The Product Marketing Method Doesn't Work- Fix It With Thematic Product Launches -
Are you and your team of product marketing professionals have difficulty organizing marketing resources that can manage the constant launch of products? unclear release dates, and an unending flow of product managers hoping to gain a huge amount of marketing focus for every launch? Are there any other options for this?
- Be sure to pay attentively to any new product announcements.
- Be sure to tell an integrated story of your product where the whole exceeds just the product's parts.
- Marketing needs to be organised and logical to enable them to be successful in their job of advertising and marketing new products.
If you're overwhelmed by amount of different roadmaps that you have for your project, the endless "t-shirt" size for your project estimates that can be sloppy, and you're slipping your product release dates and fretting over not being able to keep your Product Management team on a reasonable level, it may be the time to review specific product releases. Discover how this can be done in the latest episode of Growth Stage!
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Transcript
David Vogelpohl () (00:04)
Hello everyone! We invite you to participate on this episode of the Growth Stage podcast by . I'm your host, David Vogelpohl. I'm an online community with products through my work as . And I love bringing the best of community-to-community and to you through The Growth Stage podcast. This episode, we're going to talk with one person that is very special to me. I work with him at . He's scheduled to speak about the ways in which marketing for products have been faulty and would be the most efficient way to fix it using thematic
Brand new launches are in the pipeline, and we'd be pleased to welcome to the Growth Stage our new member Mr. Braden Steel. Braden, welcome.
Braden (00:39)
Thank you so much for your time I really appreciated your introduction. I'm eager to talk with you about marketing the products of tomorrow.
David Vogelpohl () (00:44)
Awesome. It's great to work together here at Braden. It's as if I went through a time of anxiety since I don't make the use of your name while I'm on the streets. Could it be that your pronunciation was an odd pronunciation I didn't know about or forgot due to the passage of time, or some other reason? nevertheless, I'm pleased to have you join the forum. Yes, absolutely. What Braden will discuss is his thoughts about the shortcomings in traditional product marketing and this is the reason we're making periodic thematic launches of products.
Braden (00:58)
Yeah. Yes, I'm grateful.
David Vogelpohl () (01:14)
To give maximum attention to the latest launch of your product in order to tell an integrated story for your product that is greater than the sum of its parts. aid marketing in becoming more organized and careful in order to get the most value from latest releases for your products. I was at Spryng hosted in the presence of Wynter, W -Y -N T - E-R, I believe I believe, as well as S P - R – Y N, but it's not a formal event.
We were at a roundtable to discuss the many challenges and marketing and the topic of marketing products was raised. Some people complained that they felt exhausted from trying to deal with each and every announcement of the new features, or releases, and striving to make something that would be impactful for all. The idea of thematic product releases was mentioned by someone who was not part of the group. The idea was suggested by them. They had been adamant about it over the last few months as well.
Therefore I thought it could be interesting to discuss the subject this morning. So, that's all there is to it. Braden Are you ready to get started?
Braden (02:18)
Yeah, let's do it. I'm eager to talk about this subject. it. it. it.
David Vogelpohl () (02:20)
Alright, good deal. I've searched for some time and still don't have the correct solution to this question. Was the first item that you bought online?
Braden (02:28)
This is a fascinating idea. I was thinking about it. It was during my junior high days. eBay was in its heyday. It was also the time I purchased a PlayStation 2 with a bundle of games. It included sporting games as well as different games. There was constant discussion about whether or not I should purchase it. However, I bought the console and was awed by it. I got a lot of enjoyment from that console and had lots of amusement.
Another alternative is to make use of my money to purchase something. The first item I purchased an animal-friendly peteridoo. This was the first item I bought with my own funds. It was my only choice.
David Vogelpohl () (03:06)
It's all good. I like the manner in which you differentiated the money you own and that from your parents. What did you find that is similar to the cash from your parents? What did you do to finance the PSP?
Braden (03:14)
There's a chance that I did it by weeding my lawn or cutting it up or some other activity. It was the same as earning money from my work, which I made from my personal initiative.
