Of the 30,000-plus products launched every year, 95 percent end in failure. The internet is filled with product marketing examples (good and bad) if you want to learn from those who have tested the waters.
Every product ever launched brings a series of learnings or takeaways with them. You can use these marketing case studies to take inspiration or anticipate potential roadblocks while crafting your product launch strategies.
This article will examine some of the best and worst product marketing examples from known and lesser-known brands.
13 Product Marketing Examples to Inspire You in 2024
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Is Product Marketing?
Product marketing communicates a product’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition) to the target audience. It involves conducting market research to understand the target audience and competition, crafting compelling messaging to highlight the product’s unique value proposition, and developing strategies for product launches and ongoing promotion.
The process involves three steps:
- Identifying customer pain points to tailor your messaging for the targeted audience
- Analyzing how your product solves their problems to communicate your product’s value proposition clearly
- Promoting the product to increase brand awareness and capture market share
Simply put, product marketing is the driving force to get products to the market and keep them there. Product marketers collaborate with cross-functional teams, create marketing materials, and work on sales enablement to drive demand, increase sales, and maximize the product’s success in the marketplace.
Let’s dissect some product marketing examples to understand, implement, and improve your product marketing strategy.
Summarize this article for me please13 Examples of Amazing Product Marketing
In this list, we have curated good and bad product marketing examples from startups and MNCs—filled with learnings and takeaways for 2024.
Summarize this article for me pleaseSuccessful Product Marketing Examples to Learn From
1. ClickUp
In 2017, ClickUp saw one of the most challenging product market launches. Due to its late entrance, the project management landscape was already crowded with popular tools like Slack and Monday.com.
Fast forward to 2024, ClickUp hosts over 10 million users and makes $158.7 M in annual revenue.
So, how did ClickUp beat the competition?
Three things:
- Product adaptation
- Content marketing
- Freemium offerings
Founder Zeb Evans recognized the challenge of standing out among competitors until the tool could deliver precisely what people need.
So Evans spilled the secret sauce for creating a user-centric product—the flywheel strategy. It starts with constantly absorbing user feedback and combining that with high delivery velocity.
The strategy was impactful enough to establish strong feedback loops with customers. The team was open to feedback and actively sought it through survey forms and interviews.
Collecting feedback was an everyday ritual.
In 2018, ClickUp released 287 new features, plus tons of improvements centered on user experience. But aren’t 287 features a lot to manage? Well! Here’s how it was done:
ClickUp used the ClickUp Product Management Toolkit to centralize project-related communications in one place, brainstorm ideas with Whiteboards, and draft plans with collaborative tools.
ClickUp offers easy customization, adapting seamlessly as our team grows or scales down.
Best of all, the tool eliminates app chaos. The team can plan, build, and ship the products from one app. This also helps maintain a single source of truth while keeping everyone on the same page, no matter how remotely located.
After ensuring the product fits the ideal customer persona, ClickUp shared organic content to be more discoverable and beat the competition.
ClickUp made it easy for people to visualize the solution as a better alternative to popular project management tools in the market—positioning ClickUp as ‘One app to replace them all.’
Also, our team experimented with some humorous videos and ads explicitly targeting potential customers and competitors to stand out from the crowd.
Lastly, ClickUp offers a freemium model and highly affordable paid tiers.
Brownie points to the ClickUp Product Management Guide and ClickUp Visual Product Roadmap Templates that make the entire process hassle-free, from product planning to product development and collaborating on go-to-market product marketing strategies.
Key Takeaway: Using ClickUp’s product management toolkit isn’t just about getting organized—it puts all your project communications in one place, making teamwork a breeze, scaling up a cinch, and saying goodbye to app clutter. It’s the smooth way to tackle product planning and development and nail collaborative go-to-market strategies.
2. Coca-Cola
How do you sell soda to the masses?—ask Coca-Cola!
Coca-Cola has generated US$45.03 billion in revenue selling a simple carbonated sugary drink. However, before it was launched, no such thing existed—no awareness of the product, no potential target audience, or no product market fit.
So, how did Coca-Cola reach the epitome of success?
Coca-Cola used branding and psychological association to penetrate the market. Companies use this marketing strategy to associate the product with positive emotions and experiences.
