Product Marketing Is Broken -- Fix It With Thematic Product Launches

Are you and your team of product marketers trying to coordinate your resources for marketing and managing an unending number of launches with vague release dates as well as a constant stream of product managers demanding lots of attention from marketing departments at every launch? Do you think there is a better way?

• Give the best best focus to every new product release.
• Make sure you tell a story that is overarching where the whole is more valuable than the individual parts.
• Make sure marketing is organized and thoughtful so they can be the best they can in promoting the latest products.

If you're having trouble with the constant flow of roadmaps for your products and ever-changing "t-shirt" sizes that you use to determine agile project estimates and slipping date for the release of your products or fretting about failing to keep your managers in on the wrong side Perhaps it's time to consider themes for your product launches. Learn how this could be achieved in this episode of Growth Stage!

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 Transcript

David Vogelpohl () (00:04)

Hello everyone! You are invited to join The Growth Stage podcast by . I'm your host, David Vogelpohl. I support the digital product community with my efforts as . and am amazed by bringing the very best from the community to community and to you in The Growth Stage podcast. In this episode, I'm going to be interviewing one person who's very special to me. He is a coworker here at . He'll be speaking about how product marketing is not working and the ways you can fix it using thematic

brand new launches of products We'd like to welcome to Growth Stage Mr. Braden Steel. Braden, welcome.

Braden (00:39)

Thank you, I appreciate your introduction. I'm looking forward to talking with you about marketing for the products of today.

David Vogelpohl () (00:44)

Awesome. And I am so happy to work with you here at , Braden. The feeling was that I had some anxiety at first, since I don't often say your name loudly. And then I wondered what it might be? Is this a bizarre spelling that I was not aware about, or changed through the years or something else, but I'm glad you're there. It's true, it's. What Braden will discuss are his opinions on shortcomings of traditional product marketing as well as the methods that we, is using periodic thematic launches of products.

Braden (00:58)

Yeah. Thank you.

David Vogelpohl () (01:14)

to give full attention to new product launches make sure you tell a comprehensive product story that's more than the parts. It will also assist marketing to be more strategic and thoughtful so you can give the best effort to your releases. I went to Spryng organized by Wynter, W -Y -N The -T-E-R is what I'm sure, and S P -R Y -N the -G. It's not a formal occasion.

The discussion was focused on the various issues and challenges related to marketing. The topic of marketing products was brought up. The group was complaining they felt overwhelmed you know dealing with each and every feature launch, new product releases, and attempting to create the most of every single one. The topic of thematic product releases came up somebody other in the group suggested the idea. We had adopted that here at the time of some months ago.

Then I decided that it would be neat to have a discussion about this issue this morning. That's it, Braden Are you ready to start the conversation?

Braden (02:18)

Yeah, let's do it. It's a pleasure to discuss it. it. it. it.

David Vogelpohl () (02:20)

Alright, good deal. I've been here for a while now and I'm still unsure of what the correct answer is to this question. Was the first item that you purchased online?

Braden (02:28)

It's definitely a great concept. It was a long time that I thought about this subject. This was the time of the junior high school. The auction site was booming. This was also the time I got a PlayStation 2 with a bundle of games. It had sports games and more. It was then a debate on whether or not to purchase it. Then I bought it, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I learned a lot value from the console and experienced a lot of enjoyment.

Other options were with my own cash. The first thing I earned was a didgeridoo was the first item I bought with my own money online. This was my other alternative.

David Vogelpohl () (03:06)

All is well. I like how you differentiated between the money you own and that of your parents. What was it as a parent's money? Which way did you finance the PSP?

Braden (03:14)

There's a chance that I earned it by weeding the garden or mowing the lawn or anything else. The other was my income, that I earned by my own work.

David Vogelpohl () (03:24)

If you're trimming the lawn, you're paying money Braden. This is fine. Okay, so I gave it away a little during the introduction, but could you explain to viewers the things you are doing on the site or what you're doing in your job?