David Vogelpohl () (03:24)
If you're cutting the lawn, you're making some money. Braden. This is all fine. Actually, I did it a at first. However, could you tell the viewers what you're doing or the ways in which you function in this area?
Braden (03:27)
Sure, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, sure. That's why I'm Director of Marketing Product, the Senior Manager at . My job is everything go-to-market for all of our products as well as the company we operate within. If a brand new product comes out, it's the entire message underneath the product and within the surroundings. We also support the development of video games or B2B or other sectors that we're excited to market to. Merchant of Record.
Our method is by integrating all the elements of the purchase button and concluding with an online selling experience. We collaborate in partnership with SaaS firms, gaming companies AI firms B2B companies, and other things like. that. that. that.
David Vogelpohl () (04:18)
Excellent, excellent. As you explain the work you performed, you covered a variety of areas. The discussion included product launches as well as feature announcements. Additionally, you talked about verticals. The B2B category was mentioned. SaaS (or video games). The current generation of product marketers use vertical positioning in order to market a particular product. It, in my opinion, increases the complexity of product marketing.
What do you think could be broken in the promotion of goods? What wasn't working for you with the traditional method?
Braden (04:56)
Yes, that's an excellent subject. The fact is that launches of products depend on many moving factors that are outside the control of the product's marketers. This includes engineering difficulties and the commitments of customers required and sales that suddenly are significant in that's"hey you must finish the product prior to launching it. There are lots of shifting components to these launches. Therefore, it is important to work with members of the team responsible for product in establishing commitment dates as well as to be able to see
When will these products be available? What exactly does "release" refer to? Does it have an overall availability or is it at the early stages of testing? Then, questions should be asked, for instance, when are we going to have a discussion about the device? What are the topics we'd prefer to discuss? Can we even speak about this considering we're evaluating the product? There are a myriad of issues and plenty of doubts arise with this model of simply how engineers and product makers work. Therefore, I think the primary thing that's broken is
It's difficult to imagine the end product. It's equally difficult to prepare the release date and plan for when the product will be at a point to launch. It's what happens when Product managers, like me, end in the last week before launch one week before GA and then the product manager saying"This is going to be completed. And then, get to and complete this task. Then it's like, okay I'm being held for just a moment. I got other stuff I had to finish. There's no doubt that you've discussed about verticals. There's been plenty of discussion regarding verticals.
Indeed, it's a long time too. So, the issue I've been asked to resolve and consider is how do I accomplish the task of launching my product, as well as the other facets of my work in the absence of the control of the date for release?
David Vogelpohl () (06:40)
There have been reports of floating timelines. The product's not fully functional. The team finds a problem before the deadline. They're able to speed through the publication and get the publication out before. It's not simple to coordinate resources with other companies like Webmasters, designers, content creators, and things like that. It's a challenge to manage floating dates. is exactly what I'm hearing. Is there a different aspect? Just like the one that which you've...
In reality, I've been involved in product marketing in various capacities during the time. It seems as if every whenever I speak to someone from a product that you know, they're thinking I'm stating X and I'm going to announce it and then declare the product. Are you of the opinion that your expectations regarding the amount of effort needed to create these launches often overly high? Perhaps that's the problem with the traditional approach in marketing for products?
Braden (07:28)
Sure, indeed. It's true that those are product managers. They're managers due to an incentive. They're the people who own the items. They're extremely excited about this. It's been a long time since they've worked on these products since a while, attempting to make sure that these items will be released. Naturally, they'll need all the support they get from the items. It can be very difficult to have a senior employee of the team arrive at your residence and say"I'm really excited about this new product.
I'm looking for a great deal of support, this is the entire list of suggestions and to be honest, we'll let the brakes go at a slight angle to permit any A,B, or C explanation, but I'm in no position to assist you with your suggestions, or because I don't have enough time or funds. It's challenging to keep an ongoing connection with your manager for your company, since you might think because they're feeling, you shouldn't need to assist anyone. However, it's not the case. Naturally, your aim is to help everyone you can.
