180 mill launch ... Product Launch Example From the Pay-Per-View Boxing World

[Rob Toth]

I posted a blog entry that I think will be of use to members of this forum. I'm re copy/pasting it below (so that I don't force you to head over to my page)... but it's probably easier to read on my blog. So if you want to check it out there: http://www.robthegenietoth.com/

Otherwise see the second post below...

[Rob Toth]

Product Launch Example From the Pay-Per-View Boxing World

A few years back, a marketer came along and took on a positioning as a product launch expert… built a well respected home-study course on product launches and established a now well-known brand in the “internet marketing” (more specifically, information marketing) world.

But somehow in the mix… the majority of the IM industry made the mistake of thinking the concept of product launches had just been discovered.

Not to discredit the marketer who did a great job with his branding … but product launches in the IM world are piddly change and still amateur compared to the very sophisticated product launches in just about every other industry.

Sports being one example.

… Especially when sports meets entertainment and pay-per-view dollars start flying around.

This May 1st, 2 great boxing champions Floyd “Money” Mayweather and “Sugar” Shane Mosley face off on a special HBO Pay-Per-View event.

The fight may be about “who’s the better boxer” to Shane Mosley and many fans watching… but it’s all about the money from “the product sales” for HBO.

Here’s a product launch challenge…

How do you take 2 fighters, create a live event (held at MGM Grand Garden Arena) and get MILLIONS to tune in to watch it?

In the IM world, getting 100,000 on any given day to pay attention to a release is a modest-achievement.

But what about getting 3 million worldwide to shell out $60+ for the pay-per-view or $300 – $1250 per ticket to attend in person? (This PPV event is anticipated to get 3 million individual PPV sales so $180 mill for this one-day-launch just from PPV, no other licensing or merchandise and not live ticket sales).

How do you coordinate THAT?

Distribution (ie: “JVs” who mail for your offer) is still important.

But HBO has the distribution muscle. That’s taken care of.

How do you create the anticipation and the buzz though?

Because anyone who understands the reasoning for a “launch” understands that the anticipation is what drives the high conversions. The other elements such as social proof and fear of loss tie in, yes but ANTICIPATION is the big gear that makes a product launch a true product launch.

HBO has a beautifully smart solution…

Not much different than the teaser videos and PDFs and webinars of the IM world, but on a larger scale.

They run a special 3-week series called 24/7 where camera crews follow the 2 fighters, in their camps, during their training, during their trash talking and they air 3 episodes to build up the excitement and get the target market buzzing.

I literally have a reminder on my Outlook calendar to MAKE SURE I watch the Mayweather & Mosley fight because HBO’s 24/7 does that good of a job of getting me ramped up for it.

Here are a quick 6 parallels for this HBO Pay Per View product launch vs an info product launch…

1) Posters … I’ve seen posters up in sports bars about the coming fight for well over a month.

Are you running teaser banners for early branding for your product launch?

2) Three episodes (3 weeks) of the special 24/7 series leading up to the fight. EACH episode soft-sells the fight and reminds the viewer when to tune in for the main event.

Do you have multiple teaser content pieces? Spaced 1-2 weeks out to let the market digest and circulate the content? Is each teaser content piece strategically setup to soft-sell your actual product? Does each teaser remind the prospect WHEN the launch is?

3) Target market. The HBO series focuses specifically on the absolute target market: the boxing enthusiast. General sporting fans will also come across it, watch it and tune in as will others who don’t necessarily care about boxing. But the teaser content and the buzz promos are laser focused for the perfect prospect.

Is your content general, trying to be something to everyone? Or did you focus in to attack your perfect prospect?

4) Press and media attention for this event, of course, gives it a lot of “free” marketing. But it also fans the fire of getting even more of that anticipation pump going in people.

A bit of a PR push isn’t a bad idea for your launch either… it gets you the credibility icons (as seen on AOL Online, Google News, blah blah) and gets you SEO scores. But it can also start a ball of buzz in the right social media channels. However, teaser articles (that promote the main product or your teaser content), teaser forums posts, social media push, blog buzz (possibly with ReviewMe.com type posts) or JVs with the blog owner or flat out advertising, teasers in ezine mailings … all of this helps start the product launch awareness.

5) Buzz generates naturally when your core target-market naturally is excited about your upcoming product launch. Any boxing fan is likely well dialed into and interested in this upcoming launch… so talks of the upcoming fight in boxing gyms, on boxing facebook fan pages, in boxing forums, among boxing friends, etc occur. So do mentions on Twitter. It just HAPPENS.

If your product doesn’t quite deliver that same response organically, you can help fuel it artificially. Create a buzz worthy contest. Toss in a publicity stunt. Tie in a controversial spin. Lace in humour or entertainment. Provide easy mechanisms for viral growth. Do SOMETHING to help fuel that fire.

6) Distribution. For HBO this is already in place. They have their sales agents getting posters and other teaser promo flyers to sports bars and the right establishments. And of course, actually televising the event… that already has a full network in place.

What about you? For your product launch … do you have gears in motion to notify your distribution partners and your network? Do you have strategic alliances or a core-network that you help distribute each others products too? This is crucial by the way… look for the merchants that have product lines you’d want to endorse, build a relationship not just for one mailing (for a launch) but for a reciprocal support network.

When Apple is launching with $150 million dollar days (their recent iPad), movies are launching with $100 million+ weekends and HBO sells PPV for $180 mill pay days (and that’s just scraping the tech and entertainment industries alone… there are MUCH bigger examples around)… then it should be a reminder that the fancy $97 product launch ebook and the $2000 product launch e-course and “official product launch certification” from an information marketer is great… but to REALLY excel, to TRULY be great at laying out dominating strategies and coordinating entire teams for a REALLY spectacular launch, you should be studying models and techniques outside of the modest IM world.

[Gary Gregory]

Hey Rob,

Brilliant post!

You have hit the nail on the head. Internet marketing is still so very much a ground floor opportunity, that if we only tapped into a tiny part of what is possible by following the examples of traditional media channels when it comes to promotion, we would be WAY ahead of the game!

[citrus]

I'm a sucker for great movies and video games. One little teaser trailer would be enough to get me itching to buy (cases in point: Splinter Cell Conviction, 2012, Star Trek, Iron Man 2 [coming this Friday!!], Halo 3...etc...God I'm such a nerd).

Then again, buying stuff online just isn't the same as buying stuff, well, not online. Offline, there is much less skepticism...online, everyone's a cynic. In that sense, it's not fair to compare IM product launches to offline ones.

Another major advantage that "product owners" in the "real" world have is the sheer size of the market. If and when what we know as IM goes mainstream, our launches won't be as piddly as they are now.

Just imagine...IMers with audiences numbering in the tens of millions. Big JV launch, $1997 home study course, 1% conversion rate...there's your 9-figure launch ;D Wishful thinking?

[Desmond Chen]

i agree with what you just said but considering that HBO, Apple are large corporations with a hell of a lot of people, and most marketers are just a one man team...

[Rob Toth]

Desmond, absolutely! But it's not a "my dad can beat up your dad" competition I'm talking about here..

I don't expect Joe Marketer sitting in his home office with a virtual staff of 4 to pull off a $150 mill launch.

However, the IM industry I've heard talk of product launches as if it the sales process was invented by IMers. My point is simply to look outside of IM and creatively-borrow tactics from the biggest launches that work in the really big industries and then use that for IM purposes.

So the message that I was aiming for (maybe I failed on delivering it) is look at where launches are being done as 8-figure and 9-figure promotions on a REGULAR basis and consider what are some of the things THEY are doing right ... and then just adapt pieces to your own promotions.