Braden (03:27)

Sure, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, sure. As a Senior Product Marketing Manager for . My responsibility includes everything related to marketing for all of our products as well as the field we work within. When a product is put on sale, you know that all the information underneath the product, and that surrounds it, and also supporting things like B2B games, video games and various other fields we're eager to enter into. is an official retailer.

The method we employ is to integrate everything starting right from the click of a button to in an online experience for sales. We collaborate with SaaS business, gaming companies AI-based businesses, B2B companies similar to this. that. that. that.

David Vogelpohl () (04:18)

Excellent, excellent. If you were to describe kind of what you did you'll notice that you dealt with numerous aspects. The topics included product release and feature release. You also mentioned verticals. The B2B category was mentioned. SaaS or video games. And the modern product marketer tends to embrace this kind of vertical positioning to market the product they are marketing. It, in my opinion is a major obstacle to the marketing of products.

However, what is wrong with product marketing? Was there anything that wasn't working with the previous method?

Braden (04:56)

It's really a excellent question. In reality, product launches depend on many variables that are out of the reach of the marketing director for product. In the case of engineering, for instance, if there's customer commits which need to be made, and sales become a major problem, then it's like"hey, we need to complete this before the release of another product. Additionally, there are many shifting pieces to these launch. Therefore, it is important to work with the product teams to get the commit dates as well as to be aware of

Are these items scheduled to get released? What exactly does "release" mean? Does this mean it can be accessed by everyone or is it being tested in beta? It's time for the next question to be asked what is the appropriate opportunity to debate it? What are some topics we'd prefer to discuss? And can we even talk about it since we're doing tests on the product? The issue raises several questions are being asked, and there's a lot of uncertainty resulting because of this particular way of the way that engineering and manufacturing function. The main thing that's broken is

it's so difficult to know how difficult it is to see the final product, and then set a date for release and get the product to go live. It happens that managers such as myself are aware, for instance the week prior to launch, one week prior to GA and the manager of the product saying,"Hey it's going to have been completed. Now, it's time to finish all the work. And then, it's like I'm holding to the rope. It's not the only thing I've needed to do. It's true that you've talked about verticals. There's been lots of discussion on verticals.

It's an enormous amount of time. So the issue I've needed to answer and think about is, how will I complete launch the product along with the other tasks I have to complete in the absence of any control over the dates of launch?

David Vogelpohl () (06:40)

In case you're running a floating timeline. The product isn't yet fully functioning. The team discovers a flaw in the last second. They are able to get through the release, and they launch the release in the earliest possible time. It's not easy to coordinate the resources of other marketers, designers and the content specialists and website owners and other things like that. The coordination of floating dates is the thing I'm hearing there. Is there a different aspect? Just like there's...

Yes, I've been involved in product marketing in various ways through the time. I'm thinking that I feel that every time I speak to an employee from the department of product they'll say I'm releasing X and I need to make a statement over the release. Do you think that expectations about the amount of time and effort needed to market different product releases is sometimes too much? Could that be a part of the reason you're missing from traditional marketing for products?

Braden (07:28)

Sure, indeed. The products managers are also product managers due to the reason. They're the ones who own the products. They're extremely excited about it. They've been working on the products for understand and even several years working to bring these products out there. So naturally, they're going to want to have as much support as they can for these products. And when it's, it's hard to find someone from the product team come up to you to declare that they are very excited over this product feature.

I'd love to have to receive a lot of help, here's all of my suggestions as well as to say"Let's pump the brakes up a bit in order to take into account the A, B or C reasons, but I'm not capable of supporting you or do it because, well, I don't have enough time, or it's struggling to maintain a solid relation with some of the product managers since you might consider that it is because they are not interested in helping their cause, or do another thing. That's not true. Obviously, you don't wanna help all the people possible.