David Vogelpohl () (08:26)
Yeah. You're at the point of coordinating an ongoing marketing campaign for an event and juggling floating dates that are common for the product manager, as well as any other manager of a product, and that's a good thing, since given the amount of time and effort that they're investing in the campaign and the time it takes to make this announcement. However, with many demands and floating dates, it's easy to feel like you're not doing the best job. It's like you're spreading yourself across everything and it's hard to really achieve your best doing your job. That's what I'm receiving. Do you think that's plausible?
Braden (09:01)
Yeah, yeah, that's right. The situation is where everything goes down in one go. You must figure out how you can achieve every one of them. There are not only 24 hours in a day, and you have to be working for all days of the week and also, the pressure of keeping all the things you have to think about within your head. This is why you must adopt this technique as well.
reduce them to an item that's market-oriented. There are a variety of problems to overcome.
David Vogelpohl () (09:35)
The issue was raised earlier when we discussed the importance of support for product managers and their relationship with PMMs and PMs in relation to. Do you believe that the conventional method of marketing product for sale, would be fair to say that it may cause tensions with PMs as well?
Braden (09:58)
Yes, it's real. There have been times when there's a bit tense in which it is necessary to acknowledge that I'm not equipped to help you decide your direction. proceed. In those instances, you need to keep an eye on what your PM's contemplating and this could cause tension. You know, you need to be able to effectively communicate when it is necessary to be aware and attentive.
Clear, proficient at recording what you're doing as well as, if needed, the instance of deploying the theme-based method of launch to assist in avoiding many of the problems that could arise while in the process of launching an ordinary product.
David Vogelpohl () (10:41)
You have Product managers seeking the largest microphone they can possibly get for their announcements. A majority of marketers in the community is saying we need to be more organized to perform better work? There has been talk of shifting to thematic announcements of products. Therefore, let's begin with the fundamentals. What's a theme-based release?
Braden (10:59)
Yeah, great question. Thematic releases are those which are connected to the topic. As an example, B2B as the umbrella and all the products are in line to the theme.
David Vogelpohl () (11:16)
When we speak of thematic releases, I mean I'm assuming that there's not one release per week. Perhaps it's because you're extremely committed, however do you think it's happening each quarter, or each month?
Braden (11:30)
Good question. The spring release is available or a fall and summer release. There is a lack of spirit for Christmas towards the end of the calendar year consequently we do not make it available during that time. It's true, only three times a year, and occasionally, we release ad-hoc versions in between.
David Vogelpohl () (11:45)
The rationale behind this is that the company plans to announce each quarter we'll introduce theme-based enhancements for this product or line, and incorporate it into marketing campaigns of the product and we'll work to bring it about through a single campaign. What happens if we integrate all the elements of each release and item in that subject?
Braden (12:08)
It is. It includes these elements. As we go through the plan of a customer, we can say okay What are we going for the in the coming year? It helps us organize the items into themes. Therefore, we don't have to go in a downward-facing direction when saying that we must find a solution for theme A. What products align with theme A? Instead, let's examine the items that are expected to be released in the coming year?
What's the overall subject matter this product might fall under during these seasons.
David Vogelpohl () (12:44)
What you'll receive and you'll hear more. The chances are that you won't hearing it until the next quarter after the release, or any other event that may cause an issue regarding the timing, I'm thinking, and you'll be aware of when you've been affected. Yeah. It means that you're segregating the GA in case you want to from the promotion.
Braden (12:51)
That's correct, yeah.
That's correct. Yeah. That's an approach, that's the main reason why we've come to our GA activities that we execute because these products need to be promoted after they become active. This is why that's why as a part of our thematic approach there are GA strategies and topics that we are able to apply to our various offerings.
David Vogelpohl () (13:18)
Any new product that you can, if you are able, can be a part of thematic releases. Then you can have a kind of a lesser version such an event like the GA launch. There is a sort of double dip is what it sounds like.
Braden (13:31)
Yeah, that's right. Yeah. It's really helped in making sure that the personnel in our business have access to GA. This means that customer satisfaction isn't a result of an abrupt flood of comments from customers. Customers are told by customers,"Hello, I'm using your product. I'd like to know more about the product. The Customer Success team wasn't set up. This isn't the case because at GA we're constantly writing Value and FAQs to make sure that our employees know what's going on.
