How To Launch A New XR Product

Trying to launch a brand new XR resolution? Learn the way firms like HTC, Rokid, and HaptX launch award-winning merchandise utilizing highly effective PR & advertising and marketing.

This text was initially printed by Arprio. If you happen to’re presently engaged on releasing a brand new XR product or resolution, Arprio helps XR firms map out their go-to-market methods. Get in touch with Arprio now to study extra about how they might help.

‍The prolonged actuality (XR) market is predicted to be value greater than $200 billion by 2025, and has the potential to additional revolutionize a variety of industries, from gaming, to healthcare, schooling, and leisure. Nonetheless, launching an XR product might be difficult, not least due to the complexity of the know-how and lack of consensus on trade requirements. On high of this, a profitable launch requires a focused advertising and marketing and public relations technique that reaches customers on the proper time, with the best messaging.

That will help you higher market and launch a brand new XR product, we’ve collected current examples of profitable product launches, from VR and AR headsets to haptics {hardware}. On this weblog, we’ll define the important thing elements that make up a profitable XR product launch from a PR and advertising and marketing perspective, with key takeaways that you should use to tell your individual launch technique.

Arprio helps XR firms map out their go-to-market methods. If you happen to’re presently engaged on releasing a brand new XR product or resolution, get in touch now to study extra about how Arprio might help.

Forms of XR Product Launch (With Examples)

First off, it’s necessary to grasp that the XR house is made up of a variety of totally different options, every with their very own nuances in relation to go-to-market technique. That will help you navigate this higher, we’ve damaged down our findings into the primary XR product varieties, highlighting current profitable examples and key takeaways from every. Different examples of XR merchandise exist, like peripheral gadgets and XR software program, however for now we’ve chosen to concentrate on three of the preferred bodily merchandise in XR: VR headsets, AR headsets, and haptics gadgets.

Digital Actuality (VR) Headsets – HTC Vive XR Elite

The VR headset class is very aggressive, and sometimes comes with a excessive value of entry, years of analysis and growth previous to launch, and a classy gross sales and distribution construction. Past this, in depth PR and advertising and marketing is a crucial a part of any new VR headset launch, together with promoting, occasions, shopper demos, and a constant output of content material throughout a number of media, reminiscent of press-releases, model partnerships, and influencer advertising and marketing campaigns (to call a couple of).

One of the crucial profitable examples of a brand new VR headset launch in current reminiscence is HTC’s Vive XR Elite. The XR Elite was unveiled firstly of 2023, in a keynote speech at CES the world’s largest shopper electronics commerce present (the place it was essentially the most awarded headset of the conference). Previous to this, HTC teased the XR Elite on social media within the run as much as CES, constructing anticipation for the product’s launch.

“Stating uniquely highly effective technical specs, or intriguing capabilities to customers, is an integral a part of any profitable launch.”

An enormous a part of the success of the XR Elite is the gadget’s technical options. Profitable XR gadgets are modern, practical, and fascinating, and these elements must be necessary hooks for PR and advertising and marketing within the lead as much as launch. Stating uniquely highly effective technical specs, or intriguing capabilities to customers, is an integral a part of any profitable launch.

A number of the key options that had been promoted early on in the XR Elite’s launch marketing campaign had been the gadget’s graphics capabilities, eye-friendly adjustable lenses, and its vivid passthrough capabilities (i.e., the flexibility to mix between full digital actuality and real-world, augmented house by the headset’s cameras). To focus on these options, HTC’s launch strategy centered round conference presence, stay demos, mass-market protection by press releases and partnerships, and compelling branding and promoting campaigns.

HTC Vive XR Elite Launch – Key Takeaways

Right here’s an outline of the important thing elements that made the XR Elite’s launch profitable:

• The XR Elite was launched at a significant world shopper electronics present. Given the worldwide stature of HTC as a model and the anticipation across the XR Elite’s launch, leveraging a significant conference like CES was important. (Right here’s an incredible recap video by HTC of the launch.)
• A well-researched and modern shopper product. The XR Elite constructed on its predecessors and the requirements set by different aggressive fashions within the VR headset house, just like the Meta Quest Professional. The performance and design of the XR Elite was a basic a part of its launch success.
• HTC clearly described the core options and worth of the product by compelling copy, beautiful branding, product images, promotional videos, and stay demonstrations.

