Product Launch in Thailand

An impossible question to answer with any conviction, but generally whenever you believe there is a demand for it. You may be motivated to launch a follow-on product (or range expansion) following the successful launch of your previous product; you may introduce the product to a new market because it did well in other overseas markets and you believe the consumer behaviour in your new target jurisdiction indicates it will also receive a positive response there.

In terms of the PR industry, the PR agency does not usually have any say in when a product or service will launch, as that is up to the marketing manager (or product manager, or CEO) who has created the launch plan, and there may be hundreds of reasons why they have decided to launch or hold fire.

There are two main drivers which will result in your ability to answer the question, “When should you launch a product?” – one is your market research, and the other is a careful discussion with your intended PR partner. Your PR agency will play a massive role in determining if the launch is a success.

Please see the paragraph immediately below for a helpful overview. Generally though, your efforts will be divided between the traditional method and the digital method. The most effective strategy will leverage both. For traditional comms in support of a new product launch, you’re usually thinking about: press releases, calendar news, photo releases and story scoops, and their distribution to target media organisations, along with associated info sheets, biographies, Q&As and supporting explainers, etc. Your pure digital marketing may be a paid ads-based program to connect quickly to potential consumers, while also leveraging the social and influence spheres, so that is promoting on Facebook and LinkedIn, for example, whilst also leveraging one or more KOLS on Instagram or other preferred platform.

In terms of that meaning a “product launch from the perspective of the actual marketing” (i.e.- bringing it to market logistically), anything from nothing to millions, as it will depend on what the product is, how it is sold, and how many countries you plan to launch in.

If we consider the question in pure PR terms, though, this is a lot more pointed in its answer. With Gemini, the key services we propose in support of your launch are any combination of the following:

• 2x Press releases, write and distribute (before & after): 60,000 THB
• Social media content calendar, per month: 20,000 THB
• Advertorial, scoop or editorial (inc. publishing cost): 30,000 THB
• Virtual press conference with media attendance: 140,000 THB
• Media interview with a top magazine or TV channel: 40,000 THB
• KOL to serve as ambassador and post about launch: XX KOL fee + 10% management fee

For PR, there is a tried and tested “workflow” to getting the most out of the plan. Before the launch event, we would recommend to send a skinny teaser-type press release called a calendar news. This will contain a sneak peak of what the product is and why the launch event is important, as well as key dates, times, pricing, etc.

Next, we would issue formal media invitations to journalists one by one, to ensure maximum attendance. On the day of the actual launch, all of the journalists, editors and media representatives would be given a full, in-depth detailed press release explaining the product, its benefits, the company, its mission and vision etc. Finally, shortly after the conclusion of the press event (typically a few days after), a photo release will be issued to attending and non-attending media to show what your event looked like and who attended.

With this approach, you are creating anticipation ahead of the launch while covering all your bases in terms of providing different content types to all of the different media organisations. You would also typically support the launch during the pre-launch phase (especially) by leveraging social media and influencer marketing. You may consider all of these sequential steps to be ‘tactical components’, and the whole plan as one thing to be your “strategy”.

Please call us to discuss, as we are asked about this all the time and we typically like to follow the above flow because media in Thailand know it well, and it always delivers good results in terms of attendance and subsequent media value.

We touched on this a little in the previous question, but generally:

• The number of tier A (premium) media guests in attendance
• The number of other (quality) media guests in attendance
• The number of VIP guests or celebrities in attendance
• The number of times a feature or news item was picked up in print
• The number of times a feature or news item was picked up online
• The total estimated cost of that coverage if it was achieved by paid ads only in those publications

That last item above is a very vague KPI, and is falling out of favour in the PR industry – at least among those Thailand-based agencies which are focused on delivering real value for their clients, and not made-up media value.

At Gemini, our core KPIs are: do you enjoy working with us, are we valuable, do we do what we say we’re going to, and is your business growing? Do your teams feel supported around the clock, and do they feel de-stressed because of our work, even in stressful periods?

We aim to address the unscrupulous profiteering of last-gen PR firms in the comms industry in Thailand and establish a new level of ethics and performance based on our core promise: Transparency, Equality, and Collaboration. We will even work to whatever internal KPIs you give us to work to – we are your PR partner, so it is your choice. Demand more of the Asia-Pacific PR industry. We do.