J. Mark Carr, Partner at CMG Partners, will lead a webinar tomorrow (9/15) for Sales & Marketing Executives International (SMEI) at 4:00PM EST. 

The webinar introduces the concept of adding a “5th P” centered on the customer purchase process into the 4 P’s of go-to-market planning, outlines the key elements of the process view and then uses several case examples of how the use of this added dimension has improved the marketing and sales planning process. 

Participants will learn:

• What the Fifth P is and how it can help sales and marketing to develop more effective strategies
• The warning signs that point to the need for a company to re-visit the Fifth P
• How to apply the Fifth P in sales and marketing planning, including the key questions that Fifth P asks of the other 4 Ps
• Examples of how companies applied the Fifth P, and how it helped re-frame go-to-market strategies

Click here to register

For more information, please click here

There was a great article yesterday in AdAge that talks to how McDonald’s has shifted away from national introductions of new offerings.  For the launch of the McCafe menu items, McDonald’s is relying on its franchise operators to manage and execute the initial marketing.

Based on our knowledge of McDonald’s, franchisees are likely being supported by McDonald’s regional marketing managers, who are there to oversee such efforts and ensure they’re in line with corporate branding.  But the fact that corporate is ceding control to franchise operators for such a significant product roll-out is a very noteworthy milestone.

Some franchise operators have even gone so far to develop websites to help customers within their footprint to check if they’re is a local McDonald’s already serving up McCafe items.

You can learn more about our thoughts around managing similar national and local marketing issues by reading our paper, Striking a Balance.

Earlier today I read a really interesting article on CNN.com on Carbon Motors, the designers of a new law enforcement vehicle that’s been getting a lot of press lately.

Unlike other law enforcement vehicles, the Carbon Motors car was developed with input from over 3,000 law enforcement professionals, and apparently it’s getting rave reviews from potential users and with good reason.  Rather than settle for a modified street legal car designed by engineers, the Carbon Motors car has been indirectly designed by other law enforcement officers.

One of the differentiating factors in Carbon Motors’ new product development process is its Carbon Council, which is “designed for our team to obtain honest and candid feedback from people who are either involved in the process or who drive the vehicles.”  There’s an open invitation online for anyone who qualifies.

For us, this case validates research and learnings we’ve accumulated through prior client projects on launching new products and services.  You may want to read one of our recently published papers, “Improving Product Launches” as well as what panelists at our most recent forum had to say about the importance of customer insight in the sucess of a product launch.

Check out photos from our most recent Executive Forum on product launch:

Last Thursday morning, CMG Partners hosted a panel discussion on why new product launches fail and how the launch process can be improved.  Almost 100 marketers from across DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland listened as our 4 panelists:  Kiera Hynninen of the National Geographic Channel, Chris Brozenick of Weatherbug, Jessie Merrell of Honest Tea and Mark McNealy of Intelevision  shared their views on what has worked and not worked in their product launches.  But some of the most intense conversation focused on the impact of our ongoing economic crisis on their product launches and how they are dealing with the new realities.

In the next few days, a more complete overview of the discussions will be published at www.cmgpartners.com, but to get you started, here’s some of the more provocative opening thoughts from the session:

• “A Darwinian process is under way. The weak are being taken out. There will be a drastic, painful process that will mandate reinvention. It will be drastic and dramatic for the individuals. But it will cause rebirth. Those with the next generation ideas will replace the older models.”

• “We should seize this opportunity in an aggressive way. What I see out there right now are brands going under, some of our strongest competitors are now gone. Innovation needs to be very strong right now. We can’t become stale in the marketplace. Now is the time to be innovative!”

• “Invest in R&D. You need to put effort into ideas…something that may stick today, may not have worked in the last few years. Invest to get a lot of new products out there and don’t be afraid to try new things.”

Let’s continue the conversation started  last week.  Post your ideas, thoughts and questions on what it takes to have sustainable, successful new product launches given today’s market realities.

This morning’s NY Times highlights just how powerful customers have become in determining what the messaging (or in this case the packaging) should be for a brand; Tropicana announced it is pulling its new packaging off the shelves to the cheers of joy to many OJ drinkers out there, myself included.

This is a great sign of the times.  Customers have become comfortable about speaking their mind and sharing their thoughts thanks to social media, and I’m not just talking about Facebook and Twitter.  It’s so easy now to share a news article or blog posting via email or through share widgets via Linkedin, Digg or Delicious, to name a few options.

But this puts companies in a precarious position. They need to adjust how they approach customers since customers can now generate a share of voice with enough magnitude to squash virtually any marketing or advertising campaign.  Just ask Motrin or Facebook, the two latest organizations to get squeezed by customers generating voice through social media.

Companies have yet to fully adjust to this brave new world, or to take advantage of it.  One area of particular opportunity is building “listening posts” of customer opinions into a company’s new product development or advertising development.  As companies such as Lego have proven, in some areas involving the customer in the new product development process can have a multitude of payoffs; in the product, in the buzz, in the loyalty of those participating.  But for most companies, the question is how to do this without hampering the ability to quickly go to market and without signaling the competition.  Does anyone out there have any examples of companies that have done this well?

I can be kind of a softy… I have to sympathize with Tropicana.  Yes, I’m one of their customers who silently disliked the new packaging, but after visiting the juice aisle this past weekend I noticed that packaging for most OJ cartons is really similar.  But when you have customers who have gotten used to something for quite a while, change can be unwelcome.