--- title: How a product launch campaign works, with Pepsi as the example | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/pepsi-product-launch-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/pepsi-product-launch-campaign/ --- - **Story:** Pepsi is the worked example here for a product launch campaign: what it is, how it runs, and what the numbers say. - **Why it matters:** The value of a product launch campaign comes from rigour: clear targets, real benchmarks, built-in measurement. - **Takeaway:** The mechanics of a product launch campaign transfer to any brand in its category. - **Takeaway:** For Pepsi, reach is an input; incremental lift against a baseline is the real measure. - **Takeaway:** Most product launch-campaign failures are planning failures, not creative failures. ## How a product launch campaign plays out for Pepsi S Situation The opportunity A product launch campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Pepsi business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task The job Turn attention into measurable demand for Pepsi: plan the mechanics, set targets against category benchmarks, and build in the measurement. A Action The work Pre-launch demand capture. Waitlists, reservations, and early-access lists turn interest into a measurable, addressable audience before the product ships. Tesla took 250,000 Cybertruck reservations within five days of the 2019 reveal. For Pepsi, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result The scoreboard On incremental lift against a baseline for Pepsi, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a product launch campaign. ## The math behind a Pepsi product launch campaign 0% A planning anchor for Pepsi New-product failure rates run high — roughly 25% fail within the first year and about 40% by the end of the seco Source: [Driven to Succeed](https://www.driventosucceedllc.com/post/why-90-percent-of-new-products-fail-and-5-steps-to-increase-the-odds-of-success) 0% A reference point for Pepsi forecasting About 80% of customers expect a new product to work flawlessly from the first interaction. Source: [ANA](https://www.ana.net/miccontent/show/id/aa-2024-04-product-launch-marketing) Linked What the public data tells a Pepsi team Every figure on this page links to its publisher. Source: [ANA — product launch marketing guidance](https://www.ana.net/miccontent/show/id/aa-2024-04-product-launch-marketing) Linked A reference point for Pepsi forecasting Every figure on this page links to its publisher. Source: [ANA — product launch marketing guidance](https://www.ana.net/miccontent/show/id/aa-2024-04-product-launch-marketing) #### Quick facts BrandPepsi IndustryIts Category Campaign typeProduct Launch Primary channelsPaid, owned, earned Planning horizonMonths ahead of launch Core measureIncremental lift, not reach Source basisPublic benchmarks, linked RGM useWorked example, not a recipe **Honest note** Public, brand-specific detail on Pepsi is limited, so this page leans on the product launch campaign discipline: real mechanics, real sourced benchmarks, and the named example campaigns that define the type. Nothing about Pepsi is invented; where a fact is not public, it is left out. ## What a product launch campaign is The core idea, before the Pepsi detail. A product launch campaign is the coordinated push that takes a new product from announcement to market traction. A product launch campaign is the coordinated push that — as a Pepsi team knows — takes a new product from announcement to market traction. For Pepsi, the detail is not optional. It is demand engineering: building anticipation before availability, converting — and Pepsi is no exception — that anticipation at launch, and sustaining momentum past week one. That is exactly the Pepsi situation. Most new products fail, and the failures rarely trace to a bad product alone — they — Pepsi included — trace to unclear targeting, thin demand generation, and a launch that peaked and then went silent. This page applies that definition to Pepsi. **Claim:** Tesla announced 250,000 Cybertruck reservations within five days of the November 2019 reveal, each backed by a refundable $100 deposit. **Source:** [[Wikipedia (Tesla Cybertruck)]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Cybertruck). **Context:** A refundable deposit converts diffuse interest into a counted, contactable — and Pepsi is no exception — pre-launch audience — and a public proof point of demand. A Pepsi team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee. ## How brands like Pepsi run it A product launch campaign has working parts. For Pepsi, they all have to mesh. A product launch campaign at Pepsi scale runs on coordinated parts, listed here: **Claim:** New-product failure rates run high — roughly 25% fail within the first year and about 40% by the end of the second, with thin market research and unclear targeting the most common causes. **Source:** [[Driven to Succeed]](https://www.driventosucceedllc.com/post/why-90-percent-of-new-products-fail-and-5-steps-to-increase-the-odds-of-success). **Context:** The failure pattern is rarely the product in isolation; — and Pepsi is no exception — it is weak demand generation and an unclear target market. It is the sort of benchmark a Pepsi brief should cite. 1. **Launch-day concentration.