• HTC put out a widely distributed press release that was well-written, chatting with the context of the launch and the product’s worth proposition, together with core design options, and the ability of the XR Elite as a brand new market-leading VR headset. HTC additionally included native market pricing, which was helpful for customers to benchmark in opposition to different fashions.

• Lastly, HTC maximized their press protection by a mix of each partnerships and natural advertising and marketing, with critiques on mainstream tech websites (CNN, CNET, WIRED), tech blogs and leading AR/VR news sites, content material creators and influencers, in addition to mainstream media and promoting. The usage of pre-launch social teasers was additionally an necessary pillar within the launch’s success.

Augmented Actuality (AR) Headsets – Rokid Max

AR merchandise are designed to overlay digital content material onto the true world, permitting customers to work together with actuality in a layered and fascinating approach. AR options might be applied utilizing smartphones or specialised gadgets like AR glasses, and can be utilized for a variety of functions, together with schooling, development, gaming, and retail.

A current notable launch within the AR headset class is the Rokid Max, launched in March 2023, which constructed on the success of the gadget’s predecessor, the Rokid Air AR. The Max comes with the equal of a 215-inch borderless display screen seen at 6 meters away, giving a real cinema really feel at a comparatively low worth level of $439 USD.

“Bringing prospects into your design course of is a superb advertising and marketing device. It exhibits your dedication to fixing the sorts of issues the XR house is making an attempt to sort out, and makes customers really feel like an necessary a part of the method.”

Of their current Open Day Product Launch Event, the Rokid staff outlined 5 key drivers that guided their design strategy at each stage of the Max, from software program structure to {hardware} design. The 5 core design ideas for the Rokid Max had been:

• Notion
• Understanding
• Interplay
• Collaboration
• Digital creation

Reasonably than simply record the core options of the Max, Rokid selected to provide customers context as to why these options had been developed within the first place, bringing prospects behind the scenes of their design considering. As an total PR technique, this helps customers at each the patron and enterprise stage to raised perceive the context through which an answer is conceived. Finally, Bringing prospects into your design course of is a superb advertising and marketing device. It exhibits your dedication to fixing the sorts of issues the XR house is making an attempt to sort out, and makes customers really feel like an necessary a part of the method.

Rokid Max Launch – Key Takeaways

Listed here are a number of the essential causes Rokid’s AR headset launch was distinctive.

• Technical focus. As with VR headsets, your launch messaging for any AR product ought to spotlight a number of the technical capabilities of your resolution, significantly people who differentiate your product out of your opponents (in a constructive approach). Shoppers count on market leaders and disruptors alike to push the envelope in relation to the state of know-how in XR.
• Rokid shared their design considering of their launch messaging. By bringing their viewers behind the scenes of their design strategy, the sorts of issues they had been making an attempt to unravel, and the outputs they ended up with, Rokid not solely showcased their dedication to innovation, but additionally helped prospects really feel like an necessary a part of the innovation journey. Rokid’s launch messaging introduced them as deep thinkers, prepared to make errors, study, and enhance their options to push the boundaries of AR.
• Aggressive pricing. At simply $439 USD for pre-orders, the Rokid Max is coming into the market at an accessible, consumer-friendly worth – roughly the identical as an intermediate smartphone. Cautious pricing evaluation must be an integral a part of your launch, and your worth ought to line up with the sort of XR model you wish to be perceived as, and the standard and nature of your product total.

Haptics – HaptX Gloves G1

Haptic merchandise use vibrations and pressure suggestions to create a sensation of contact in VR and AR experiences, and might be built-in into controllers, gloves, or full-body fits to supply customers with a extra immersive expertise. The haptics house remains to be in its infancy in comparison with sectors like VR, making it a really thrilling house with large potential for innovation, and many room for brand spanking new options. Haptics, like VR and AR, are already revolutionizing the way in which we take into consideration industries like manufacturing, design, development, and healthcare, to call a couple of.

