What is a brand launch? Here’s how to make sure yours generates serious buzz
May 4, 2023
You’ve probably spent days, weeks or even months perfecting your products and services so that you can show them to the world. So, how do you get your dream audience to drop their jaws, click, buy and remember your brand so that they keep coming back for more? How can you ensure your launch doesn’t feel like letting go of a balloon in a light breeze, and is more like a (safe) explosion of (strategic) excitement?
Whether you’re rebranding your current offering or starting from scratch, creating a memorable brand launch can be overwhelming. A successful brand launch requires careful planning and execution to ensure that you actually get noticed by your target audience and, more importantly, that they take action.
What’s the purpose of a brand launch?
The purpose of a brand launch is to introduce your brand to your target audience and create a massive buzz around what you’re offering. Without a launch, your products or services run the risk of being friendless losers at a not-very-cool party – and who wants that?
When done well, a brand launch will build awareness, establish credibility, differentiate you from your competitors and communicate your unique value proposition. It tells your audience (in an irresistibly magnetising voice), “We made this cool thing just for you, how good.” – kinda.
Are there different types of brand launches?
While a product launch focuses on introducing a new product to the market, a brand launch is focused on introducing a new brand to the market. A brand launch is an ongoing process that involves building and maintaining brand recognition and loyalty, whereas a product launch is typically a one-off event (think new sneakers designed by rappers and long lines at sports stores).
There are also hard and soft launches.
A soft launch
is when you release your new offering to a limited number of customers (usually via a private invitation) so that they can test, give feedback, create a word of mouth excitement and get other customers full of anticipation about what’s to come.
A hard launch
is the full shebang. It means offering your new, market-ready product or service to the world in an attention-grabbing way. It is designed to attract new clients, media coverage or whatever else you need to get people heading in your direction and interacting with your brand.
What is a brand launch plan?
A brand launch plan is a comprehensive strategy that outlines the steps needed to introduce a new brand to the market successfully. It’s a roadmap that defines the objectives, target audience, messaging, marketing channels, and metrics to measure the success of the launch. A brand launch plan is essential to ensure that your brand launch is well-organised, targeted, and impactful.
A brand launch plan typically consists of three phases –
- Pre-launch
The pre-launch typically involves researching your target audience, defining your brand messaging and strategically creating your marketing materials. - Launch
The launch phase is when your brand is teased and introduced to the market through various channels, such as social media, email, and advertising. This can include both your soft and hard brand launches. - Post-launch
The post-launch phase involves monitoring the success of the launch and making adjustments to improve its effectiveness. It’s a good idea to create a post campaign report to capture all important results that can be shared with the appropriate stakeholders and justify doing a similar activity in the future.
Don’t just cross your fingers
It is important to have clear goals, deadlines, and expectations for your brand launch. Setting specific goals and timelines can help you to stay on track and measure the success of your launch. It’s also important to communicate your expectations to your team to ensure that everyone is aligned and working towards the same objectives.
Your launch could be as imaginative and fun as you want it to be, as long as it resonates with your tone of voice and brand identity.
Are you ready?
Speak to us today to get things moving for your own launch and make your mark and check out our campaigns for Grief Australia, Social Enterprise Australia and Social Traders.