David Vogelpohl () (08:26)

Yeah. It's as if you're viewing it from the perspective coordination of going-to market around the introduction of new products and you're dealing with floating dates as part of the standard method, as well as every other manager and rightfully as you've said, with the amount of time and resources they're spending on it It's like, lets launch an announcement about this. With all these expectations, along with the floating dates, it feels that you're not performing the best job you can. You're spreading your efforts across many things and you're finding it hard to perform your best task. This is the gist I'm experiencing. Does that sound like you?

Braden (09:01)

Yeah, yeah, that's right. It's the position where all different things fall apart all at once. You are forced to determine how to achieve everything. And not only is there only 24 hours in a day, not to mention that you have to work all day, and the stress of trying to consider, bear everything else in mind, take this approach that is highly tech-savvy and.

Condense the information into something commercially relevant. So yeah, there's many obstacles to be overcome.

David Vogelpohl () (09:35)

It was something you mentioned a moment ago, when we discussed supporting product managers and the relationship with PMMs as well terms of. Are you of the opinion that in the conventional form of marketing for products is appropriate to state that it experiences some friction with PMMs and PMs?

Braden (09:58)

It's true, I'm sure. I've experienced situations where yeah, it's certainly an a little tension-filled discussion when you need to say that you do not have the funds to assist how you would like it to go. When you have to make that decision, you must pay attention and know what the PM is looking for, however it causes tension. And, you know that you have to be able to effectively communicate when you're in a position where you have to be there and engage in those discussions while taking note of the discussions.

Be clear, be adept at logging what you're doing or, as in this case, deploying the process of thematic launches to avoid many of the issues encountered when launching an old-fashioned product.

David Vogelpohl () (10:41)

Now you've got the Product managers asking for the biggest megaphone they can get to launch their latest products. You have the other marketing departments asking, how can we plan more so that we can work better? And you kind of have discussed moving toward thematic releases for your offerings. Let's start with the basic concepts. What is a thematic product release?

Braden (10:59)

Yeah, great question. Thematic releases are bundle of products that fall under the umbrella of a particular theme. For example, B2B as the umbrella and other releases are aligned with the topic.

David Vogelpohl () (11:16)

So when we talk about themes, I'm guessing there's not a release every week. It could be, If you're really fast, but how release them on a quarterly basis, in a month-long period?

Braden (11:30)

Good question. We do a spring or summer and fall release. It isn't a huge crowd in the Christmas season towards the close of the calendar year, therefore we don't release it during that period. However, there are only three releases per year, with occasional release each and every so often.

David Vogelpohl () (11:45)

The reason for this is that the organization intends to announce that each quarter we're going to make this theme-based improvement to this product or product range, and later include it in advertising for the products. We're also planning to present it with a huge marketing campaign. How would it work if we contain the key elements from each of the items and new releases that are related to the subject?

Braden (12:08)

It is indeed. It has those aspects. As we review the customer's plan, we can say"OK, what's in the plan for the year ahead? It helps us organize the products into themes. Thus, we do not have to take a slant in the downward direction when we say that we must identify for theme A. which items have relevance to theme A? Instead, we will consider the suite of items we are planning to launch this year?

What's the overall theme that each of those items can be classified into in these seasons.

David Vogelpohl () (12:44)

It's possible to observe this and the only thing you can do is increase the impact. It could be that you're off by a quarter, or perhaps, at the time announcement or other event or there might be a delay suppose, and you'll know you're. Yeah. So you're decoupling the GA in the event you want to and your promotional.

Braden (12:51)

That's correct, yeah.

That's correct. Yeah. And that's a strategy, you know, we've implemented our GA actions we carry out since these products will require promotion once they become active. As a result, as element of the thematic process it is possible to have GA tasks and then thematic actions that we could apply to all product.

David Vogelpohl () (13:18)

Each launch, if it wishes, will be part of the themes that are released. You can also have kind of smaller version to be used in conjunction with the GA launch. The result is essentially a double dip as it seems.

Braden (13:31)

Yeah, that's right. Yeah. It's been a great help to ensure that our team members within our business can access GA. That means customer satisfaction isn't just suddenly getting comments from our customers. Customers are saying, Hey, I'm using this awesome product. I'd like to know more details about the product. The team for customer service wasn't established. It's not the case since we're in GA we're publishing FAQs as well as information based on values to ensure that employees are aware of exactly what's going on.