Coca-Cola associated itself with ‘Happiness’.
Coke invested heavily in brand promotion via advertisements and other offline and digital marketing channels. The overarching objective was to establish that Coca-Cola equals happiness in the consumers’ minds.
Coca-Cola’s enduring slogan, ‘Open Happiness,’ is an example of product marketing through association design.
Result–the successful association of soda water and happiness created billions for the brand.
Key Takeaway: Associate your product with emotions. Emotions sell quickly and leave a lasting impression of your brand on your customers.
3. Slack
In 2012, Stewart Butterfield and his team developed a collaboration software—Slack. Fast forward to 2023, Slack has over 54 million monthly active users, including 77% of Fortune 100 companies.
However, Slack reached a $1.1B valuation without a CMO onboard. And we know they didn’t hire an outbound sales team until 2016.
So, how did Slack reach those numbers? Let’s debunk Slack’s product marketing strategy.
In the early days, Butterfield relied on his network for beta testing and word-of-mouth marketing.
Here’s exactly how he pulled it off:
Butterfield got his buddies from other companies to be the initial beta testers—something software testing companies can also try. The idea was to:
- Generate awareness among companies
- Measure product-market fit (across teams and departments)
- Gather feedback to identify and resolve issues
Slack wanted to tick all the boxes before the official launch.
In August 2013, Slack invited people to check out their preview release. They called it a ‘preview release,’ not a beta version.
Butterfield noted that people often see ‘beta’ as a test phase that is unreliable. So, the team went for a term that would spark curiosity and excitement, getting more people to sign up.
The approach worked like magic. Within the first 24hrs, 8k people signed up for the preview release. Two weeks later, the number grew to 15k and kept rolling thereon.
If that wasn’t enough, Slack created an enemy: Email.
Let’s face it: Emails make collaborating and keeping track of conversations difficult. Slack used this shortcoming as a hook for potential customers and compelled them to try Slack.
Their product marketing team did all that was necessary. They started positioning Slack as an ‘Email Killer’ via articles.
Or this one by Business Insider:
Indeed, it was made clear that Slack is here to replace emails. Being compared to such a giant, Slack drew the curiosity of many customers.
That’s when it threw its final card—freemium membership. Slack didn’t offer a gated free trial. Instead, they earned users’ trust by offering a free product version.
Key Takeaway: For Slack, the little things mattered from the beginning. From testing the product with the right people to a great freemium product, Slack used word-of-mouth marketing to inspire trust, establish credibility, and win customers.
4. Nike’s Air Jordan
Nike tried its luck in the aerobics and casual shoe market but failed against Reebok.
In an interview with Harvard Business Review, former CEO of Nike Inc., Phil Knight, said:
“Look at the Nike brand. From the start, everybody understood that Nike was a running shoe company, and the brand stood for excellence in track and field. It was a very clear message, and Nike was very successful. But casual shoes sent a different message. People got confused, and Nike began to lose its magic.”
So, how did Nike get back on track?–The Air Jordan.
The Air Jordan project resulted from an urgent need to produce another great Nike running shoe. Unlike casual shoes, Basketball was all about performance, and AirJordan rightly aligned with the brand’s image. Moreover, the association of Michael Jordan raised the bar even higher.
The shoe was undoubtedly terrific. Yet it was so colorful that the NBA banned it. 👎
Nike took it as a marketing opportunity, doing the unconventional, or in the brand’s own words: ‘Just do it!.’
Michael Jordan wore the shoes despite being threatened with fines. He was a legendary player; fans flocked to buy the brand when he wore Nike. Consequently, Nike’s sales just took off.
The marketing strategy was so unique and out-of-the-box that it changed how Knight thought of his company.
“For years, we thought of ourselves as a production-oriented company, meaning we put all our emphasis on designing and manufacturing the product. But now we understand that the most important thing we do is market the product and brand together.”
Key Takeaway: The Air Jordan success story highlights the importance of aligning a product with a compelling narrative and a charismatic personality. Nike created an emotional connection with consumers by associating the brand with an iconic figure.
5. Apple
Apple is a behemoth in marketing its products through ad campaigns or comparing them to its competitors’ offerings.