An incredible instance of an organization that has efficiently launched haptic merchandise is HaptX, an organization that designs haptic gloves for VR and robotics. The corporate performed in depth analysis and growth earlier than launching their HaptX Gloves G1, and has since partnered with industry-leaders like Nissan to reinforce their car design course of, showcasing the potential of haptic gadgets past consumer-facing merchandise.

Highlighting their gloves’ worth in providing ‘real looking contact for the enterprise metaverse,’ HaptX has relied on a mixture of beautiful stay demos, product performance, lovely branding, superior customer support, and clear messaging of their launch.

Just like the Vive XR Elite, HaptX has designed an distinctive product with real-world worth each on the patron and enterprise aspect. With merchandise as modern as HaptX’s G1, a profitable launch facilities round displaying individuals the real-world, sensible purposes of your product. (If you can also make a type of individuals Jeff Bezos, shown here using HaptX gloves to operate a tactile telerobot, even higher.)

HaptX Gloves G1 Launch – Key Takeaways

Listed here are the primary explanation why HaptX’s G1 gloves’ go-to-market technique has confirmed profitable.

• Create a really modern product. HaptX’s G1 gloves are a stand-out product within the XR/metaverse house, from a technical standpoint, and a sensible one. The gloves have large potential for leisure and gaming, but additionally a lot wider purposes for industries like manufacturing, schooling, and healthcare.
• Demo your product, and movie the occasion. Dwell demos are an important a part of the launch course of. The extra protection you may get of profitable demos, significantly at main conventions, the extra profitable your launch will probably be.
• Develop a robust model identification. HaptX’s website showcases an attractive model identification for his or her product, which tells the story of the G1 gloves by high-quality design, clear and direct copywriting, and clear UX. Your model is an integral a part of your prospects’ notion of your product, and must be a foundational pillar of your launch technique.

Conclusion: How you can Launch a Profitable XR Product

Finally, launching a profitable XR product begins properly earlier than your launch occasion, and continues lengthy after it. Nonetheless, assuming you’ve constructed a well-researched, practical, and technically distinctive product, your launch story ought to embrace all the next:

Widespread protection of your product. 

XR is without doubt one of the new frontiers of know-how. In an area as forward-thinking as this, it’s a must to make sure you’re discovering the best platforms and press in your product. Launch occasions, conference presence, tech, mainstream, and weblog media protection, open days, digital promoting, social media, influencer advertising and marketing and different model partnerships, ought to all be core parts of your go-to-market technique. Specifically, stay demos showcasing your merchandise in individual are integral to any new XR product’s success.

Tie your story to your options. 

One of many essential causes the XR Elite was efficiently launched was the consistency of messaging deployed by HTC and its concentrate on core options. By basing their launch story across the modern design capabilities of the XR Elite, HTC was capable of differentiate the XR Elite from opponents. Steady concentrate on a couple of core options – just like the XR Elite’s vivid passthrough capabilities – allowed HTC to hook their new gadget within the minds of potential customers and tech commentators alike.

Assist customers really feel like a part of the event journey. 

Rokid’s model was intimately related to its person base. From open days, to actively partaking with their prospects on social media, Rokid have created a model that feels really collaborative. Of their messaging for the Max, Rokid come throughout as an organization who listens to their prospects and who wish to innovate on that foundation. If you happen to’re launching any XR product, take into consideration how one can give customers context behind the technical options you’ve determined to incorporate (or exclude) within the run as much as your launch.

Give your product and launch a strong model identification. 

Lastly, the way you inform your story is simply as necessary as what you say. Your model identification ought to clearly mirror your organization’s values, objectives, and underlying character. Good manufacturers are distinctive, accessible, articulate, and fascinating. Out of your copywriting and tone of voice, to your web site aesthetic, design model, promoting, images, buyer help, and model partnerships, your model identification determines how efficiently your new product will cement itself within the hearts and minds of your prospects, past performance alone.

If you happen to’re presently trying to launch a brand new XR product or resolution, Aprio might help. Arprio helps XR firms navigate their go-to-market methods with knowledgeable PR and progress providers. Get in touch now to study extra.

Oliver Sprigg

Oliver is a seasoned model strategist and content material author. He has designed model identities for FinServ, telecoms, and advertising and marketing firms. Oliver holds an MSc in Psychology and a BA in English Literature and American Research.