Leveraging NeoCon and the new product launch

It’s April and with the azaleas anxiety is coming into bloom. The days are growing longer, but the heat you feel comes not from the approaching summer. NeoCon is only two months out and the list of details required to introduce your new products is growing like kudzu. About now, June 13 consumes your every thought, which is perfectly understandable.

To take full advantage of NeoCon’s power, look beyond the intense preparations required to exhibit at the show, as stressful as that might be. Because unlike NeoCon, introducing a new product is not an event. It’s a series of actions designed to help your sales reps sell. June 16, 2005: Let the work begin.

It’s easy to get lost in the idea that NeoCon is the goal. So much energy, time and money pours into the show that it becomes all-consuming. But the simple truth is, NeoCon is only the jumping off point. The real work, the profitable work, begins when the reps fan out demonstrating your new product to specifiers. In our experience, too many companies miss this opportunity, meaning those who do follow the show with a targeted message and deliberate sales and marketing have a great chance of building momentum for their new products.

Selling is hard enough under the best of circumstances. But your company invests considerable resources developing new products and getting samples in the hands of your reps. They have no greater opportunity to visit existing customers and new prospects than on the introduction of a new product. Frankly, specifiers are always on the hunt for new materials, new inspiration. But unless you are Steelecase or Herman Miller, a new product alone won’t be enough to get your reps in with every specifier in their territory. Targeted, high-impact direct mail can open even the most reluctant doors, even setting the tone for your rep’s presentation before he or she walks through.

Creative thinking can also redefine the reps’ presentation itself to affect prospects more meaningfully. Again, this requires planning well in advance, and coordination with the sales team to ensure everyone can master the pitch.

And the final piece to the post-NeoCon puzzle is sampling your product. This problem vexes everyone in the industry. It’s costly, and depending on the product you produce, physically challenging. (Demonstrating a carpet texture and a chair are two radically different problems.) But within each category, certain conventions of sampling have evolved. Understanding those conventions, and how to effectively break them, can make sampling a powerful tool that defines or redefines your brand.

“ An ongoing conversation”

The common theme throughout the NeoCon “process” is the need to plan. The competition for attention before and during the show is intense. Every year, the May and June issues of Contract and Interior Design bulge at the seams with ads, product descriptions and photography. Events during the show become more sophisticated. (Izzy Design’s Mini Cooper wedged between massive 18-wheelers is testament to the power of a simple idea; simplicity, however, is dang hard to achieve, but again, that’s a story for another time.) There is no escape or alternative to considering every detail, every opportunity. The good news is this: approaching NeoCon as a series of connected events that extends beyond the show, gives you the chance to clearly differentiate your brand and your product, while making the most of your marketing investment.

We expect a variety of opinions to this article; we’d love to hear yours. You can email Sean Doyle or call 205-322.1010 to give us your thoughts.