Where Most New Product Launches (But Not Apple's) Go Wrong - Harvard Business Review

With all the commotion about the Apple iPad heading into the Easter weekend, you'd have thought it was the second coming. (Certainly its arrival was greeted with some throwing down of palms.) But while most of the buzz was about the coolness of its design and the game-changing nature of its functionality, not many analysts were commenting on the particular genius of the launch campaign.

As luck would have it, on Friday my colleague Melinda Merino and I had lunch with two experts who had quite a bit to say about the art of the great product launch. Joan Schneider and Julie Hall of Schneider Associates have plotted all kinds of launches over the years (my personal favorite: Sweethearts' recent unveiling of its new conversation heart messages, including "Tweet Me"), and indeed, were celebrating the occasion of their own launch, given that they have a new book out. They were happy to give Apple its due.

"They are masters of mystique," Schneider told us. "They create this mystery, by parceling out information, allowing little leaks, creating curiosity and drama." She likened Steve Jobs to a sort of apparition who "appears when there's something big going on and then fades back from view. It almost gives you goosebumps when you see him."

By the time the check came, I was convinced that Apple's success isn't all a story of building a better mousetrap. It's also about being really good at making the world beat a path to your door. In Schneider's and Hall's view, this is the most neglected part of new product innovation — and that's why such a stunning proportion of new products fail in the marketplace.

According to them, for most companies product launch is an orphan stage in the new product development process. It sits in an organizational no-man's land between the new product development team and the brand manager, whose attention is consumed by established product lines. "If you look at Robert Cooper's classic stage gate model," Schneider pointed out, "it has manufacturing and launch in the same gate!" Failing to focus on product launch as a separate stage, its own discipline, keeps companies from getting better at it over time.

It makes sense. If you want to build a competence in launching products, make it a defined and visible process. Not only does that allow you to incorporate the lessons of past launches, it gives you a framework for incorporating new tools — the key example being this decade's explosion of social media channels.

Does Apple have that kind of discipline? Maybe it doesn't need it, given its well established reputation for innovation and Steve Jobs' natural knack for the launch. But unless you have something better than the iPad up your sleeve, probably your company does.