Ateala Management Inc Product Marketing For An Agile World

Product Marketing for an Agile World Peter Hanschke Ateala Management Inc. Presented at OCRI Zone5ive Meeting November 12, 2009

Product Marketing   Job titles can be confusing   Typically the product marketing role in a company deals with the 4 P’s   What markets are being targeted   What product (s) will be offered   Who will be the target customer   How will the products reach those customers   At what price will it be offered   How will customers be introduced to the products © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Releasing High-Tech Products   Getting products / new releases to market is a well-choreographed sequence of activities Determine Decide ALL Build ALL Features Launch Objectives Features   Marketing is responsible for pushing the result to the market   The Launch Plan   Variations depend on product and target markets © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

History of Change   Then …   Change during build was minimal; easy to cope with   Betas were primary avenue for receiving change   Customers could wait a year or more for product updates; competitive forces were not that great   Now …   Change requests happen at least weekly   Market needs, competitive forces, customer requests, technology   Change impacts the plan … most always negatively   Biggest difference – increase in rate of change © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

How Companies cope with Change “We are going Agile!”   And … “btw, training is next week.”   That is, “the development team is going Agile”   So now what?   I’m in marketing - does this affect me and my tasks? •  It sure does … you now live in an Agile World •  … and you need to figure how to work in this world © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Agile – A Developer Perspective   Answer: “we are adopting the SCRUM methodology and according to the Agile Manifesto we will have daily stand-up meetings to discuss what we’ve done, what we plan on doing and what’s blocking us. We will also institute pair programming so that we can ensure that we are developing our tasks correctly – guaranteeing better product quality. Our sprints are going be 3 weeks long and the Product Owner will look after the product backlog to make sure that we are building the “right” items. After every 3 weeks we will have releasable software.” © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Agile – Peter’s Perspective   Agile changes the cadence / rhythm   Deciding what features to build is reviewed more frequently   Typically every 2 – 6 weeks   Working software is the measurement of progress   Software is reviewed at the end of every cycle   Marketing now has a more frequent say © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

New Cadence   Decisions about what to build next occur at the start of every cycle   Cycles continue until objectives are met  Launch Determine Decide Build Launch Objectives Feature (s) Feature (s)   Cycles are typically 2 – 6 weeks © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Product Marketing for an Agile World   Prime opportunity to leverage this new cadence to increase the chances of a successful launch   Early customer engagement   Releases with real value and relevancy   Embrace change easily   Begin buzz creation early   Release based on value to the customer   Become more engaged with the rest of the team   Help with decision making throughout the project   Provide input earlier in the process © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Customer References   Press and Industry Analysts want references   Need customers with product / feature / capability experience   Engage customers early   Release planning – decide which customers are ideal   Once a feature is complete, show the customer / get them to use it   Repeat throughout the project at every cycle   Once project is complete, customers will be ready © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Releases with Real Value   Customers look for value in every release   What’s in it for them? Why should they care?   Subscription or Maintenance / Support payment models … are they getting value?   Engage customers early and often throughout the project   Review UI mockups with them   Show progress through demos   Give them trial access to the release   Releases will delight your customers © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Embracing New Needs   The project feature list is no longer “cast in stone”   Re-assessment occurs throughout the project at the beginning of each cycle   As new needs arrive, they are assessed against the current list   Development therefore is always working on what’s important   As change happens …   Assess the change and decide the best course of action … with little impact on the overall project © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Message Creation   Create messaging and collateral as the features complete   Leverage customer engagement to create new or update existing collateral   Difference is that you can take the time and do what’s required … instead of cutting corners © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Are we done yet?   Cycles must eventually come to an end … you have to launch at some point   Typically date driven with the usual discussions about date and content   This needs to be value driven   Throughout the project assess the value   Value determined by …   Meeting release goals   Focusing on quality, not quantity   Delighting customers © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Summary   Change will continue to happen   Rate of change will continue to increase   Marketing has an opportunity to be a strong participant / decision maker   Engage customers early and often   Decide which changes to embrace and which to ignore based on priorities; with little impact on the project   Product launches are decided based on accumulated value – not dates © Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

Ateala Management Inc Product Marketing For An Agile World

by phanschke on Nov 17, 2009

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