Are you too close?
The world is full of amazing products and services. We speak to so many businesses and people with ideas for future developments, things close to launch, or products that already exist. There are 1000s we’re all yet to discover, and sadly 1000s that have failed.
It’s because having a good product or service is only half the job…making sure people know about it, and most importantly why it matters to them, is the critical factor to success.
In more than twenty years working across very different industries, we’ve noticed the same thing time and again…
Good products don’t always have good launches
Not because they aren’t good products.
Usually because the people launching them have become too close to them, so close that their vision becomes cloudy. They can no longer see things from a customer’s perspective, and they get lost in the detail they feel so passionately about.
It’s completely understandable.
By launch day, you’ve probably spent months, maybe even years, living and breathing the product. You know every feature, every improvement, every reason it exists and all the technical wizardry that makes it possible.
Your customer doesn’t. They’re seeing it for the very first time.
Very early on, we encourage people to resist telling their customer about that tiny button that does the amazing thing, or the reduced weight of the widget or the 792 prototypes developed before they landed on perfection.
Because frankly, a customer is not arsed about the journey you’ve been on to get here. They simply want to know how it benefits them and why they should care. Agreeing these things is crucial to success, before anything creative comes to life.
Easier said than done though! We’ve been in many a meeting where the sales team think one thing, marketing another, the exec who hasn’t read the agenda thinks another…everyone brings their own bias. This is important, but the MOST important person to focus on is the customer. So, the most valuable thing we do is simply help everyone step back and see it through the customer’s eyes again.
A great example of why great products deserve great launches…
Willis Towers Watson: Risk Intelligence Central
A few years back we helped name, brand and launch a new risk product from Willis Towers Watson. It was really impressive with the potential to help global businesses make really informed decisions on their future. It could do SO much they actually didn’t know where to begin selling it. Their internal teams we’re confident selling what they normally did, but this was new to them. It was tech, and sophisticated tech at that. They thought they’d have to become digital specialists and expert demo hosts but the truth is, the primary priority was awareness…we needed them to be able to tell a benefit-led story about the difference it could make to a client. The detail could follow.
With objectivity, we were able to sift through all the different features and benefits and land on the true proposition…control. This central theme changed everything. Our audience were constantly making judgments on risk, and whilst WTW couldn’t eliminate the risk, they could offer a product that allows them to make the most informed decisions possible – offering control and certainty in an uncertain world. This brought every piece of communication, internally and externally, into focus ensuring a highly successful launch. There were no gimmicks and no talking paperclips, just a simple, on brand campaign with a clear, relatable, repeatable proposition. See the work here.