Product Marketing for an Agile World
Peter Hanschke Ateala Management Inc.
Presented at OCRI Zone5ive Meeting November 12, 2009
Overview
This presentation is about change – how to embrace it and how to leverage it effectively
© Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.
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
Decide ALL Features Build ALL Features Determine Objectives
Launch
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 Objectives Decide Feature (s) Build Feature (s)
Launch
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.
Thank-you!
For more Information … Peter Hanschke Ateala Management Inc. peter@ateala.com @phanschke www.ateala.com 613.797.8579
© Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.