In Micaela Pfeffer’s most recent post, she blogs about how the company “Grey Goose” decided to create a marketing strategy before even releasing their product. This strategy has proven successful and even allowed the company to compete against #1 vodka brand “Absolut Vodka”. The strategy used by the company involved premium pricing, producing the product in France and targeting the higher social class.
In my opinion, marketing a product before its release can be effective because it allows the firm to drive their product vision. In this case, “Grey Goose” unique value proposition was based on the idea that unlike “Aboslut Vodka” its drink is targeted to the high class and as Micaela states to “those who could give a prestigious image to the brand”. By having this UVP established, the company is able to start building expectation within consumers before the product is even released. Additionally, customer demand for the product can be tested.
If someone defines marketing just as advertising, then the product has to be released first. However, advertising is just a small part of marketing. In fact, marketing for most successful products comes first because this activity encompasses research and strategies to decrease the risks of having an unsuccessful product. So to answer your question Micaela, I would definitely create the marketing strategy first.