Why Product Launches Fail

A recent article at Business Insider evaluated some of the reasons why product launches fail, as sparked by the observation that of more than 70 products constituting the Most Memorable New Product Launch survey between 2002 and 2008, a dozen are already off the market. Additionally, less than 3% of new consumer packaged goods exceed first-year sales of $50 million—considered the benchmark of a highly successful launch (at least at P&G).

With that in mind, BI launched into an analysis that generated the following ‘flaws’ contributing to why product launches fail – in addition to identifying several examples of product launches that experienced them. The full BI piece is worth the read for these examples; but in the interest of time, we’ve pulled the observations in the hopes that they’ll help others increase their likelihood of success – or to at least stall a launch and its respective marketing investment until its ready to provide a differentiated solution:

• Flaw 1: The company can’t support fast growth. So, to prevent bottlenecks, insufficient supply and a poor customer experience – prepare a fast ramp-up plan & contingency, should your product take off.
• Flaw 2: The product falls short of claims and gets bashed. Don’t abuse the ‘iterative launch’. Consider waiting to launch until the product is really ready for both consumers – and the competitive landscape.
• Flaw 3: The new item exists in “product limbo.” A product is in limbo when its touted benefits aren’t truly differentiated. Consider testing your product, its feature set and benefits to ensure they represent differences that will be truly compelling to its market.
• Flaw 4: The product defines a new category and requires substantial consumer education—but doesn’t get it. Try & explain it to your friends & family in 2 minutes or less. Or describe what it accomplishes 140 characters or less. However you time or quantify it – if it can’t be explained – and understood – quickly, its chance of capturing the market’s highly limited attention span is minimal.
• Flaw 5: The product is revolutionary, but there’s no market for it. Don’t skip over the most essential aspects of your business plan; specifically, who is the product meant for, and what is their cost of entry? Are they willing to pay it? Unfortunately, there’s little business in being a product or idea ‘ahead of its time’.

Business Insider: “Why Most Ideas Fail”