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With so many product launch timelines tied to trade shows, it’s a good time to step back and consider how to add an element of excitement, unveiling, and engagement without a live event.

Welcome to 2021! We’re rested, recharged, and ready for a fresh start. While last year didn’t go quite as planned, as we look back, by and large, clients we work with met or outperformed their targets. We can’t help but notice some standout successes. Let’s take a closer look at how some of our clients managed to thrive despite less-than-ideal conditions.

Now that we’ve entered the second half of a challenging and unpredictable year, it’s time to re-look at 2020 goals, and begin the planning and budget cycles for 2021. But how? Maybe it’s the unknowns, maybe it’s concern for the impact goals can have on your team’s morale and motivation—this feels particularly hard this time.

Effective product launches and rebrands are thoroughly planned out according to specific timelines – the best time to announce the name, events with the biggest audiences, tactics that get the most traffic. It's rare that product launch planning has a contingency plan for a global pandemic.

Product Launch is Controlled Chaos

Whether you're a newby or a veteran of product launch planning, there's no denying the anticipation of opportunity and the stress of accomplishing all of the necessary tasks. As the launch date approaches, the flurry of activity increases, making it easy to overlook something or cut corners. Keeping track of who is responsible for what and when challenges even the most organized professionals. Many business leaders find it is in their best interest to seek external support to help organize and execute key activities.

A launch plan that takes a product from concept to commercialization almost always involves acquiring external funding. Pitching your business is a specialized form of B2B brand positioning, as the product is yourself and your ideas. Giving a good pitch is a combination of research, preparation, and presentation.

With the rapid advancements in head up display (HUD) technology in the automotive industry, the futuristic Hollywood depictions of holographic windshield screens are quickly becoming reality. Augmented reality (AR) windshield HUDs are becoming a large focus for mainstream automakers and suppliers to the point where it is expected that the market for HUD components market is expected to grow more than $5 billion in the next four years, becoming an $8 billion industry.

Whether you’re launching your first product or expanding internationally, a strong marketing plan is essential. Ensuring continued growth requires new perspectives and new strategies in many areas of the business. We’ve created a guide with sales and marketing best practices for five different stages of growth. Here are some highlights:

Though it would be ideal to have a full six months to prepare for a product launch, this is not always a reality. Delays in funding, licensing, or product development challenges can put a product manager into a challenging situation where the window between product viability and revenue expectations is extremely narrow.

Paul Tolley, founder of Stretford End Solutions, a technology and business development consultancy, and former CEO of ITC MEMS and VP/GM of Syntec Optics, sat down with us to talk commercialization strategy.

Though I was enjoying LFW's Laser Marketplace at Photonics West, furiously taking notes while Allen Nogee revealed the 2018 market forecast and geeking out over photobiomodulation as Praveen Arany shared his research, the final session of the day was a marketer's dream. A panel of highly respected individuals in the industry had been asked the question—"What do bioinstrumentation developers need to know from the photonics industry?"

Recent research predicts that R&D expenditure for medical devices will grow to $34 billion by 2022, but top line growth is slowing. And while this increase in R&D investment is a positive sign, uncertainty in healthcare reform is causing some paralysis in the market. How can companies overcome this risk aversion and really sell?