The ‘Get a Mac’ campaign starring Justin Long and John Hodgman as Mac and PC, respectively, started in 2006 and lasted for three years.
The campaign consisted of a series of ads. In the ads, you see the Mac ‘being nice’ to the PC because, technically, they wanted to show that PCs were inferior to the Mac.
So, was it a successful product marketing campaign?
Absolutely! Not only did Mac sales shoot up in 2006—but Apple ended up taking 66 different TV spots for the campaign in three years.
Key Takeaway: Even if you have a once-in-a-lifetime product, communicate in a way that resonates with what your audience cares about.
6. Poo-Pourri
Poo-Pourri is an excellent example of how to market a product that’s embarrassing to sell.
Poo-Pourri, the product, is a toilet spray that removes unpleasant odors associated with the bathroom, generally after a poop.
Naturally, it is awkward to talk about the subject. But—Poo-Pourri found a way to break the age-old taboo and marketed their product humorously.
Here’s how they did it:
- The company used visuals such as images and videos to illustrate common scenarios where you can use their product
- Then, it used TV and video advertising to attract eyeballs to its humorous ads. Its first-ever video advertisement went viral
- The company also created customer personas to target specific audiences and situations. Everyone poops, but not everyone wants a spray
- Lastly, Poo-Pourri relied on customer reviews to gain the trust of potential customers
Key Takeaway: Don’t sell the product; sell the solution instead. Everything can be sold if it is positioned in the right manner.
7. Red Bull
Does Red Bull give you wings? Of course, not literally, but the product has successfully associated itself with energy and adrenaline.
Back in time, when Red Bull was about to launch, there was no market for energy drinks. Such products did not exist yet. Fast forward to 2023, the company sold 12.138 billion cans worldwide in a year alone.
How did Red Bull get wings?
Red Bull recognized college students as one of their primary target customers. The company used ‘Guerrilla marketing’ to lure students into tasting the drink. One of their first marketing methods was the ‘Red Bull girls’ handing out free cans of Red Bull to college students.
This marketing tactic dramatically increased their sales and visibility. Seeing the results, Red Bull continued to target youth environments like college parties, bars, cafés, libraries, etc.
However, it didn’t stop there; Red Bull started sponsoring adventure-seeking events aligned with their brand image. One such stunt was back in 2012 when we all watched Felix Baumgartner jump from the edge of space. When falling back down to earth, he broke several world records.
The media coverage was immense, and millions watched the livestream on YouTube. The staggering cost of $30 million was overshadowed by the reported $500 million in sales that Red Bull made due to the marketing campaign.
Key Takeaway: First-mover advantage is real. If you have a unique product that fits a certain segment, associating it with a feeling or emotion is the key to generating billions.
8. Volkswagen
Volkswagen is another excellent example of product marketing. The car manufacturer’s focus has always been to balance the ‘accessibility and premium quality’ of its cars. Undoubtedly, the subtle mix of these two has done wonders for the car company.
However, the notable shift in car buyers’ preferences from ‘efficiency and price’ to ‘safety’ didn’t go unnoticed by the Volkswagen marketing team.
The team realized that people are willing to pay more for safety assurance. So, they ensured that their product demonstrated it in the best way possible.
Today, Volkswagen’s core product marketing strategy focuses more on the safety of its vehicles. The website effectively conveys this message with safety ratings and other proof-of-assurance.
Key Takeaway: Align your product with market preferences. If safety is a critical focus in the market, ensure that your product actively demonstrates and prioritizes safety features.
9. Colgate
Colgate-Palmolive is an American firm that manufactures cleaning, dental, and other personal-care products. The company has mastered global market acquisitions, successfully positioning its products in 200+ countries and territories worldwide.
Colgate’s most influential product marketing strategy came into the limelight during its penetration into the Indian market. The product positioning was so spot-on that for almost a decade, Colgate was considered synonymous with toothpaste in India, gaining a 77.21% share of the Indian toothpaste market ($1.5 bn).
How did Colgate make it happen?–Localization!
Colgate expected it wouldn’t be easy entering the Indian market until the executives figured out that 82% of toothpaste purchases are unplanned!
