Launching your brand is such an essential phase in your business. You’ve spent a considerably long time developing everything – from ideation, the business plan and structure, down to the nitty-gritty parts of accounting, product development, and funding. You’ve been through it all, and it was quite a journey.
After you’ve spent months (even possibly years!) planning your business, it all boils down to an essential final part, as your brand transitions from being just a concept to a fully operational business, and that is to launch your brand!
Imagine yourself as a parent (if you aren’t one right now), your brand is your child and launching your business is like planning for your child’s birthday party. You’ll have to get the details right so that the actual birthday party will go perfectly.
A brand launch is not going to be easy – but it will be worth it. With proper planning and the right execution in an organised time, things will flow through without a problem.
Here we’ll share ways to properly launch a brand, remove the guesswork and get the plans rolling to introduce your brand to the world.
There are so many details that you need to take into account as you plan your brand’s launch. And in this regard, you will definitely need help from different teams. If you’ve received help from a branding agency and other external partners, you will have to communicate often and get ideas flying back and forth.
Be intentional about your brand’s launch so you can leave a really good first impression. Make sure you establish your purpose statement clearly. This way, you gain attention and engagement from your audience, leading to sales.
The main goal of a brand launch is to create an impactful impression. To do that, you must have a strategy in place for primary and secondary audiences other than your target customers. One of the success indicators of an effective launch is how well a brand touches different types of stakeholders.
We are talking about all your stakeholders and partners – you have to determine the impact of each audience to determine your strategy carefully.
One good example of an audience is influencers. In the past few years, the influencer industry has been a sought-after group by beauty brands in particular. Influencers have built a solid following because of the relevance they’ve built through product testing and reviews that people find more believable and relatable. Because of this, brands looking into launching would send PR packages that influencers can test out.
Probably the most essential part of launching a brand is having a communications strategy in place which serves many purposes internally (within your organisation) and externally (your target customers).
For an internal communications strategy, the focus is on bringing everyone on the same page about the launch. This includes a timeline everyone in the team will follow leading to the actual launch. It informs every team member of what their brand is all about, letting them learn to speak in one voice as a company.
And then, for the external audience, first identify your buyer personas. Develop a strategy appealing to the buyer personas you have identified. Audience segmentation can boost your business allowing you to improve your messaging. At this stage, you can release a little pre-launch campaign. This creates a feeling of excitement that gets people talking about your brand.
Before you release your brand into the world, you have to make sure that everyone in the organisation has a clear understanding of what it is that you are launching and how to communicate it.
Everyone – from the board members, the ones in the leadership team – all the way to the employees, must know exactly what the brand is.
Getting the entire team to be acquainted with the brand not only makes them the perfect ambassadors but also gives them an idea of what direction the company is heading in.
Launching a brand is really exciting. But, it’s important to execute this smoothly, and that involves the internal audience. That’s why it pays to have a communication plan that highlights the timeline for every single detail that leads to your launch.
It’s important not to rush this process. Remember to talk the team through the timeline of your plans. You can’t have anyone in the team reveal something too soon.
Make sure that all the brand assets are in place, your pre-launch has been communicated and each team member is familiar with all the details about the brand.
External brand launches are often marked with the rolling out of your launch plan. Some of those elements should include your social media channels, press releases, emails announcing the big reveal, email signatures and your website going live.
Oftentimes, the launch is marked with public releases led by your company’s CEO. Think of reveals such as the latest release done by Facebook, transitioning to Meta done by Mark Zuckerberg on their latest Connect conference.
Now that you’ve read through the guidelines on launching a brand, it’s important to remember that there are still some things to keep in mind. As your brand launches, remember that it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Different people will always have different reactions, it’s best to come prepared with a response when criticism rolls in.
Launching your brand is just the beginning of the journey. Stay consistent when it comes to brand execution and don’t forget to have everyone follow the brand guidelines set out in the early stages of planning. Also, keep thinking ahead in terms of how your brand will grow. Treat it as a living, thriving being that doesn’t stay in one place.
The launch is without a doubt an exciting phase. But it can be daunting. Think of yourself as a parent, and your brand is your baby. The launch is like a big birthday party you want to throw to celebrate your brand and introduce it to the world. You would want to make it perfect. It won’t be easy, but it’s going to be worth it. If you plan carefully, and execute everything in good timing, your brand launch is going to be impactful.
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Creative director