Hi, everyone. It rained most of the weekend in Chicago. The highlight was cask ales and smash burgers at Goose Island (aka: the perfect rainy-day activity).
In today’s newsletter I unpack campaign launch plans including:
A template for a campaign launch plan
Every component of a campaign launch plan
Who is responsible for making each component
A filled in example, using Ladder’s Hilary Duff campaign
Launching a new campaign is incredibly exciting. It’s also incredibly ambiguous. I’ve launched global campaigns, repositioning campaigns, and product campaigns, and no two launches are ever the same. Every client has different needs, a different problem to solve, and a different audience to reach.
Today, I am giving you a flexible one-pager that can be adapted to any campaign launch. It brings together the best elements of every launch plan I’ve worked on into a single page.
By the time you get to mapping your launch plan, everything you need should already be there; created by either you, the Strategist, or another subject matter expert (Social, Content, Media, etc.).
Think of the one-pager as your north star. It keeps everyone (clients and agency) aligned on the same objective, ensures every piece of the launch is working together, and helps prevent anything from slipping through the cracks.
Business Objective: What is the single thing this launch needs to achieve?
Campaign: What is the big creative wrapper for all of this?
Launch Phases: What is each phase of our launch? You can write bespoke phases but they must align with a marketing funnel.
Audience(s): Who should this phase of the launch connect with? Note that it may change if you have a pre-launch phase where you are connecting with influencers or it may stay the same if it is a traditional campaign with the same focus audience at every step.
Desired Action: What is the desired action for the audience?
Channel: Which touchpoints will be used?
Success Metrics: How will success be measured?
🌟Paid subscribers can access a reverse-engineered launch plan for Ladder’s Hilary Duff campaign at the end of this post🌟
Like everything I create, this document focuses on the fundamentals. As you progress in your career, you’ll learn when to adapt those elements, introduce new ones, and leave others behind. Think of yourself as the chef and me as your culinary instructor. I teach you the techniques, but the more you practice, the more you’ll riff, experiment, and adjust your approach based on the project, your team, and the people you’re serving.
By Alex Mason · Thousands of Subscribers
Use the template above for a launch you’re currently working on. It makes planning streamlined, and will leave you with a clear, one-page summary you can revisit throughout the project (and repurpose later when it’s time to write a case study or award entry).
As you build it, ask yourself:
Does every element ladder back to the business objective?
Is every decision strategically and creatively aligned with the campaign idea?
Where can you shorten / rewrite? Remember, you should not just blindly copy and paste existing work into the framework. The goal is clarity and brevity with this document.
As always, if you’d like feedback, join my monthly paid subscriber office hours. Regardless what you’re working through, I’m always here to help.
"Simple can be harder than complex."— Steve Jobs
Next week, I’ll talk to you about the importance of imagery in deck design. Chat then!
🌟Paid subscribers can access a reverse-engineered campaign launch plan for Ladder’s Hilary Duff campaign below🌟
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