Your Launch Is The Sum Of All Your Preparation

Blog

6th October 2016

by Mike Lamberson

Under Armour has some amazing advertising, but one of their TV commercials really resonates with me. Its key message is that “You are the sum of all your training”. I have been fortunate enough to work on many new product launches, some of which were extremely successful. But, what made some successful and some not? What was the key ingredient? A clue to this can be found in the Under Armour ad.

The key ingredient is preparation. Preparation spans strategy, planning, and execution. The launch is simply the outcome. Once the product is launched, it’s nearly impossible to change its trajectory. In pharma, medical devices, and consumer health, we know more than two-thirds of launches don’t meet expectations. We also know that up to 90% of the members of a launch team have never launched a product. Imagine if Steph Curry was on a team of novice basketball players? The outcome would not likely be positive.

Preparation needs a guide – a guide based on best practices, is simple to follow yet robust, and defines team cohesion. This year I decided to create a playbook on how to launch regulated healthcare products. I didn’t know why other than it just needed to be written. Preparation is a commitment. Preparation is difficult. This playbook does not solve those. However, it will provide launch leaders and teams a path to follow – from setting strategy, detailing out the launch plan, executing the right activities, and measuring against key metrics. This de-risks the launch, keeps focus on the things that matter, and provides insight on launch readiness and eventual success. It ensures accountability and clarifies roles. It makes the launch not just effective (and successful), but efficient which can increase speed to market.

I tell people that I wish I would have had a playbook during my early launches (because frankly, I was making it up as I went along – not a recipe for success). So, after months of work extracting my experiences, benchmarking best practices, and talking to other launch experts in the field, I created LEEP™ – the Launch Excellence Execution Playbook. If you are starting to plan a launch, or are even in the middle of execution, I am happy to help and walk you through the playbook. Being prepared increases your confidence of success. And, your launch is the sum of all your preparation.

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