We’re pleased to share that CMGP’s own Jarrod Hamilton will talk about “Lessons Learned in Commercialization,” at Marketing Mondays on June 20th. The mission of Marketing Mondays is to help business people in The Research Triangle Park and across the Research Triangle Region market their products, services and technologies more effectively.

Based on his experiences working with numerous companies across different industries, Jarrod will highlight lessons he has learned in launching various products. Jarrod will also share his insights on how to maximize opportunities while mitigating risk during new product development and launch. In sharing these lessons, he will highlight case studies from pharmaceutical, consumer health and B2B software industries.

If you want to achieve commercial success with your products or services, you’ll want to attend this session. Hope to see you there!

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Read the full release:

• Business Leaders, not just Marketing Leaders - understanding how the business operates helps to get things done, and thinking in terms of profit and cash flow (not just new customers) and revenue is what the CEO and CFO are looking for.
• Breadth of Experience - not just marketing experience, but operations experience tying into or previous point about knowing how to get things done. It also helps to have diversity from an industry perspective to help foster fresh thinking.
• Intellectual Curiosity - how do you find that next innovation or opportunity to differentiate from your competitive peers? Not by running the same play and accepting the status quo - intellectual curiosity helps to fuel the innovation fire and create separation from competitors.
• Leadership - setting a vision and providing direction to mobilize the marketing team are important, but we also heard that having the courage to stand up for the customer within the organization is as important and often overlooked. Having the confidence to place a few big bets from time to time also goes a long way too.

Certainly these traits are not exhaustive, but rather representative of what was top of mind from our participants. For more on this topic as well as our full findings, our white paper can be downloaded here.

In one participant’s indicting words, this delicate balancing act is one of reasons why CMO tenure is short: “they don’t get the basics done but can do the big things well - the basics are what get the results and the job done.” How are marketing leaders tackling this challenge?  Two themes arose from the leaders we spoke with; strategic focus and organization agility.

For more detail on how progressive marketing leaders are tackling this challenge, including mini cases of their experiences, the full findings of our research can be found here.

How does one elevate the role of marketing for and within their organization? As one of our marketing leaders aptly stated, “it’s all about delivering sustainable, profitable growth.” Through our conversations with over 30 lead marketers we found three common factors shared by leaders that were truly driving and delivering sustainable, profitable growth at their respective organizations; an obsession with the customer, a healthy dose of innovation, and organizational currency.

• An obsession with the customer: The more progressive marketing leaders we spoke with recognized that developing a deep understanding of their customer is where the strategic battlefield exists and these leaders were obsessed with improving their customer understanding.
• A healthy dose of innovation: The most forward-thinking marketing leaders we spoke with were not taking the perspective of incrementally improving a product or service offering, but rather were searching for the critical customer pain points and re-imagining their market model to increase value delivery and capture across all stakeholders.
• Organizational currency: Our marketing leaders understood the importance of having healthy relationships with their cross functional peers, knowing that without it, their efforts would be stymied.

For more detail on how these progressive marketing leaders have approached these areas, including vignettes of their experiences, the full findings of our research can be found here.

We manage a checklist and timeline of activities daily including:

• Finalizing legal and senior management approval of all creative elements…website design and creative, advertising and other collateral;
• Completing sales training material content and managing training timelines;
• Driving internal launch activities, including outreach to senior level executives; and
• Finalizing “Key Performance Indicators” to track launch success.

Not to sound like a broken record, but communication remains critically important. We are days away from launch, and everyone on the team must be aligned and aware of all activities.

That’s it - we’re ready for launch. But the work doesn’t end there. Our focus now turns to tracking progress. To ensure ongoing success, it will be important to track progress against our goals and understand key drivers in order to course correct where necessary.

KEY TAKEAWAY - MONTH 4: Details, details, details…

In the days preceding launch, it is imperative to carefully track all activities and maintain open and clear lines of communication with all team members.

Josh Bernoff, Senior Vice President, Idea Development, at Forrester Research and author of two best-selling books; Groundswell and Empowered, was the special guest and discussion referee for this inaugural event.

The evening started with drinks, scrumptious hors d’oeuvre and casual networking. Once everyone was seated, Josh began with an introduction and some thoughts about what he has most recently seen and heard from companies across the country about the impact they’ve experienced through the rise of social media and the empowered consumer. In between courses he shared relevant anecdotes about Walmart, Sports Talk Radio, and Best Buy before opening the discussion to the group. Attendees questioned everything from ROI to C-suite adoption for social media best practices.

