Important strategy emerges from launches' fun, frolic

May 22, 2000

BY MICHAEL KRAUSS

This is one of an ongoing series on interactive marketing leaders who are doing things other marketers can learn from. They are not yet household names, but the executives we profile are laboring in the trenches today and will be in the headlines tomorrow. They're the emerging leaders of an emerging marketing discipline.

Name, rank and serial number: Louise Webber, 44, senior vice president of marketing, Internet Financial Network. B.S. in Business, Boston University; MBA, Baruch College, New York. Worked in product management and new product development at General Mills Inc., Warner Lambert Co. and Hasbro Inc. Practiced database and interactive marketing at credit card services provider Safecard Services (ultimately merged into Cendant) and publisher Reed Elsevier plc.

Mantra: "It's in the details."

Why a launch event for new services: "To gain broad attention with a variety of targets; establish a deadline for product delivery; put our product in their hands; and provide an opportunity for celebration."

The key to launch success: "Being very organized. Have a plan, (and) brief every single person on the team." At Schick, 17 years ago, Webber put together an events-sponsorship program with the NBA that still exists today.

Difference between events then and events now: With Schick, "Product sampling at the arenas was the big idea, plus the halo of the arena and the drama of the physical event." For IFN's product launch, We wanted to associate with the Cyber Café environment, (and) We wanted the drama of a live, satellite press conference." IFN's audience was broader, including investors, industry watchers, would-be business partners and the media and would-be users.

Why Net marketers have to go to events: " (They're where) the Internet community congregates. People share ideas face-to-face over cocktails. We want to get noticed in Silicon Alley, and we want more business partnerships. That requires going to Silicon Alley events. Everyone on our management team has adopted one of the organizations within Silicon Alley" whose events they attend.

Last words on launch events: "Don't take on more than you can deliver."

Michael Krauss is a partner with Diamond Technology Partners in Chicago.
He can be reached at news@ama.org.