A product launch has one job: get people interested in something new. Easy to say. Much harder when your audience has sat through a dozen launches this year and is already checking their emails before you've started.
Here are product launch ideas that give people something to talk about, along with a few common mistakes worth avoiding.
Start with the story, not the event
Before you book a venue or a single supplier, work out the one thing you want people to remember. Not ten features. One idea. It might be that the product is faster, simpler, cheaper to run, or that it solves a problem everyone in the room recognises.
Everything about the launch should point at that idea. The invitations, the room, the reveal, the follow-up. If a part of the event doesn't help tell that story, it's probably just noise.
Build anticipation first
The launch day is only the middle of the story. A short teaser campaign beforehand gets people curious. A silhouette, a countdown, a date with no explanation. Keep it short, though. Too long and people lose interest.
Invite-only previews work well too. A small group of key customers, partners or journalists seeing it first makes people feel special, and they'll often talk about it on your behalf.
Make the reveal a real moment
The reveal is the bit everyone will remember, or forget. A curtain drop or a slide with the product name on it is fine, but it's what people expect. The best reveals have a bit of surprise in them.
Some ideas that can work:
- A live demo that shows the product doing something genuinely impressive, rather than describing it
- A customer or user telling their own story, then revealing the product that helped
- A theatrical reveal using lighting, sound and timing
- A magic reveal built around the product, logo or app, where it appears somewhere it shouldn't
Why a magic reveal can work
Magic and launches have a lot in common. Both are about a reveal, and both rely on surprise. A bespoke magic routine asks the audience to watch closely, and then rewards them with something they didn't see coming. If your product is right at the centre of that moment, it gets remembered.
Tech magic suits modern products especially well. A logo might appear on a guest's own phone, or an app could do something it definitely wasn't designed for. What's possible depends on the product, which is why it's worth talking it through early. Our page on product launch magic explains how The Digital Magician approaches it.
Let people get hands-on
If your product can be touched, let people touch it. Hands-on stations after the reveal turn watchers into users. Staff them with people who know the product inside out and can answer awkward questions.
For software and apps, have devices ready with the product loaded and a simple task to try. Five minutes using something beats an hour of slides.
Choose and test the room
The venue shapes a launch more than people think. Too big and the room feels empty. Too small and half the audience can't see the reveal. Check the sight lines from every seat, especially if the big moment happens on a screen or involves a small product.
Rehearse in the actual space if you can, with the actual kit, at roughly the same time of day. Lighting that looks perfect at ten in the morning can wash out a screen by the evening. And plan the bit straight after the reveal: where people go, what they see next and who's there to talk to them.
Create something people want to share
If you want the launch to reach beyond the room, give people something worth posting. A striking backdrop, a moment worth filming, a photo opportunity with the product. Make sure the hashtag or handle is easy to find, and don't force it.
Surprise is very shareable. People film what they can't believe, and they talk about what they can't explain.
Don't forget internal launches
Not every launch is for customers. A new brand, a new name or a new product for the sales team to sell deserves its own moment too. Your own people are often the toughest crowd, so the same rules apply: one clear message, a real reveal, and something to talk about afterwards. A stage show at a sales conference with a bespoke reveal as the finale is one way to do it.
Mistakes to avoid
- Too many speeches before the reveal, so the room has switched off by the time it comes
- Trying to explain every feature on the day
- Technology that hasn't been rehearsed in the actual venue
- No plan for what happens straight after the reveal
- Leaving the follow-up until people have forgotten the event
Give yourself time
Good launches take planning, and bespoke elements take the longest. If you'd like to explore a magic reveal, the more notice the better. Get in touch with your date and a rough idea and we'll talk through what's possible for your brand.