such as sales or profits, stock price or market valuation, and 2) process measures, which capture activities that contribute to business outcomes, such as number of projects in the pipeline, time-to-market, or percent of sales from new products.
“We recommend using process measures, which can be tracked on a monthly or weekly basis to provide quick feedback,” said Schneider. “In contrast, results metrics are lagging indicators. By the time these results are in, it’s often too late to change course.”
In the survey, 45% of product companies and 24% of service companies said they met only half the success metrics they had initially set for themselves. In addition, another 5% of service companies reported they had met none of their success metrics. These percentages indicate a problem with how some companies are measuring success. “If you’re consistently missing your launch metrics, it may mean you’re measuring the wrong things or that you’re setting the targets unrealistically high,” said Schneider.
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.
6. Spend Money on Word-of-Mouth Campaigns Rather than on Advertising.
After sales force education, word-of-mouth campaigns earned the second highest ranking as a launch success factor, with 36% of respondents in both the product and service categories saying this was one of their top three launch success factors. And although used by 78% of the companies launching products and 85 of those launching services, advertising was rated as significantly less important than word-of-mouth campaigns.
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.
5. Determine your launch performance measures before the launch begins.
58% of the B2B launchers said they established their success
metrics before the launch took place, and 29% said they did so during the
launch. A troublingly high 13% said they did not set metrics until after the
launch was complete, and an additional 6% never set any metrics at all.
“It is smart to have something against which to
measure the progress of your launch as it moves forward,” said Schneider. “Such
information provides vital guidance about whether launch strategies are
achieving your goals or need rethinking. Determing how you’ll measure the
success of your launch before the effort starts will also help you with other
important planning tasks such as budgeting and strategy.”
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.
4. Try to keep your launch budget stable throughout the implementation phase.
67% of the companies surveyed maintained stable budget levels throughout their launches. This indicates they did a good job of estimating budget needs and had effective budget controls.
On the other hand, the willingness of 29% of product companies and 10% of service companies to increase their budgets during the launch may be interpreted in several ways. It may mean a significant portion of launchers initially underestimated what it would take to launch their new offering. Or perhaps these launchers were meeting with strong success against their launch metrics and decided to invest more money to solidify the launch effort.
“Some budget flexibility is a good thing because it allows you to take advantage when unexpected opportunities occur that might enhance your launch,” said Schneider. “Overall, being able to set a realistic budget and then stick to it are important launch skills. Too often, companies panic when product sales take longer than anticipated and start cutting the launch budget. But if companies stick to their budget and give the sales and product adoption process enough time, they are likely to see the projected results.”
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.
3. Establish your launch budget as early in the product development phase as possible.
The majority of the successful launchers in the survey established budgets during the development phase or earlier. This provides food for thought for any company that is currently waiting until further along in the process to begin thinking about the launch budget.
“Companies that begin the budgeting process early meet with more success than those who leave this task to the last minute,” said Schneider. “Such companies are more likely to have a documented launch process that shows them when it’s time to start planning and budgeting. Beginning the budget process earlier enables you to thoroughly research the cost of various strategies and identify the ones that are going to be most cost effective for your launch.”
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