For the Marketing staffer about to attend, present at, or organize a Product Launch Meeting or other offsite Launch Meeting, some tips on managing this extremely intimidating project.

1. Marketing Essentials
2021
Professor Steven Litt
@StrategySteven
Ready to be a Marketing professional?
Product Launch Meetings
©2021 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.

2. In large companies these are major events.
If you are presenting:
Practise until it looks relaxed and natural
→ prepare, anticipate & do a rocking job
→ you are fully on stage to Exec team and cross-functional peers.
AND you may need to be resourceful on your feet.
this is one of the highest pressure situations you will face.
Marketing Tools & Skills
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Product Launch Meeting

3. If you are ‘just’ attending
Ie as Sales Admin, Inside Sales or as a Field Rep.
BEWARE!
Your focus & enthusiasm is being observed to ensure you’re a Team
Player!
And.... If there are celebration socials, be extra wary about ‘the bar’.
You are still on duty!
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

4. The Venue:
Usually off-site to focus attention.
A 5 Star venue: preferably safe, scenic, somewhat isolated to
minimize distractions, with multiple boardrooms, office centres, easy
transport to airports, flexible dining options for multicultural
attendees, group activity options.
The Empress (Victoria, BC), Banff Springs or Emerald Lake (Alta), Mount
Tremblant (PQ); in Ontario: Langdon Hall, Blue Mountain (off season), Pillar &
Post, The Briars, Hockley Valley, Millcroft Inn.
USA: Many choices! Imo winners: Kohler, WI, Scottsdale, AZ, Pinehurst, NC
(I wouldn’t propose Vegas or Atlantic City due to the distractions; and would avoid even fine resorts
if ‘Plantation’ is in the name (optics!) until/unless they update the name)
Tip: Hire an event planner- early! They have leverage, even with long
lead venues.
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

5. The Theme:
meeting will have a theme (eg ‘Move The Dial’ ‘Push to the Top’
‘Make It Happen’ etc)
The theme might appear on eg materials, agendas, premiums, etc
Theme must not be overly specific or reveal confidential info.
TIP: Hire an event planner- they know the classic to-do list; book the
venue; plan the samples/mockups, prepare the script & Q&A decks.
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

6. The Premiums:
How will leave an impression?
Wearables: eg Golf shorts? Polo short? Ball cap?
Biz Accessories: Lanyard? Pens? Flash Drives?
Other:
TIPS: these may hang around a long time. Play it safe. Do it well.
Don’t be cheap.
Go Premium (but fewer) over Value (at high volume).
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

7. The Timeline:
The timeline is lonnnnnnnnnnnnng
Plan well in advance – just to book a venue, the talent, and get buy-
in to a specific sales blackout period by Sales Management (no one
in Sales wants to take 2 days off!)
Sales Blackout & Venue booking are often the longest lead & most
contentious aspects.
Theme Selection should also be done well in advance because it
may be printed on eg wearables, staging,…
→ Have you organized a wedding? That’s easier than this.
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

8. The ‘What Else’:
Also Important:
select the professional entertainment!
TBD: comedian, magician, juggler, singer, MC, DJ,…who (somehow)
is also adequately politically correct and multiculturally sensitive!
TIP: Hire an Event Planner! They know how to do this efficiently and
they have leverage/contacts you ….. can only dream of having!
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

9. The Schedule:
Day 1: Morning Travel:
Arrive: Lunch, Team Building Activity
Afternoon: Big Splash: The formal 1-way launch announcement!
Evening: Celebrate/circulate/relax, other team building session
Day 2: Early: Regional/ Channel break out sessions with Marketing or
Inside Sales person in each room to note any special needs, or info shortfalls, for
success at each next step, each account.
These Breakout sessions may be organized….
• By Region: West, Ontario, Quebec/Atlantic; or
• By Channel: Grocery vs Drug vs Mass; or
• By Account: Loblaws/SDM, Costco, Rexall, WalMart, Sobeys, All Others
Day 2: Late: Travel Home (Marketing & Event ppl stay to pack up, clean up!)
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

10. On Zoom- this is a different era -
How will you handle that?
Recall- the objectives are the same:
• Generate Excitement
• Relay Info
• Gather input, find any gaps or info needed for field success
• A win-win attitude must come through! (in this together; how can I help?)
TIP: this is the Sales team’s day! A Marketer is their partner, NOT
their boss. Be humble! LISTEN well! Be their humble servant!
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

11. Is it worth it?
If everything works out, what’s the upside?
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

12. If everything works out…
• your department looks good: your boss is happy, their boss is happy
• you may be invited to co-present to accounts (invaluable experience!)
• the Sales team feel energized, informed, prepared
• you will have noted any shortfalls and be working on them ASAP
• you win leverage to request resources eg hurry-up forecast needs
If the meeting is a mess, due to ….
Lack of preparation lack of teamwork, lack of belief, lack of respect, lack of
support, lack of organization/planning,…….
Things will def ….not go well for you → Buff up that cv!
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

13. Practical Tips for the Marketer
1. Hire an Event Planning Agency ! (I hope I already made it clear why you need one!)
2. Meet well in advance with Sales Exec’s eg Account Managers, Regional Managers,
etc- get a specific list of all the items/ info their teams will need.
3. Arrive a day early; practise the day before in same room where Big Splash will occur
(stage, room, etc) with same AV equipment, and a professional AV team. (NB:
Ambient volume levels in a full room are higher than an empty rehearsal room)
4. Rehearse. Rehearse, Rehearse.
5. Anticipate likely requests! Write out Q&A’s. Prepare Q&A handouts (see separate deck on
‘The Q&A’).
6. Appear to celebrate; but aggressively temper any ‘beverage intake’. Stay alert!
7. Don’t gossip or speak negatively about… any colleague. Alliances exist everywhere!
8. No matter what happens, do NOT misplace/erase your Follow Up task list!
9. Don’t commit to projects/meetings in the first few days you are back in the office.
Your Follow-Up list (To-Do list) will be long; your InBox will have fresh requests.
And, to worsen the situation, you will be tired after many long launch meeting days.
but….aren’t there always Ten Tips? Where’s the 10th? OK: one final tip…
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

14. Practical Tips for the Marketer
The Final Tip:
Top Number 10:
When that idiot in (a Non-Marketing / Non-Sales Department role- you know
the person!) sees you in the office a day or two after the meeting,
and snidely, enviously taunts:
“Sooooo… how was the Pillar & Post?
Must be nice!
The rest of use of were busy here, working for a living”.
When this happens - and it will happen- you…must-…. restrain-… fist of death!
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
The Launch Meeting
Marketing Tools & Skills

15. SOURCES
• Cover photo courtesy of Mandy S Photography
• Steven Litt, StrategySteven.com accessed February 24,
2021 strategysteven.com
• The noun project accessed December 15, 2020 author
cited in text https://thenounproject.com/
• Thanks to Allyson Kinsley, Richard Hookong, John DePaolis,
Frank Reichhardt, Mike Puican, Mike Stangel, George Cugini,
Roger Gawne, Linda Martin, Dan Mendoza, Rick Franke et al
who helped me over many years.
©2020 Steven Litt . All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.