Event Management & Data

The Complete Guide to Product Launch Event Planning

Victoria Rudi
November 8, 2018

Table of Contents

Your company has just come out with a new product. Now it’s your job to make sure colleagues, customers, and leads know about it.

Product launch campaigns should include an event in an effort to get people excited about the product. You want to educate them on what the product is and why it was made — you want to make it clear what problem it solves. An event is a great way to do that.

Make Production a Priority

Event production is about bringing small and large components all together to make an event special.

Part of production can be as simple as having customers interact with your product. Depending on the audience, interaction with the product can be the highlight of the event.

For example, the team at Event Planet worked to introduce the Jaguar XF to consumers in Australia. The team brought the car right to consumers’ offices to check out the interior and exterior of the vehicle. Consumers could touch through an interactive display to experience Jaguar XF.

Or, production can include a little more. It can be something unique and exciting that is as entertaining and memorable as possible, such as an experiential event.

According to Next Level Design, experiential events are more than the average event: they are events that people will talk about years after it takes place.

“The most important aspect of designing an experiential event is sculpting the event defined by the wants and tastes of the intended audience,” team at Next Level Design writes. For example, you can have desserts delivered by hot air balloons.

On the other hand, let’s say your client is launching a new coffee product, you can set up a custom coffee shop at the event venue (more on venues later) with all different types of coffee.

According to the team at catering company Food for Thought, “a memorable event is made up of several elements, blended expertly together to make magic.” One of those elements is food.

Food should be creative at a product launch event. The type of food should be made with the audience and company in mind. For example, you wouldn’t want to serve a steak dinner at a tennis racquet launch party on a tennis court. Instead, serve appetizers and make food stations so guests can easily walk around and try the tennis racquet.

Promote the Product Before and After the Event

Before the event takes place, create your messaging to promote the product. According to HubSpot, product messaging should include a tagline, the problem the product solves, a list of key features, a value prop, and a 10-word positioning statement.

Another way to promote your product and event is to write an article on your blog leading up to the event. Give prospective attendees an idea of what they can expect — from the entertainment at the event to a description on what type of product you are launching.

Write a follow-up article after the event to discuss what took place. Interview attendees, interview your product marketing manager, and describe the event experience.

Find the Right Venue

Kristen McCabe at G2 Crowd writes that the first step to finding the right event venue is to determine its cost.

The venue should also reflect the type of event you are hosting, but you need to make sure it’s within budget. For example, if you are launching a new software product on a Friday afternoon, a hotel’s event space (a hotel that is easily accessible but also affordable in a big city) might be the perfect spot to have your event.

McCabe also writes that it’s important to find a venue that will suit the amount of guests you think will attend. Ask the venue, What is your maximum capacity?

Eventbrite suggests finding a venue that will provide the right atmosphere for your event. For example, if you are launching a new app for musicians, feature a live music performance at a small and intimate concert hall.

Make Sure Your Messaging is Clear

Messaging at and around your event should be easy to understand. Explain your product to the target audience by including who your product is for and what kind of problem it solves. You should also discuss the product’s unique capabilities and how the product is different than other products of its kind.

For example, if you have a speaker who is endorsing your product, be sure they know how to talk about the product by preparing weeks before the event.

If you are sharing content about your product on social, make sure audiences will have an idea what it is with just a short tweet.

If you read one sentence from this article…

When it comes to product launch event planning, production should be a top priority. Be sure to find a venue that is within your budget and is the right environment based on the type of product.

Your messaging — from blog articles to social media posts to speaker presentations — should all be very clear. Your audience will not get invested in your product if they don’t understand what it is. Always talk about why you launched a new product.

Your product launch event can be one people remember if you follow these tips.

AUTHOR BIO

Megan Wenzl is a writer based in Chicago. She enjoys finding useful information to help businesses succeed. Megan holds an M.A. in journalism from Columbia College Chicago.

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Discover how Eventtia helps world-leading brands digitize and scale their events

Victoria Rudi
Senior Content Specialist
With a Master’s degree in Event Management and a keen follower of SaaS technologies, Victoria is an event content master, producing insightful and valuable for Eventtia’s blog and beyond

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