A commercial launch playbook is something many organizations should have but many may not. Conversely, what may happen oftentimes is that a system of checklists are established, but the overarching playbook is missing. The playbook is important because it pulls all the moving parts of a marketing organization together into a cohesive view.

Additionally, it gives a sense of timing, effort and likelihood of success if it can be defined and reproduced and improved upon.

While not always the case (perhaps never the case), a commercial launch planning process should start 12 to 18 months prior to a commercial launch. There is much work to be done.

It starts with understanding the offerings value proposition (“value prop”). If all has gone well in development, the value prop should be a straight-forward exercise in collecting information from various stakeholders and aligning and agreeing on what are the benefits and features.

In the next phase, a “message strategy” and a “brand strategy” need to be developed that will define how the offering is talked about, positioned and perceived in the marketplace. This Phase 2 is an important part of the commercial launch plan which often is short-changed only to be returned to throughout the development/content creation process.

Collateral development and content creation is perhaps an easier part of this process once the foundation has been established. Nonetheless, for highly technical products/services – one still needs to gather the respective information, provide annotations and prove what is being said. However, what it looks like and how the offering is positioned is already well understood.

Prior to commercial launch, sales teams need to be enabled for success through a process called “sales enablement”. This is often considered the pre-launch with sales professionals who ask as many if not more questions than customers and are an integral first-look for this new offering.