Blast Radius COO Speaks at Forrester Marketing Forum 2010

COO says ‘Big Bang’ Product Launches are a Thing of the Past

LOS ANGELES - Blast Radius COO, Barry Yates, will be speaking about a new approach to product launches at Forrester’s Marketing Forum 2010 (April 22 - 23rd) to support the theme of the forum, “Adaptive Marketing: How to Design a Flexible Organization to Thrive on Change.”
Yates plans to ask companies to shake up some long‐held views about what it takes to bring a new product to the market in a rapidly changing media landscape.

This typical process is pricey, risky and there’s no guarantee that the market will latch onto the product, or that the initial excitement will be sustained. “The big bang launch is a high‐risk activity for many companies,” says Barry Yates, COO at Blast Radius. “It’s very much hit or miss.”

“Instead of focusing on the standard big‐bang launch we asked ourselves: how do we get customers involved in the pre‐launch, and how do we maintain momentum post‐launch,” he says.

Yates describes this new approach as an iterative product release that engages customers early on in product development using social media, where word‐of‐mouth consumer commentary reigns supreme over a product’s fate, and keeps them engaged throughout development and a phased release process.

It’s a tactic that Blast Radius has used with top brand clients including EA, Microsoft, Starbucks, Ford and Jordan with great success, and one that has worked for the likes of Facebook, Wal‐Mart and even Lady Gaga.

“In the old days, brands controlled product messaging, and it was unidirectional,” says Yates.
“Now those conversations aren’t just happening between the brand and the customer, they’re happening between customers.”

Yates says the untapped power of social media is the ability to get product feedback from customers in the pre‐launch period. Continue that dialogue with them during and – equally importantly – post‐launch and sustain your momentum over time. Product releases, not launches, are the way to move forward in the age of the consumer.

Learn more at the Forrester’s Marketing Forum, April 22‐23rd 2010, at the Hyatt Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

About Blast Radius:
Blast Radius is a strategic interactive agency focused on a new approach to marketing that advocates moving away from interruptive marketing and toward strategies that engage consumers and create open brands. With offices across Europe and North America, Blast Radius’ clients include Microsoft, Starbucks, EA, Nike, Nintendo, Nokia, and BMW. Blast Radius is a proud member of the Wunderman Network and WPP Group.