The most challenging issue shared by many, “How do I get my management to see the benefit, buy-in and fund my efforts?” It was clear that a gap exists between marketing and their counterparts who don’t see or yet understand the implications of the Groundswell happening all around them. “The most important asset to your company and its success is your customer relationship,” to paraphrase Josh. “Your highly connected customers want to engage on their terms when and where it suits them. That means one way communication, inattentive customer service, and leadership wedded to the past must quickly change or your customers will flock to your competition.”

Before the end of the evening, everyone had a chance to weigh in on the topic as it related to his or her own circumstances back at the office. The high quality, wide ranging discussion went on well past the scheduled time before finally ending with book signings and thanks all around.

As the evening came to a close, Mike Tobin, CMO of Draftix said, “Excellent event! Put me down for the next one.” Kiera Hynninen, SVP Marketing, National Geographic said, “It was an enjoyable evening and a great venue for real discussion.” And, Josh remarked at how enjoyable the select group with its poignant discussion was for him compared to the large venues and talking heads he’s more accustomed to.

Attendance at the CMO Roundtables is by invitation only. Open to top-ranking (VP, SVP, CMO) corporate marketing decision makers, members should have at least 15 years of marketing experience at start-ups, emerging companies or established brands. Nominees must have demonstrated marketing prowess, a proven track record of accomplishment, and leadership in evangelizing marketing and branding practices.

The AMADC CMO Roundtable programs and services provide a variety of personal and professional support including:

· Thought leadership presentations and studies
· Intimate peer networking
· Discussion groups
· Advocacy initiatives around strategic agenda
· Career opportunity referral

Upcoming CMO Roundtable events include:

· The State of Mobile Marketing
· Leadership 2.0
· Social Media Success Stories
· The New Marketing Leader
· What Does ROI Really Mean

The Washington, DC chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMADC) is the leading network of marketing professionals driving innovation, professional development and career advancement throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan region for all levels of marketing practitioners.

With almost 800 members representing over 400 leading organizations in sectors ranging from corporate, media, government, association, and nonprofit, AMA-DC is the fourth largest chapter of the American Marketing Association, the nation’s foremost professional association for marketers with more than 30,000 members worldwide. The AMA-DC is a volunteer driven organization serving industry professionals from CMOs, to marketing managers, to collegiate students.

After spending last month validating the consumer value proposition with a robust qualitative and quantitative market research plan and developing a marketing plan to support the launch, it is now time to bring the proposition to life in the marketplace. Month 3 focused on finalizing the value proposition based on research results and starting execution of the launch plan.

Month 3: Finalize the Value Proposition and Execute the Launch Plan

Interpret the Research and Gain Alignment: It is one thing to effectively design a research study to yield the insights necessary to build a compelling strategy and value proposition. Even more challenging is making sense of the data. Typical research studies could produce hundreds of pages of data tables and information. It is your job as the strategic marketer to find the most important nuggets that will drive a compelling and differentiated proposition. In order to do this effectively, it is important to work closely with the research vendor, internal groups such as Market Research and Marketing Communications and agency partners to align on the most important facts and implications for the proposition.

Are the results consistent with other research learning?

Does the proposition deliver against both a rational and an emotional need?

Will this proposition fulfill these needs more completely than the competition?

The research results are not always straightforward and clear, but it is imperative that all groups align on the answers to these questions. On my current project, we were lucky to have a very clear direction based on the research, which was consistent with research learning from other studies. We were able to align quickly to the value proposition and positioning and translate the strategy into a project brief to begin execution. It becomes trickier when you do not have clear direction. In these situations, attempt to remove “emotional bias” from the discussion. Strategy should always be grounded in facts.

Details, Details, Details…Execute the Plan: With clear research results driving direction, we quickly translated the findings into a brief to begin execution. The agency and Marketing Communications teams developed the first draft and the team aligned with minor comments. This document now becomes the “strategy contract” for the launch. All creative will be evaluated against this document. After completion of this document, I held a communication forum to review the brief. It was a large group, but it was an effective approach to make sure all stakeholders heard the information at the same time and were able to ask clarifying questions. Following this broad alignment, the team moved into tactical execution of the launch plan developed during the previous month. The advertising agency is charged with developing the website and other creative elements, the training organization with developing sales training materials and the internal PR group with preparing an internal announcement of the new service. With so many activities happening at one time, it is extremely important to manage the details. Weekly (and sometimes daily) meetings are required to manage timelines and deliverables and to make sure that all elements are effectively, appropriately and consistently delivering against the strategy.

