![]() ![]() “Once you get down to the bare essentials, you know that search has to work, campaigns have to look normal, pricing has to be correct, and customers have to be able to purchase and get an order confirmation.” Thanks to a series of dry runs-of both the ideal scenario and the leak version, too-he also knew exactly how long it should take. In this case, Bashir knew exactly how to proceed with the shortest possible launch the “leak script” even had its own column in his launch spreadsheet. From leaks to system outages to unexpected competitor moves, there are any number of reasons a company might need to move quickly on a big announcement. That’s lesson #2: build a plan for partial or rapid release into your launch strategy. A leak after that point, though, would immediately trigger launch.”Īs part of its contingency prep, the team had also determined how they would modify the master launch plan in the event of a leak. Launch too far before the product was available to ship, and customers would grow frustrated by the long wait. If news leaked more than a week before the scheduled release, our team’s hands were tied. ![]() Our Kindle sales team had determined a game-time window. “To help determine your approach, mark down the earliest possible date you’d feel okay - even if slightly uncomfortable - launching. “We wanted to steer into the leak,” says Bashir. In this case, the Kindle team knew that they could, and should, capitalize on any early buzz, and the website traffic that came with it. Just don’t waste your time trying to plug a leak. Or if you’re, say, Apple, you’ll just completely ignore the noise and proceed with your meticulously planned launch event. In some cases, you might issue a denial in others, an “any press is good press” approach is in order. Lesson #1: Don't Fight the Leak.įaced with a leak, the most effective response will vary from company to company and launch to launch. Now, with a few years of perspective, he walks through those 37 minutes and the hard-won lessons that’ll help startups counteract any trials or turbulence on launch day. Ibrahim Bashir-then senior manager for Kindle, now director of program management and engineering at Twitter-was at the helm that day. Realizing that your product just became the hottest gadget in town - and you don’t have so much as a Buy button to show for it? That’s quite another. Still, preparing for an accelerated launch is one thing. With tech watchers sniffing around for details of the next Kindle and journalists holding onto an embargoed press release, there was a very real possibility that word would get out sooner than the team intended. ![]() How is it possible to launch a new product line in less than an hour? For starters, the Kindle team was as prepared for surprises as they were for a regularly scheduled launch. Thirty-seven minutes after that, the device was officially unveiled and available for purchase, and Jeff Bezos was getting ready to sing its praises in a press interview. Moments later, 20 people in a Seattle conference room jumped into gear. In the late morning of April 11, 2011, hours before its planned launch, the third-generation Kindle-the first lower-priced Kindle with Special Offers-was leaked.
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