Why B2B Product Commercialization Fails and How to Fix It

TL;DR: The Campfire Launch model argues for a slow-burn strategy that prioritizes long-term commercialization over short-term hype to fix the 50-70% failure rate of new products.

Depending on who you ask, between 50% and 70% of B2B product launches fail.

A company might spend tens of millions of dollars engineering a complex solution and hire the best minds to build it, but when it is time to bring that product to the world, they spend a fraction of that budget on commercialization. 

Reducing the strategy to a three-month window of noise, webinars, and press releases.

In a recent episode of the Attributed podcast, Mikkel Bach-Andersen, a partner at Kvadrant Consulting and co-author of a new book on B2B launches, diagnosed this industry-wide pathology. 

He calls it the Rocket Launch playbook, and he argues it is fundamentally broken for B2B.

His alternative is The Campfire Launch.

Here is the breakdown of why your launches are stalling and the step-by-step approach to fixing them, or listen to the entire conversation here.

The Fallacy of Build It and They Will Come

The Rocket Launch model assumes a consumer-style adoption curve: massive initial interest followed by a gradual taper (think of the iPhone release cycle).

But B2B adoption curves rarely look like a spike. They look like a slow climb.

A lot of complex B2B products top out in terms of revenue at year ten… If you spend all your launch energy in the first three months, and you are realizing less than 1% of the total lifetime value of that product, your investment is totally disconnected from how the product is actually adopted.

When you apply a Rocket Launch model to reality, you get what Mikkel refers to as boom and burst. You generate leads that aren't ready to buy, you burn out your marketing budget, and then you pivot to the next feature launch, leaving the previous product to die of neglect in the market.

The Campfire Model: A Slow Burn Strategy

The Campfire Launch model requires acknowledging that the hardest work happens after the initial flame is lit, shifting from campaign-thinking to commercialization-thinking.

Here are the four pillars of the Campfire model that every B2B marketer should know.

1. Commercialization is Not a Checklist

Too often, a launch is treated like a baton pass. Product builds it, hands it to Marketing. Marketing checks off a list of assets (video, one-pager, landing page) and hands it to Sales.

This assembly line approach creates a disconnect. 

Commercialization starts before you start developing the product.

It involves pricing strategy, channel partners, and positioning. If you are debating video production values before you have defined who your beachhead market is, your product launch may not go as planned.

2. Prime the Audience (and the Sales Team)

Mikkel also says the biggest bottleneck in a B2B launch is rarely the customer; it’s the internal sales organization.

If a sales rep feels insecure about a new complex product, they will take the path of least resistance: selling the old stuff they already know.

You can fix this by priming your internal audience months before the external release to build capability and confidence. If your CS and sales teams aren't fluent in the value (not just the features) before launch day, the launch has already failed.

3. The Beachhead Strategy

In a global organization, the temptation is to launch everywhere, all at once. This dilutes resources and focus.

The Campfire model suggests starting with a controlled fire. Identify a beachhead, or a specific niche, a set of key accounts, or a single geographic region, and win there first.

• Phase 1: Target 50 specific accounts.

• Phase 2: Leverage the logos and credibility from Phase 1 to expand to "lookalike" audiences.

• Phase 3: Mass market.

For more on identifying your beachhead, check out this conversation with April Dunford. 

The go-to-market chain is never stronger than the weakest link. 

If you launch globally but your local support team in a specific region isn't ready, you burn that market.

4. Tending the Fire Post-Launch

This is where the money is made. 

In the Rocket model, the marketing team moves on to the next project after 90 days. In the Campfire model, this is when you start adding logs to the fire.

You need to institute a feedback loop if your pre-launch strategy is built on hypotheses, not facts. It is common that how customers react to your pricing or how sales reps struggle with the pitch often contradicts the boardroom plan.

Three months post-launch, you shouldn't just be asking: how much revenue did we make? You should be asking:

• Is the pricing working?

• Is the positioning landing?

• Do we need to change the messaging based on what sales reps are hearing?

Mikkel emphasizes that you must be willing to kill your darlings.

If the messaging isn't working, change it. It’s not beautiful, but it’s what needs to be done.

The Metrics That Matter

How do you measure a Campfire? 

If you only look at revenue in month one, you will likely deem the launch a failure.

Instead, look at a chain of leading indicators: Are reps pitching it? Is the message reaching the right accounts (even if they aren't buying yet)? Are customers willing to invest time (demos, meetings) even if the budget isn't approved yet?

Conclusion

We are operating in an era of scarce resources. We never have enough headcount, and we never have enough budget. The answer isn't to shout louder for shorter periods of time.

The answer is to stop building rockets that explode and burn out. Start building campfires. Gather the wood, prepare the kindling, light the spark, and then, most importantly, stay there and keep the fire burning until it catches.

About the Speaker

Mikkel Bach-Andersen is a Partner at Kvadrant Consulting, a Copenhagen-based management consultancy specializing in B2B commercial growth. He is the co-author of The Campfire Launch, a guide to fixing the broken model of B2B product launches.