New product launch: a plan in three phases

A new product launch needs a plan in three phases: the preparation, the launch week and the weeks after. The core materials, meaning photos, video, key visual and landing page, must be ready before you announce anything. The store and your online channels must carry the same message on the same day.

Many launch campaigns do not fail on the idea. They fail on timing: the product reaches the shelf before the photos, the advertising starts before the page is live, staff hear about the new product from the first customer who asks. The plan exists so that none of this happens.

Before the launch: everything that needs to be ready

Count backwards from the launch date. Preparation starts with a one-page brief: what the product is, who it is for, what problem it solves and the one sentence you want people to remember. Everything else follows from there.

1. Set a measurable goal: sales in the first month, pre-orders, interest sign-ups or store visits.
2. Only set a date once you know when the stock is arriving. A launch with no product on the shelf works against you.
3. Write down the reason someone should try it now: a first-week offer, a gift, an in-store event.
4. Schedule the production of materials early, so that there is time left for revisions and printing.
5. Brief the team. Sales staff, customer service and whoever answers social media messages need to know the product before customers do.
6. Set up tracking: pixel, conversions and links with UTM parameters, meaning tags in the link that show which channel the visit came from.

Shortly before the launch you can open a waiting list. It gives you an audience that is waiting for the product and a first measure of whether the message has landed.

The materials a launch campaign needs

So that you do not design every item from scratch, start from the key visual. It is the central image of the campaign, from which all the adaptations are derived: shop window, poster, ad, banner, post. The basic list:

• Product photos on a clean background, the so-called packshot, for the e-shop, marketplaces and catalogue ads.
• Lifestyle or still life photos, which show the product in use or within a particular atmosphere.
• Video: one main video and vertical versions for Reels and stories, with subtitles for people who watch without sound.
• Key visual in every format: square, vertical, horizontal and print files.
• Landing page: one page for the product, with one message, answers to the key questions and one action, such as buying, pre-ordering or signing up.
• Copy: the announcement, captions, an email to your list, the product description and ready-made answers to frequently asked questions.
• In-store materials: shop window, point-of-sale signage and a short note for staff.

Work out the production time accurately. At THPAUL Studio, delivery takes an indicative 3 to 5 working days for packshots, 5 to 8 for still life and 7 to 12 for a campaign shoot with art direction. The minimum charge starts from an indicative €160 for packshots, €350 for still life and €650 for a campaign, excluding VAT, with a quote for each campaign production. If the samples arrive late, express delivery costs 30% extra, so bring the products in early.

Launch week: store and online together

On launch day, customers should find the same product, the same look and the same offer wherever they look. If they see the ad on Instagram and then walk past the store, the shop window should remind them of what they saw. If they go into the store first, a QR code on the signage can take them to the product page. The checklist for the week:

• An announcement on social media, email and the website on the same day, in the order you decided: the waiting list first, then everyone.
• Advertising that starts only when the landing page is live and you have checked that tracking records purchases or enquiries.
• Shop window and signage in place before the store opens, with an installation guide if you have several points of sale.
• A reason to visit: a trial, a presentation, a gift with purchase.
• Someone who replies quickly to comments and messages, with ready-made answers on price, availability and shipping.
• A daily stock check in the store and on the e-shop.

An in-store activation turns the product into something you experience, not just something you read about. In Outdoor Art, which THPAUL designed for Columbia, seventeen young artists took products from the collection as their starting point, such as a shoe, a jacket or a hat, and their works were exhibited in four stores in Attica. The product became a reason to visit, not just an item on the shelf.

After the launch: the weeks that decide the result

The most common mistake is to stop communicating as soon as the first week is over. Many people do not buy the first time they see a product. The post-launch phase is for reconnecting with the people who showed interest and learning from the first data.

• Retargeting to people who watched the video or visited the page, with new creative rather than the same one again.
• Reviews and photos from the first customers, with their permission, on the product page and on social media.
• The questions that came up most often are added to the landing page, with their answers.
• A second wave of communication: a new use for the product, a creator, a collaboration.
• A short review after four to six weeks: what brought in sales, what did not and what you keep for the next launch.

THPAUL works on a launch from the idea to the store. It designs the key visual and produces all the materials from it in the right dimensions, for print, the store and online. It photographs the products in its own studio, builds landing pages and sets up advertising on Meta and Google, with checks on the pixel and conversions.