"You live with what you launch!"

The launch of a new product is a critical event for any organization. It doesn't matter if it is the first launch for an emerging company or the last in a long line for an established enterprise, every launch matters and every launch is different. Although it may seem statement of the blindingly obvious, successful launches don't just happen. "Build it and they will come" doesn't work. The foundations of a launch are built over time and has to start a number of years before the product is expected to come to market.

Knowing what strategies, plans, actions, decisions and choices have to be made at what point of time prior to an expected launch is the bedrock of any launch. Fundamental aspects of any launch have to be decided whilst there is substantial uncertainty around the final characteristics of the product. For example, waiting until the final results of pivotal studies are available before laying the foundations for a launch adds significant risk to the likelihood of the launch being successful. The first 6 months uptake after launch often determine the trajectory for a new product and that trajectory is determined by plans, investment and choices made over the previous three years.

The consequences for a sub-optimal launch are not just economic. Patients are impacted if they are unable to obtain access to new therapies for whatever reason. Ensuring that patients and care givers benefit from scientific, clinical, technological and information innovation should be the metric for any product launch. We owe it to them to get it right.

Some "food for thought";

- "Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance" - do you have a fully integrated Product Development and Launch Plan that lays out the actions, choices, decisions, resources, timing and dependencies AND the expertise required to track and execute the plan?

- What "No regrets bets" do you need to make and when do they need to be placed to lay the foundations for a successful launch?

- "It's not the fall that kills you ... it's the landing at the bottom" - do you know where the dangers lay in your launch plans? How are you going to mitigate those risks and minimize their impact?

- "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” - Sun Tsu - No explanation needed ...

- “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” - in any launch there is a plethora of activities and choices, not all of which are equal. What are you going to choose NOT to do?

- “Initiative prioritisation doesn’t mean distributing all available resources to all known projects” - Are you disproportionately allocating resources to drivers of success?

- “In a 4×100-metre relay race, one runner starts before the other, but in the end it’s the sum of the four runners that determines performance” - Do you understand the timing and dependencies of all of the capabilities and resources that need to be deployed to drive your launch?

SMART2mrw has industry experts who have planned and executed numerous successful launches. Accessing their skills knowledge and "grease under their finger nails" can ensure that your next launch is a success.