** Media, PR, email, and creator content fire together on availability day — and Pepsi is no exception — to manufacture sales velocity, the signal that drives algorithmic and retailer momentum. This step decides how the rest of the Pepsi plan holds up. 2. **The sustain phase.** The plan after launch week matters more than launch week. A Pepsi-scale brief should name this. A campaign that goes quiet on day — as a Pepsi team knows — eight wastes the awareness it just bought. A Pepsi-scale team treats this as non-negotiable. 3. **First-impression quality.** Around 80% of customers expect a new product to work flawlessly on — Pepsi included — first use, so the launch promise and the product experience have to match. For Pepsi, this is where most of the planning effort lands. 4. **Pre-launch demand capture.** Waitlists, reservations, and early-access lists turn interest into — for Pepsi, a live factor — a measurable, addressable audience before the product ships. A Pepsi-scale brief should name this. Tesla took 250,000 Cybertruck reservations within five days of the 2019 reveal. Pepsi planners flag this as a make-or-break detail. 5. **A staged reveal.** Tease, reveal, availability. For Pepsi, the detail is not optional. Apple's event cadence shows the pattern — controlled information — as a Pepsi team knows — release keeps a product in the conversation for weeks. For a brand like Pepsi, getting this wrong is expensive. ## The numbers that set the targets Read the numbers first. Public benchmarks set the realistic range for a product launch campaign at Pepsi before any creative work. For Pepsi, the reference points for a product launch campaign come from public its category benchmarks, not internal optimism. **Claim:** About 80% of customers expect a new product to work flawlessly from the first interaction. **Source:** [[ANA]](https://www.ana.net/miccontent/show/id/aa-2024-04-product-launch-marketing). **Context:** Launch messaging that over-promises against the real first-use experience converts early adopters into detractors. For a Pepsi plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Pepsi product launch campaign is judged honestly. | What to measure | Why it matters | | Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven | | Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one | | Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked | ## The metrics worth tracking The scoreboard decides the verdict. For Pepsi, weigh these measures over vanity numbers. A Pepsi product launch campaign should be measured on the following. Pre-launch waitlist or reservation volume and conversion, launch-week sales velocity, first-week sell-through, cost per acquisition for launch — for Pepsi, a real factor — buyers, share of voice during the launch window, and the slope of demand in weeks two through eight. For Pepsi, reach is the start of the measurement question, not the answer. Incremental lift is the answer. ## Common mistakes and how to avoid them These mistakes recur. Knowing them lets a Pepsi product launch campaign route around the common traps. The product launch campaign mistakes worth naming for Pepsi: - Over-promising in launch creative against a product that cannot deliver flawless first use. - Skipping pre-launch demand capture, so launch day starts — and Pepsi is no exception — from zero instead of from a warm list. - Launching without a clear target market, so — and Pepsi is no exception — the message reaches everyone and persuades no one. - Spending the entire budget on launch day and going silent in week two. **What to notice**Each failure traces to planning, not to the work itself. A Pepsi product launch campaign is set up to win, or not, in advance. ## How RGM reads the Pepsi example For Pepsi, the value is the model. A product launch campaign is a repeatable structure, not a one-off idea. Across the audits we have done, winning product launch campaigns come from teams that measure rather than assume. Pepsi has the budget to buy attention; the discipline is proving it converted. Read it as a blueprint. For Pepsi and for its category, a product launch campaign becomes an investment once baseline, benchmark, and incremental result are in place. ## Quick answers Does this page report private Pepsi campaign numbers? : No. This page pairs public product launch-campaign benchmarks with Pepsi as the illustration. The numbers are linked to