Do you have any tips on how to find creativity with Launches and finding new ways of promoting new products?

A few tips and I would love to hear what y'all do for this. I tend to get a writer's block every time I have launched a product. 

1. Inspiration from other industries: So if you are launching a consumer electronic product, check out a product launch from the say for e.g. fashion industry. 

2. Competition: Not necessarily to draw inspiration, but to avoid making any mistakes your competition might have made at a product launch. A quick tactic I follow - I go back in history on the competition blogs or social handles, there are some browser toolswhich allow you to go in history and show how the website looked like during a certain period.

3. And in general, I keep my eyes and ears open to successful marketing launches and make notes.

Creativity takes discipline, and over the years I’ve developed a few habits to keep font of creativity alive for all projects, including product launches. Here are my top three:

First, I’m an avid observer (read: marketing geek) of product launches from other companies. When I see something cool, I make note of it and then refer back to my running list for inspiration when it comes time to craft a product launch strategy. I'm also an obsessive reader and have been inspired by product launches inside and outside the technology industry. Sure, there’s the prototypical Steve Jobs product launch keynote address as inspiration, but have you read the case study of how the Swatch was launched (they literally took over the Empire State Building with an image of the product)? Or how Nike introduces a new shoe by establishing a ‘shibboleth’ with early adopters and brand advocates? For inspiration, I find looking outside of my own industry really helpful.

Second, I’m a huge believer in brainstorming, especially with creative teammates that aren’t necessarily close to the product itself. I have three simple brainstorm rules: (1) it’s about quantity of ideas, not quality (curating ideas comes later); (2) there’s no such thing as a bad idea; and, (3) double word points for ‘yes, and…’ (magic happens when people build off of each others ideas).

Third, I try as often as possible to do a retrospective (not a post-mortem….no one died) with my team on any project. These sessions become helpful, blame-free learning environments that create a growth mindset culture which fuels creativity.

PS: If you are looking for a good book on creativity, I highly recommend Creativity Inc. from Pixar founder Ed Catmull.

Yeah! Look at all the ways your company communicates with the market. Talk to various people across the business - PR, CSMs, Support, and others. You will find ways to promote your product that you may not be aware of through these conversations. 

For creativity, I like keeping a "swipe file" of great product marketing I've seen from other companies. When I need ideas, I go to this swipe file and it helps looking at various creative copy or promotion ideas that can be built into my own launches. Also, if you talk with customers, they will generally have great ideas for how they want to recieve communications. 

Also, you can think about ways of breaking through the noise - virtually everyone has a blog these days, but what about sending direct mail with swag or specific items tied in with the launch to key accounts, or your advocates?

Definitely! I’m hugely passionate about getting inspiration through as many forums as possible. Outside influences lead to fresh ideas, so continuing to learn is crucial for maintaining marketing excellence. Here are some of my favorite sources of new inspiration:

• Podcasts: How I Built This, Something You Should Know, Unthinkable, Dare to Lead, and Sharebird’s Product Marketing Experts
• Newsletters: Marketing Brew, Direct to Consumer (DTC), Stacked Marketer and AdAge Alerts
• The casual focus group: Ask others about the marketing that they still remember to this day. Anyone works: your friends, siblings, target audience, colleagues or strangers who seem open to a conversation. You never know who is going to share a poignant insight that you can use in your next campaign.

As you can see, some of these aren’t even marketing-related. While marketing campaign case studies are the easiest to translate into action, it’s also helpful to hear smart people talk about how they solved problems because it can take you to a different starting place.

From there, you have your toolbox of what you can tinker with for your launches to feel fresh:

• Channels: How might you expand your channel mix by creating new owned channels or joining your audience’s existing conversations? How might you make your channels work better together for more efficient user journeys?
• Voices: Are there other people who can deliver your messages? Would those people be more authentic, influential or resonant?
• Content formats: Could you present your information in more compelling ways, whether it’s video, audio, the mix of copy and imagery or via new tech?

The more you can hear from your audience, the more you can understand what’s breaking through and why. That’ll give you the signal you need to iterate for impact.