In addition, your go-to marketing messages, as you've said, might be slow occasionally. If you've got a product set to be launched at the beginning of January but you do not plan to have a theme-based release until April, your product may not get the same level of publicity at the beginning, but it'll be in a position to join more of the marketing effort later on the course of the year.
David Vogelpohl () (14:17)
If you were convinced that this was a carefully planned and strategic strategy, why not throw in the X larger release in the middle of all the thematic releases in the event you are in a position to get a GA time for a similar high-quality product that you've been looking forward to?
Braden (14:30)
Yeah, absolutely. There are also occasional releases that we're able help with. We strive to limit the number of releases when they're likely. We've created a method together with our team of developers responsible for development which involves conversations and then we think that we've got this great product. The product doesn't belong to the subject, but it's crucial due to reasons A, B and C. Therefore, we've planned the team to make sure everyone's understanding what we're aiming to achieve. Also, the product gets an individual attention.
However, the advantage is that you don't have the chance of fifteen things disappearing towards the end of the quarter. It's not uncommon since the software delivers all of the information at one time.
David Vogelpohl () (15:08)
Thank you.
One of my favorite business jokes is that, it's true that the reality is that executives' were in Q3 when they begin Q3 while the engineering team's Q3 marks that the end of the quarter. This suggests that they're kind of naturally getting closer to the end of the quarter to achieve the quarterly OKRs. Yeah. Okay. I'm here to help you.
Braden (15:33)
Yes, precisely.
David Vogelpohl () (15:38)
The theme will release either this quarter or following one, but there's a major brand new product or feature that's incompatible within the theme. Is this one of those unusual ones you've been discussing that might come up within the interval between the launch of the thematic theme?
Braden (15:55)
This is exactly what you'd want. In this article, I'll show you with an example from the work we're currently conducting. The release of payments was completed in the beginning of the year. We had the ability to offer various intriguing ways to pay. One of the payment options which it appeared that engineering couldn't be able to get perfect at the moment that the launch event took place included Google Pay and everyone knows Google Pay. So, we were able to sit down and review Google Pay and then asked what can we do to ensure you're wrong when we promote Google Pay? This isn't intended to be an enterprise-focused service. We've made a tiny release for Google Pay.
I've made a couple of documents to accompany it FAQs, a blog article or blog post posted via social media networks, as similar to those mentioned above.
David Vogelpohl () (16:29)
What can you do if you've similar releases as your anchor release, however a theme launch which isn't as successful? It sounded as if you're still part of the anchor product, but in a thematic launch Apple Pay slipped from or Google Pay slipped from. So what should you do? Do you wait to announce the thematic release until anchor products can be included? What should you do?
Braden (16:54)
Yeah, I mean, it depends. Oftentimes it can be an open-ended wait and see. There have been instances of this. We've had that happen. with the group who are in charge of the product today. They I mentioned that B2B may be an option in the case of delay and a launch date when it is in the year. The advantage of a Thematic Launch is that it doesn't have a deadline that is hard to meet. We're setting the deadline ourselves. If we require to extend by a small amount so that we can better achieve the deadlines for design and the final product, we are able to.
The theme can be changed anytime. If a crucial feature may not become available, or has no plans to become available it's possible to take other minor aspects to build an ideal package that is compatible with the theme with a fresh way. There's plenty of possibilities for you to modify your design in order to be aware of changes throughout the course of.
David Vogelpohl () (17:47)
This is a great idea. In my opinion, if you think of an old-fashioned campaign for marketing products when there is making an announcement regarding an upcoming feature, it's similar to the announcement blog post, or perhaps a press release with some social media, contact our customers via email and send messages or similar products. What is the difference between thematic releases in the way of design?
Braden (18:07)
The topic was discussed during a time in my life. A lot of these events are still happening. As of the moment the events happen, however we do will call these GA tasks. We have various options similar to the internal use of notification notifications for apps. If anybody had access to the computer or application, they could access the device or software. This is what we're offering to our customers as well as our own internal team. This is different from the theme version.