A focus on execution and details will be a consistent theme as the launch date draws near in Month 4. I will continue to share my experiences next month, but I want to hear your thoughts. What are your research best practices in translating research insights into strategy? What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in executing a marketing plan?

I have now completed my second month managing the validation and launch of a new service for a large technology company. My continued mission is to share my learning and best practices along the way and do my part to help more new product and service launches succeed in the marketplace! No small task, given that at least 1 in 3 new launches fail in the marketplace every year, despite diligent research and planning.

In my first month, I focused on getting up to speed fast, identifying and building relationships with key stakeholders, quickly understanding marketplace dynamics and driving alignment around scope and key assumptions, framing fact-based strategic options, developing a robust timeline and, most importantly, keeping the communication lines open across the organization.

Month 1 was a little hectic, but the pace of activity only intensifies as the service is readied for launch and decisions are needed quickly to meet an extremely tight timeline! Strong communication remains imperative to continued progress toward the launch date.

Month 2: Validating the Proposition and Developing the Launch Plan

Finalize the Research Plan & Execute: All challenges are different and the research objectives and methodologies we choose to leverage vary based on these factors. It is important to identify the right questions that, if answered, will drive a higher probability of success. I am launching a new service in a very cluttered and competitive space. Most of the competitors are well known brands with the resources to support a large-scale initiative. Given these dynamics, it was important to get closer to the consumer to understand what needs were being met with current offerings, where there were gaps and ultimately, how our service could be positioned to uniquely fulfill these needs and differentiate versus key competitors.

I worked closely with internal Market Research to build a two-part plan. In the first stage, we conducted exploratory research in focus groups to uncover new insights, while gaining initial feedback on strategic hypotheses. In the second phase, we leveraged the learning from focus groups to refine concept options including positioning, packaging and pricing variables, to test in quantitative research. We chose an interesting methodology that allowed us to test more variables than a traditional conjoint analysis would allow. In this research, consumers will be exposed to holistic concepts. Based on their preferences during the exercise, top concepts emerge yielding the higher purchase interest, relevance and believability. These concepts are then tested against competitor concepts on both a monadic and discrete choice basis to understand the breadth and depth of appeal versus competitor offerings.

The net takeaway is to do the due diligence. This six-week process allows us to get close to the consumer to understand unmet needs and where we are best positioned to win in the marketplace. With one shot at success, we are spending the time and resources necessary to validate direction.

Develop the Launch Plan: The other big work stream in month two was developing the launch plan. How are we going to generate demand? With such a tight timeline, it must be nailed quickly to allow enough runway for creative development, production and deployment (which is why a robust timeline is important). This is where your relationships come in handy as well, because determining tactics, cost and timing requires a collaborative effort across functions (Product Marketing, Media, Marketing Communications, etc) and agency partners.

Building on the insights from focus groups, I developed a briefing document focused on the key consumer barriers to success. During focus groups, consumers clearly had concerns about the value of the service and had doubts about the company’s ability to deliver the service. These barriers helped us to identify the “job” marketing was required to perform to overcome these challenges. Our message needed to focus on the value of the service and we needed to tangibly demonstrate the benefits to consumers. These barriers informed our marketing objectives and strategies and we used this framework to facilitate a brainstorm with the broader team to develop a list of tactics to address each strategy. We gathered costs and timing for each tactic and developed a recommended launch plan and timeline. This approach allowed us to focus on the behavior we needed to impact to be successful and kept the team focused on the task at hand!

Month two was another busy but productive month that moved at the speed of sound. With quantitative research in the field and a tactical launch plan developed, we are well on out way to launch! We focused on consumer needs, developing a proposition that not only best meets these needs of developing a targeted and focused tactical support plan, but also was collaboratively created to impact the consumer behavior needed to ensure success.

With research results expected in a few weeks, we must move quickly into creative development to bring the strategy to life. Month 3 is all about execution! I will continue to share my experiences next month, but I want to hear your thoughts. What are your research best practices in validating a new product or service? Is there a framework that you have used to successfully build an effective marketing plan?

Here are the top five best practices to gaining a marketing performance advantage that we identified:

1. Foster Senior-Level Buy-In

2. Seek Strategic Alignment

3. Make Targeted Investments

4. Develop Strong Processes

5. Leverage Marketing Performance Beyond Marketing