And then, the most frequently used advertising messages, like you said, can lag at times. If the product was to launch in January but do not have a theme-based release in April, the item might not get the same amount of marketing focus at the beginning, but it'll be tagged to the larger promotion later during the year.

David Vogelpohl () (14:17)

If you thought it was very strategically planned, should you add an X or an additional release between the theme releases, if you were able to get a, the GA time for that very strategic event you've been looking forward to?

Braden (14:30)

Yeah, absolutely. We do, however, occasionally release an ad-hoc version that we support. We attempt to limit them to just the one or two releases when it is feasible. In the meantime, we've designed a system that we have with you and the team of product developers which allows us to participate in a discussion and then think"okay, we're aware of this amazing product. This feature isn't part of the category, but it's essential for reasons A and B. And so we plan on that together as a team to ensure everyone is aware of what we're planning to accomplish. And then, you know, that does get separate consideration.

This means that you do not have to worry about 15 different product lines all at once that would crash to the floor after the close to the period. This happens typically the case when dealing with items that provide all at once.

David Vogelpohl () (15:08)

Thank you.

One of my favourite business jokes is the, it's not really a joke, rather an observation. The idea is that, Q3 for executives is an opportunity to begin Q3 and the engineering teams Q3 marks the end of the quarter. The teams are all sort of clearly, coming in at the conclusion to meet those quarterly OKRs. Yeah. Okay. I gotcha.

Braden (15:33)

Absolutely right.

David Vogelpohl () (15:38)

There's the theme that is due to be released this quarter or the next, but you have an exciting new item or feature that does not seem to be compatible with the theme. Are you referring to one of those rare topics you've been talking about that and could be a part of the theme releases?

Braden (15:55)

It's true. Therefore, I'll provide you with an example of our current work. The release of our payment feature was released in the beginning of this year. It allowed us to offer many cool payment options. One of those payments which slipped through the cracks of technology and was unable to be perfect by the time it was launched included Google Pay and everyone knows Google Pay. We sat down to review the feature and said, what can we do to make it easier to promote Google Pay? It's not a B2B feature. Therefore, we did a small mini release for Google Pay.

Created some documents for it FAQs, a blog post or promoted on social things similar to this.

David Vogelpohl () (16:29)

What happens if you have this kind of anchor product release and a thematic release which falls? This sounds like you were in the process of using an anchor product this was also the case with the thematic release that Apple Pay slipped from or Google Pay slipped from. What can you do? Wait to release this thematic release until anchor products are included? What other options do you have?

Braden (16:54)

Yeah, I mean, it depends. There are times when it's just an open-ended wait to see. There have been instances of that. True and I'm having conversations with the team behind product today who informed me that B2B could be worth waiting and seeing launch coming a little bit later this year. The advantage of a theme-driven launch is that there is no deadline. The deadline is set by us. So if we want to extend it so that we can meet the timelines for engineering and product development it is possible to do so.

We could also alter the themes at any time. In the event that a new major product is not launched anymore Perhaps we can select some or two options to make the perfect package to match the theme in a different manner. And so there's the possibility of a flexible model that still allows an opportunity for changes throughout through the year.

David Vogelpohl () (17:47)

This is a great idea. When I consider an old-fashioned marketing campaign to announce the new feature, it's like an announcement blog or perhaps a press release, some social coverage, email our clients, or contact our prospective customers, this kind of things. How is thematic release different in terms of format?

Braden (18:07)

Yes, I've discussed the issue in the past. The majority of those events persist to occur. In the present theme, these things continue to take place, however we also have what we call the GA tasks. There's more than just internal enablement within-app notifications. That's right, you give access to devices or application, you're giving these users access as well as our own teams. This differs from a theme-based release.

