The document discusses the use of social media for the development and launch of differentiated products, emphasizing its role in gathering customer insights and validating product features. It outlines strategies for leveraging various social media platforms for product research, launch campaigns, and community engagement. A case study on Asrock's Fatal1ty motherboard illustrates effective application of these strategies in targeting the gaming market.

1. Internet, Blog, Forum, Viral, Guerilla and Strategic Product Development and Marketing Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products www.RainMakerWeb.com How to use Social Media to determine how potential customers see the features of currently available products, and what features they would like a new product to have. Which media works best for what, and how to get validation for a product feature idea, without putting too much information out there. How to use Social Media channels to launch the new products when they are ready for the market.

2. Utilizing Social Media can be a powerful tool for developing product specs and features; and for launching those final products Social Media: Used to help gauge the importance of product features and/or specifications Can help develop cost effective, real-time and detailed competition comparisons A quick and cost effective first step toward launching a product Social Media provides a strong and direct connection to the market I. Intro RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products -

3. II. Case Study ASRock – Fatal1ty PC Motherboard development ASRock (Taiwan - 3 rd Largest motherboard brand in the world) licensed the Fatal1ty brand to help it gain media exposure and to target the gaming motherboard market The Fatal1ty brand utilized product development input from the world’s most famous gamer: Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel RainMaker Marketing helped manage the product feature and specification R&D, as well as the Social Media launch campaign: Utilized Social Media to develop and verify the strength of the feature set as compared to potential competition The same Social Media portals were utilized to launch the product to the core market as well as mainstream market. RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products -

4. II.a Case Study Social Media can be used to help ‘decontent’ a design in order to hit a price point, and help define a new feature RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products -

5. III. Targeting RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products - Which Social Media sites are the best to work with? Target each Social Media subsets for your application: Community Portals : Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc. Product Launches, promotions, official messaging Q & A Portals : Forums, Yahoo Answers, Ask, etc. Market and product development research, competition analysis Product launch, core introduction and feature set promotion Review Portals : Blogs, Epinions, Cnet, etc. Credibility marketing, distribute product messaging and driving sales

6. IV. Research Q & A Portals can be a powerful tool for doing market and product research Easy to gather a wide range of core user opinions about similar products Look for what people are saying is missing in products, as well as what they like and don’t like Rule # 1 – Everyone has an opinion, but that doesn't mean it is right Use common sense to filter information Everyone’s review is paid for in some way and everyone has an agenda – understanding the source of content is important RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products -

7. VI. Feature Testing Use product comparisons and ‘What if’ questions on Q & A Portals to test validity Q&A Portals provide a unique opportunity to get feedback on a feature or feature set, by asking an anonymous question about a product “ I want a WIDGET that has a FEATURE. Do you think that feature is useful? How much is it worth?” For feature sets and price point, you can use an ‘A or B’ question “ I am thinking of getting a WIDGET A with FEATURES & PRICE, or WIDGET B with FEATURES & PRICE, which do you think is better? Why?” RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products -

8. VII. Leaky Faucet Slowly leaking information can build anticipation for a product launch and line up potential customers Community Portals are a great for promoting upcoming products Especially effective if tied to a promotion campaign such as a contest, poll or viral video Forums can be utilized for ‘Rumor’ campaigns Anonymous posts: “I heard that the next WIDGET A will have FEATURE. Is that true? Sounds exciting!” Blogs can be used by ‘Leaking’ info to an editor, and by posting in a comment of a related post. Important to tie the leaks together with links RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products -

9. VIII. Launch Use all Social Media Portals to Launch products Community Portals Official Product launch and messaging Viral campaigns and contests for video messaging and promotion Q & A Portals Posting in Comments of related blog posts to support SEO and SEM efforts Forum Posting of messaging and starting conversations on a group of core and mainstream forums to support: brand marketing, product features and messaging, SEO and SEM efforts and drive traffic and sales Review Portals Product review posting on e-tailler and product review sites 3rd Party review and/or ‘fan/enthusiast’ site development Microsite to support SEO and SEM RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products -

10. Contact Dave Erickson 714.454.1855 derickson@ rainmakerweb.com RainMakerWeb.com - Using Social Media to Develop and Launch Differentiated Products -