Research from Dr Thomas Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, crafts a framework that can help inform companies of when to launch new technologies to the marketplace.
The growth of artificial intelligence has ramped up opportunities for developing and releasing new technologies. However, a faster pace of development also brings limited windows for bringing new products and services to market, with ever-dwindling shelf-lives. Indeed, out of the 30,000 new products that are introduced each year, 95 per cent fail.
With this in mind, how can companies recognise the right time to make their move?
Research led by Dr Thomas Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Bayes Business School concluded that it is no longer enough just to be at the cutting edge of technology, but rather organisations must strategically time launches to create a source of opportunity and credibility.
Consider a marriage proposal on the first date, a request for more time after ten years in a relationship, waiting too long to thank a relative for a birthday present or serving a dessert before the mains at a dinner party. Just like the players in these scenarios, stakeholders have strong timing-norms about pacing, sequencing, coordination and planning that impact the readiness of the market.
Launching new technologies is, according to the research, a social game, where timing is an issue of poise and tact when engaging with stakeholders. Awareness of time signals consideration, respect, and mindfulness towards consumers. Failure to judge the time shows a lack of understanding and risks compromising customer comfort around the new technology.
The study used prior literature on technology releases to evaluate the launch of the Google Glass – Google’s ill-fated smart glasses that failed to capture the imagination or anticipated sales in 2013. This did not happen because of a lack of readiness among consumers for an augmented reality (AR) experience, rather than anything wrong with the product itself.
Instead, Ray-Ban’s Meta Smart Glasses are now taking advantage of the desirability that Google had in mind a decade ago because consumers are ready for public filming and sharing across multiple forms of social media streaming.
The research identifies four timing situations that can confront marketing managers: Synergistic timing, where the market is ready for a product and stakeholders are ready to embrace change is the optimal and legitimate launch condition; Flexible timing, where consumers and other stakeholders have demand for a product or service before even if a firm isn’t yet ready to launch; Inflexible timing where stakeholders are unwilling to change their timing expectations, so a firm must induce appetite for new technology; and Antagonistic timing when both stakeholder willingness to change and firm-led coordination are low.
The framework sets out how companies can transition from any of the timing situations towards the desired synergistic timing to bring new technology to market when it is most desired.
“While the timing framework is developed for launching new technologies, our research also has broader applications for rebranding and mergers, political marketing, understanding the fashion cycle, service design and the experience economy,” explained Dr Robinson.
“Product categories like AR glasses rose from their own ashes in ‘phoenix markets’, suggesting that it can be worthwhile to revisit old failures. Smartwatches, electric cars, and social media were all initial failures that later succeeded. Substantial losses could have been avoided had they had better timing frameworks.”