Stop “Launching” New Innovations: Why “Going Live” is Better for Your Brand

2) Invest in Small-Batch Production
When it comes to going live, we cannot confuse the need to learn with the desire to sell. In the face of rigid production runs, distribution timelines and retailer demands, the allure of the launch is tempting. For many big CPG brands, aligning the stars to coordinate a launch is more comfortable than trying to keep pace with their nimbler counterparts. Big Cos are built for scale, and you could rightfully argue it is their greatest strategic advantage. However, scale here is a double-edged sword. Inertia makes changing direction difficult. Increasingly, Big Co brands—and the brands they acquire—are leaning into small-batch production to solve this problem. Small-batch production is the physical goods response to the continuous improvement of the tech world— offering the chance to focus on optimization before slowly moving toward scalable and profitable growth.

Small-batch production is undoubtedly easier said than done, but many CPG brands have small-batch productions right under their nose if you know where to look. We have had numerous conversations with R&D labs capable of making metric tons of products on demand. These capabilities are often overlooked as production resources and only considered for optimizing a new technology to be prepared for at-scale manufacturing. The volume and required margin may not exist in those early days, but the lessons learned far outweigh the associated costs.

3) Consider Your Brand a Living, Breathing Thing
That being said, small-batch production may not be an option for every brand and organization. In these instances, we like to lean on one asset critical to next-gen success: brand. Unlike physical products and durable goods, brands are living and breathing. Good brands are anchored in a human truth, but continually adapt to the changing world around them. Whether an entirely new brand or an established name cherished by many, the emergent edge of your brand is a perfect place for continuous improvement and careful but daring experimentation.

We often use this approach when preparing a brand for a new launch. On a recent project, we took a brand live a full year before launch. Through three sprints, the brand was live for less than a cumulative total of two weeks. But with more than half a million views on a variety of content, we were able to get incredibly valuable insights on how to position the brand—refining not only the future SKUs themselves, but also testing subtle strategic nuances in positioning and creative expression of the brand. Without these valuable lessons in the wild, we risked getting grounded by corporate red tape, or worse, a public explosion shortly after the rocket boosters engaged. Instead, we carefully navigated the winds of customer interest and engagement to carefully hone our brand’s emergent edge.

THE NUANCE MATTERS
I believe most often we need to go live sooner than feels natural, and launch later than we think. I agree with Reid Hoffman and his fellow lean-startup advocates: being nervous about your market debut means your timing is likely right. (Think of yourself as a first-time hot air balloon pilot.) But here’s the important distinction: “go live” early, refine often, and hold your launch until the metaphorical stars are aligned.