Product Launch Plan for 3aS Partners

The product launch is a process that converts an idea on paper to the mainstream markets. \n\nSubscription businesses have become one of the most potential business models in the past five years. Products and services, like public transportation, hair cutting services and shaving razors that have traditionally been offered with one-off payments are now turning to the subscription model to secure easily predictable revenue.\n\nThe objective of this product-based thesis is to create a product launch plan for a subscription service developed by a Finnish startup founded in 2018, named 3aS Partners. A majority of the work was done during the autumn of 2018. The thesis is divided into three general topics: benchmarking, market segmentation and product launch. 3aS Partners will implement the launch plan created in this thesis at a later time. \n\nThe first chapter will discuss the background of the thesis. The project objective and tasks are explained in a detailed manner with the goal of making the reader understand the purpose behind why this thesis was written. \n\nThe theoretical framework is located in the second chapter. The chapter starts with a detailed explanation of benchmarking and market segmentation processes. However, a majority of the time is spent on the discussion and analysis of three product launch concepts: the Stage-Gate Model, the Lean Startup and the DEFT process.\n\nThe third chapter discusses the rationale of the decisions that are made in the end product. Of the three product launches that are covered in the theoretical framework, the lean start model was concluded to be the most fitting one because of the limited resources of the commissioning company. \n\nThe final product of this thesis is a product launch plan leaflet customized for 3aS Partners. It shows and discusses the product launch processes of ClassPass, Whim & MaaS Global and Apple Inc. The most potential customer segment is decided on to focus initial marketing efforts. The final product also presents a visualized product launch process that 3aS Partners can use in their product launch in Helsinki as well as in the future in markets abroad.