What Apple learned from NASA

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELEASING AND LAUNCHING NEW PRODUCTS

The new iPhone will continue to gain traction in our collective imagination until it goes on sale next month.  For my part, I missed Steve Jobs keynote and haven't seen the ads yet. But on July 11th I'll be at the Apple Store on Boylston Street anyhow, credit card in hand like thousands of other people around the world. Why is that? Because this product is being launched like a rocket not released like a butterfly.

How about your company? Do you really launch your products or do you release them? When it comes to new product introductions, many sales-centric organizations still focus on simply getting the news out to customers once the product is available. A few companies, like Apple, attend to the greater opportunity a new product launch presents to lift not only the new product brand but the company as a whole.

Releasing a product is pretty basic. You put it on sale and explain features and benefits to potential buyers in the hope that they will approve and buy. Maybe you have a sales force that can twist some arms. Perhaps you create a sales aid and some ads. Sales start slow and gain momentum over time with the ongoing sales push. Many brand managers refer to this lackadaisical activity as a "launch". I'd call it a "release". The two terms are not synonymous. Here's why.

A true launch is characterized by a catapulting effect that defies gravity in markets and rockets sales to a sustainable altitude. It comes by concentrating energy in a systematic way to maximize the potential that lies within each product across its entire lifespan. That means working with all four Ps to create an explosive combination of product, price, place and promotion. It steepens the sales curve at the introduction of a product on the market. It helps ensure the product does not fall short of its potential sales level. And near the end of the life cycle it eases the angle of descent.

With a release, sales drive demand. Marketing activities are initiated on or near the release date. A release focuses on sales alone to combat the gravity of the market. A launch is just the opposite. When a product is really launched, demand drives sales. A launch monitors and fuels demand as needed to help elevate sales and maintain altitude far in advance of the launch date. By the time launch arrives demand is already high and sales shoot up to close the gap. 

We're experiencing this right now with the launch of the latest Apple iPhone, as we have with the launch of most Apple products. It's not just the product or the price or place or the promotion that is causing the sensation. But it the skillful way in which all four of these elements are orchestrated in the launch strategy that makes the offer seamless and irresistible. They make it look so easy we forget its marketing and simply accept it as a law of nature: apple sells. There are ads for the iPhone that will help expand their market, but I reckon they would still have pretty impressive sales without a single ad. Another reason to love Apple.