In the present instead of being focused on the many similar features, with this feature accessible, at bits and pieces it's possible to build the overall value of all of these elements. This is a huge contrast that's impossible to do in the case of the release of something similar in a piecemeal fashion through the course of the quarter or year.

David Vogelpohl () (19:04)

Yeah. This is a good idea, as it makes you feel as if it elevates the story. Because I'm a huge fan of the genre, an example that I consider to be perfect for me is the enhancements to quality of life which have been extremely difficult to engineers but don't necessarily help to make the product more appealing. It's just that simple, isn't it? Someone who's out in the world isn't aware there's a problem or some other issue. It's not always easy, since Phil who is an employee of the company that markets products to walk out and say"Hey everyone, we've resolved this. It's actually beneficial both for the company and the customers.

Braden (19:08)

Yeah.

David Vogelpohl () (19:34)

Therefore, it's thought that thematic releases don't just provide you with the capability to share the megaphone, they also help to enhance the narrative of a few more quality of life improvement.

Braden (19:43)

You are able to access many functions benefit from this, which are normally not suitable for marketing, or even the benefit of a short announcement from Pendo. They're instead displayed in a landing page along with other functions. Also, don't forget to make sure to share the megaphone. Share that megaphone. There's plenty of worth in small changes that improve the high quality of life.

David Vogelpohl () (20:08)

If you decide to take this method How many quarters the amount?

Braden (20:13)

It's our third theme, and in the next month, we'll be having the third theme's release month. This is scheduled for July.

David Vogelpohl () (20:20)

So, three quarters in, would you say that this experience is helping you to manage marketing resources and assist in the launch of new products, or is it still too early to tell?

Braden (20:33)

It's a given that it's improved on my part. The thing I'm seeing is that not just that I've got the capability to effectively assist the entire team of product developers as opposed to just supporting them, but also coordinate with the rest of marketing particularly demand generation. The company has a significant amount of lead times now, which they didn't have prior to this product.

and we can slot items into campaigns that were previously hard to achieve. Therefore, I'd say this would be the biggest advantage. But then the other benefit is that it allows time for us to tackle vertical expansion in other areas for example video games which we may not be able to dedicate the same amount of enough time or personnel to push the verticals forward.

David Vogelpohl () (21:28)

It was mentioned that you had a video game section for some time. The company has had customers that play video games for quite a while, almost since the inception of the business. It was involved with the market. Do you think that the segmentation of customers can be a factor in thematic releases or do you think they're more focused on features?

Braden (21:51)

Yes, segmentation plays a big role. In my previous post, the upcoming launch is about B2B. This is an area we'd like to market into and that we're enthusiastic to expand into. I can see a world where we're working with video games too. We've talked about how we've enhanced the functionality that comes with Apple Pay and implemented Google Pay. Also, the expansion of the vertical theme not only opens up that capability, you know, in terms the possibilities...

You'll benefit from this type of launch but it also offers the advantage that you can incorporate things like thought leadership into your thematic launch. This is something you might struggle to incorporate with traditional launches. So, you'll get a bigger, potentially an even bigger impact for your campaign and greater value out of this kind of launch for your larger organisation.

David Vogelpohl () (22:44)

Excellent. The story was very informative Braden. I appreciate the fact that you came to talk on air about this. This was an extremely interesting conversation at Spryng the city of Austin. I had thought that it would be fun to bring this discussion to the show. It was great. Thanks for being a part of this show.

Braden (23:01)

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me. It was a blast.

David Vogelpohl () (23:04)

Awesome. If you'd like to know more on what Braden is working on, including maybe his next theme-based release, please go to .com. Thanks everyone for joining this section of Growth Stage. Your host is David Vogelpohl. I love supporting the web-based product community as part of the job I do as . I am humbled and awed at having the chance to showcase everything that is great about the community to you here on the Growth Stage. Thanks for everyone's help.

David Vogelpohl David is the CMO of . Over the past twenty-five years David Vogelpohl has led teams to build elite engines of development and technology for top companies such as WP Engine, Genesis, AWS, Cloudflare, and other companies.

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