Last updated on Aug 12, 2024

Struggling to sync up with marketing for product launches?

Launching a new product can be an exhilarating yet challenging endeavor, especially when it comes to aligning the engineering and marketing teams. Control engineering, which involves designing and managing dynamic systems to behave in a desired manner, plays a crucial role in ensuring the technical readiness of a product. However, it's equally important to synchronize with marketing to ensure a successful launch. This alignment is often where the struggle lies, as the precision and detail-oriented nature of engineering can clash with the fluid and fast-paced environment of marketing. To bridge this gap, it's essential to understand both the technical aspects of control engineering and the strategic elements of marketing.

1 Align Goals

For a successful product launch, it's vital that your control engineering objectives align with marketing strategies. Begin by establishing a common language and set of goals. This means clearly defining what a successful launch looks like from both a technical and market perspective. It's crucial to understand the marketing milestones, such as campaign rollouts and press events, and ensure that these are factored into the engineering timelines. Establishing regular cross-departmental meetings can help maintain this alignment throughout the development cycle.

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Rich Piech

Founder of S3 Consulting | Data-Driven Growth Architects 📊 | We Help Businesses Discover Untapped Growth with Innovative, Scalable Solutions 🚀 | Let’s Talk! 💬
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For me the three most important items are CCC Customer Customer Customer. So does your marketing team have a clear understanding of the end customers pains / needs? Internal customers are important as well, so does the marketing team have a clear understanding of internal customer needs which will be impacted by the marketing strategies? If you can clearly identify first external end customers needs (I like using the pains and gains template by role from business model canvass) then you can show this to the internal customers for feedback and alignment on how you want to create a marketing strategy (Test Card) . Then I suggest defining leading activities and lagging indicators to have a measurable upfront test agreed on to execute

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2 Communicate Early

Effective communication between control engineering and marketing teams is key to synchronization. Start sharing information early in the product development process. This allows marketing to grasp the product's capabilities and limitations, which is essential for creating accurate promotional materials. Conversely, engineers benefit from understanding market demands and expectations, which can influence design decisions. Regular updates and open channels of communication help to preempt misunderstandings and last-minute rushes.

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3 Define Milestones

Setting clear milestones is critical for both engineering and marketing teams. For control engineers, these milestones might include prototype completion, testing phases, and final production readiness. Marketing milestones could encompass branding decisions, promotional campaign launches, and sales training. By defining these milestones together, both teams can track progress and address any discrepancies in their timelines. This collaborative approach ensures that both sides are working towards the same deadlines and can adjust their plans accordingly.

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Rich Piech

Founder of S3 Consulting | Data-Driven Growth Architects 📊 | We Help Businesses Discover Untapped Growth with Innovative, Scalable Solutions 🚀 | Let’s Talk! 💬
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I like using the templates laid out in the book Testing Business Ideas by Alex Osterwalder and David Bland. Four key phases 1) Design 2) Test 3) Experiments 4) mindset. Very pragmatic from Hypothesize to testing in a very pragmatic approach. Many companies just allow the marketing team to run free without aligning internally. Or some companies allow Dev trams and product teams to run wild without a clear set of assumptions to test. Each department has a specific set of capabilities but the real strength arrives when you have cross dept alignment with built in checks and balances. Some creative tension

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4 Foster Collaboration

Encouraging a collaborative culture is essential for synchronizing engineering and marketing efforts. This could involve joint brainstorming sessions where both teams contribute ideas on how to best showcase the product’s features. Cross-functional workshops can also help team members understand each other's work processes and challenges. By fostering an environment where input from both sides is valued, you create a cohesive strategy that leverages the strengths of each department.

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5 Utilize Tools

Leverage project management and collaboration tools to keep both teams on the same page. These tools can help in visualizing project timelines, sharing documents, and tracking task completion. They provide a central platform for all stakeholders to view updates in real-time, reducing the risk of miscommunication. When selecting tools, ensure they are user-friendly and accessible to both engineers and marketers to facilitate seamless integration into daily workflows.

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Rich Piech

Founder of S3 Consulting | Data-Driven Growth Architects 📊 | We Help Businesses Discover Untapped Growth with Innovative, Scalable Solutions 🚀 | Let’s Talk! 💬
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Same input from item three defining milestones, use the approach from the book testing business ideas. I would also add here some other tools: Goal trees are nice with css critical success factors and NC necessary conditions, 4 disciplines of execution leading activities and lagging indicators are nice as well

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6 Adjust and Adapt

Be prepared to adjust plans and adapt strategies as the product launch approaches. The dynamic nature of product development often means that timelines shift and unforeseen challenges arise. By maintaining flexibility and open communication, both control engineering and marketing can respond to changes without losing sight of the overall launch goals. Regularly revisiting and revising plans together will help keep both teams aligned and ready to tackle any obstacles that come their way.

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Rich Piech

Founder of S3 Consulting | Data-Driven Growth Architects 📊 | We Help Businesses Discover Untapped Growth with Innovative, Scalable Solutions 🚀 | Let’s Talk! 💬
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How a company has structured reviews and feedback is key. Agile, SCRUM, retrospectives many methods are available, each company needs to define the frameworks and methodologies that fit their culture. Bottom line is how you define how you learn as an organization with real feedback. A favorite book I like is called Radical Candor for professional and productive feedback

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Struggling to sync up with marketing for product launches?

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1 Align Goals

2 Communicate Early

3 Define Milestones

4 Foster Collaboration

5 Utilize Tools

6 Adjust and Adapt

Control Engineering

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