Hi-tech product managers need to leverage Agile Development principles to improve their chances of a successful product launch. Engaging customers early and often and launching based on value not dates are key philosophies for product managers in and Agile World.

1. Product Marketing for an
Agile World
Peter Hanschke
Ateala Management Inc.
Presented at OCRI Zone5ive Meeting
November 12, 2009

2. Overview
This presentation is about change – how to embrace it and
how to leverage it effectively
© Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

3. 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.

4. Releasing High-Tech Products
 Getting products / new releases to market is a
well-choreographed sequence of activities
Determine Decide ALL
Build ALL Features Launch
Objectives Features
 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. New Cadence
 Decisions about what to build next occur at the
start of every cycle
 Cycles continue until objectives are met  Launch
Determine Decide Build
Launch
Objectives Feature (s) Feature (s)
 Cycles are typically 2 – 6 weeks
© Ateala Management Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.