their publishers; nothing private to Pepsi is claimed. What is the practical takeaway from the Pepsi product launch write-up? : Use the structure, not the surface. The product launch-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Pepsi creative is one execution among many. What sources back the numbers on this page? : Every quantitative claim is wrapped as a fact-atom with a linked publisher from the approved pool, including Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press. None of it is invented. **Keep reading** Foundational concepts and channels behind this case: - [what growth marketing is](/learn/what-is-growth-marketing/) - [how performance marketing works](/learn/what-is-performance-marketing/) - [CAC payback economics](/learn/cac-payback/) - [growth marketing services](/services/) - [performance marketing services](/services/performance-marketing/) ## Frequently asked questions Why does launch-week sales velocity matter? Taking Pepsi as the example: Velocity — concentrated sales in a short window — is — Pepsi included — the signal that drives algorithmic ranking, retailer reorders, and press momentum. A Pepsi team reads this closely. Firing media, PR, email, and creator content together on availability — as a Pepsi team knows — day manufactures that velocity rather than letting demand trickle in unnoticed. A Pepsi team would plan against exactly this. What is the sustain phase of a launch? Taking Pepsi as the example: The sustain phase is the plan for — as a Pepsi team knows — weeks two through eight, after the launch-day spike. That is exactly the Pepsi situation. A campaign that goes quiet on day — for Pepsi, a live factor — eight wastes the awareness it just paid for. A Pepsi team reads this closely. The slope of demand after launch week — for Pepsi, a live factor — often matters more than the launch-day number itself. For Pepsi, this is the point worth acting on. How important is first-impression quality at launch? Critical. That holds directly for Pepsi. About 80% of customers expect a new — as a Pepsi team knows — product to work flawlessly on first use. It applies cleanly to Pepsi. Launch creative that over-promises against a rough first-use experience converts early adopters into — and Pepsi is no exception — detractors, and detractors are loud at exactly the moment a launch needs advocates. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Pepsi included. Why do most product launches fail for a brand like Pepsi? For a brand like Pepsi, the short answer is direct. The failure is rarely the product alone. It applies cleanly to Pepsi. Roughly 25% of new products fail within a year and about 40% within two, and — as a Pepsi team knows — the common causes are thin market research, an unclear target market, and weak demand generation. That holds directly for Pepsi. A strong product with a vague launch — Pepsi included — still misses; the launch is half the work. For Pepsi, that is the practical takeaway. What does a pre-launch waitlist actually do? For a brand like Pepsi, the short answer is direct. It converts diffuse interest into a counted, contactable audience before the product ships. A Pepsi team reads this closely. Tesla turned the 2019 Cybertruck reveal into 250,000 reservations within five days. For Pepsi, this is the load-bearing part. That list becomes launch-day demand, a public proof point, — as a Pepsi team knows — and a measurable signal of whether the positioning is landing. For Pepsi, that is the practical takeaway. What makes Pepsi a useful example for this campaign type? Pepsi is a recognisable brand in its category, which makes the product launch mechanics concrete and easy to follow. The campaign-type analysis and every benchmark apply across the category; Pepsi is the lens, not the limit. The sourced figures hold for any comparable brand. ### Sources & references - [ANA — product launch marketing guidance](https://www.ana.net/miccontent/show/id/aa-2024-04-product-launch-marketing) — Association of National Advertisers reference on launch marketing. - [Tesla Cybertruck launch record](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Cybertruck) — Documents the 250,000 reservations within five days of reveal. - [New-product failure-rate analysis](https://www.driventosucceedllc.com/post/why-90-percent-of-new-products-fail-and-5-steps-to-increase-the-odds-of-success) — Failure-rate data and root causes. - [G2 — product launch statistics](https://learn.g2.com/product-launch-statistics) — Independent compilation of product-launch benchmarks. ## Related [#### All case studies The full RGM case-study library.](/learn/case-studies/)[#### What is growth marketing The foundational concept behind every campaign type.](/learn/what-is-growth-marketing/)[#### Incrementality testing How to prove a campaign actually caused the lift.](/learn/incrementality-testing/)