Then, at the time rather than being attentive to the majority of other functions, like, "hey there's this feature accessible, fragmented and bits and pieces," we're able to create a convincing story about the overall worth of each of these features. This is a significant distinction you can't make by releasing an update, for example one piecemeal release in one quarter or even a whole year.
David Vogelpohl () (19:04)
Yeah. There's a sense that it can help you improve the story. I am a lover and my ideal example is the increase in the quality of life that have been incredibly difficult to design however, they do not increase the worth for the item. Since, are you conscious of the concerns I'm speaking about? Someone on the opposite side doesn't know there's the issue, or it could be something else. So, it's typically difficult for Phil as a marketer to walk out and say"Hey everybody, we've solved the issue. The reality is that it turned out to be extremely profitable for both the business as well as the clients.
Braden (19:08)
Yeah.
David Vogelpohl () (19:34)
It's that thematic releases permit you to basically broadcast the megaphone, however, they can also help the tale of other high-quality of life improvements.
Braden (19:43)
There are several benefits of this. The company won't get marketing assistance or even a short announcement from Pendo. They're rather displayed on a web page which is on top of the webpage with various functions. So, well, do take advantage of this megaphone. There's a lot to gain from doing the little things for instance, the quality of your life.
David Vogelpohl () (20:08)
So, have this technique worked? What are the quarters of your daily time?
Braden (20:13)
The third launch is underway and will begin our third thematic launch themes in July.
David Vogelpohl () (20:20)
In the three quarters that have passed, do you consider that this has enhanced your ability to coordinate marketing resources as well as support product launches? But is it yet too early to say?
Braden (20:33)
I'd like to say that it's certainly been more effective than it was before as I was the person who helped make the change occur. The change I've seen isn't only the fact that I'm now able to provide more effectively support the people who are driving the product. I also support them as well as work with other departments of marketing, especially demand gen. It's true that they get more leads that they didn't had prior to the launch of the product.
Also, it's possible to add elements to campaigns that previously weren't able to succeed. This is perhaps the biggest benefit. The other advantage is that it's opened an opportunity to concentrate on additional vertical growth, such as video games or other games. We wouldn't have had as sufficient time, or staff to push these verticals ahead.
David Vogelpohl () (21:28)
Video games were a popular activity in the earlier times. There were video gamers in the company for a long time from the beginning of its existence. The business was getting into the video gaming segment. Are you of the view that such segments might be part of thematic release but do you believe it is than a matter of the feature sets?
Braden (21:51)
Segmentation is an essential role. Like I've mentioned, the upcoming launch of ours will be geared towards B2B. This is an industry we hope to enter into and look forward to expanding into. It's possible to imagine a future where we're making that happen with video games as well. We've talked about the improvements that we've made to our Apple Pay and implemented Google Pay. Furthermore, the growth of vertical themes is open to new opportunities and possibilities, but also allows you to...
The advantages of a launch that is built around themes, however there is also the benefit of including things like thinking leadership in your event. These are things you could struggle to integrate with standard releases of items. So, you'll be able to gain a larger, more likely and even more powerful boost for your campaign and also greater benefit from these launches for the general public.
David Vogelpohl () (22:44)
Excellent. Well, this has been a fascinating experience Braden. I'm glad that you were on the radio talking about it. The debate was fantastic that was held in Spryng Radio this past week in Austin. I came up with the idea to make it a part of to the program and this debate was awe-inspiring. Thanks for being here with us.
Braden (23:01)
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for inviting me. It was truly enjoyable.
David Vogelpohl () (23:04)
Awesome. If you'd like checking out some more of what Braden is working on and possibly his next theme album go to .com. Thank you for taking part on this episode of Growth Stage. This segment's host the present time will be David Vogelpohl. I love supporting the web-based communities that offer products as part of my role as host at . It's my pleasure to present all the amazing things from the community onto the Growth Stage. We appreciate everyone's support.
David Vogelpohl David is the CMO of . More than 25 years David Vogelpohl has led teams building elite engines of development and technologies for major companies including WP Engine, Genesis, AWS, Cloudflare, and numerous others.
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