That insight was enough. Colgate circled its entire product marketing around this fact and came out with many ways to sell itself:
- They sold their toothbrushes like a pack of chewing gum or small chocolate
- Buy-one-get-one schemes (increased sales by 170%)
- While other companies focused on billboards to attract target customers, Colgate marketed using in-store banners to win your attention inside the store
They enlisted subject-matter experts such as dentists and mothers to advocate for the brand in online advertisements. Giving out memorable taglines like ‘Dentist ka sujhaya no.1 brand’ (Dentist recommended no.1 brand); ‘Kya aapke toothpaste mein namak hai’ (Does your toothpaste have salt in it?)
Key Takeaway: Localization is crucial when competing in the global market.
10. Airbnb
Back in time, hotels were the most popular vacation choices. However, as Airbnb entered the market, it changed how people travel. Airbnb was competing with the age-old hotel monopoly in the hospitality industry.
So, how did Airbnb revolutionize itself?
Not only was renting an Airbnb affordable, but the entire UI/UX design of the app was easy to use for anyone. Eventually, offering an alternative to traditional hotel accommodations for travelers.
Later, the company recognized that this wasn’t enough to penetrate the market.
So, using data science and product marketing, Airbnb identified high occupancy areas to spread its vacation rentals across prime locations and tourist hotspots.
Today, Airbnb search engines prioritize a rental if it’s in an area with a high density of Airbnb bookings, further optimizing the user experience.
Key Takeaway: This shift in how Airbnb displays its products to existing customers for a better experience exemplifies the synergistic relationship between data and product marketing.
Summarize this article for me pleaseBad Product Marketing Examples to Learn From
We’ve all heard the saying, ‘Wise men learn from others’ mistakes.’ So here are some product marketing blunders to learn from—the don’ts of marketing.
11. Dove
As part of a campaign for Dove body wash, a short video was posted on social media, which featured three women of different ethnicities.
The campaign aimed to show that Dove body wash is for every woman, celebrating diversity. But it backfired, with many viewers seeing it as inappropriate and racist.
The negative perception quickly spread across social media, leading to widespread backlash against Dove. The situation escalated, and some individuals responded by boycotting Dove products.
To cool things down, Dove sacked the post and tweeted an apology. However, the damage had been done. The company had already lost followers and loyal customers due to the backlash.
Key Takeaway: Don’t assume your audience perceives your advertisement as intended. Conduct A/B testing and discuss with your legal team to ensure you don’t make a mistake similar to Dove’s.
12. Audi
In July 2017, Audi aired a commercial drawing anger for comparing women to used cars.
The ad opens with a wedding ceremony, with a bride and a groom ready to take vows. Things take a turn when the groom’s mother interrupts to ‘inspect’ her would-be daughter-in-law.
She pinches her nose, pulls her ear, and checks the inside of her mouth before finally approving. The scene then cuts to a red Audi sedan driving through the city streets with a man’s voiceover saying, “An important decision must be made carefully.”
The commercial backfired badly, with people deeming it as sexist and ‘disgusting.’
Audi deeply regretted the commercial’s airing and stated that the ad “does not correspond to the values of our company in any way.”
Key Takeaway: Avoid overcomplicating ads solely for the sake of creativity. Instead, strive for uniqueness, simplicity, and clarity to ensure your target audience easily understands your message.
13. TATA Nano–product positioning gone wrong
TATA Nano was launched in 2008 by India’s largest automobile company, TATA Motors.
Nano’s target market was the middle-class and lower-middle-class sector. Therefore, it was priced at a mere US $1300—the car’s biggest USP.
Everything signed up for Nano’s grand success in the Indian automobile market. So, where did things start to go downhill? Tata labeled the Nano as ‘the cheapest car,’ but this branding was off the mark and undermined the usual sense of pride that comes with buying a car.
Ratan Tata, the chairperson of the TATA group of companies, acknowledges that labeling Nano the ‘cheapest car’ was a mistake.
Nano’s opening sales were approximately 30,000 only. Even worse, the plant assembled only one Nano in June 2018 before halting the production.
Key Takeaway: Poor branding can be the ultimate deal-breaker, even if you’ve nailed the perfect product for your audience.
Summarize this article for me pleaseKey Takeaways From These Product Marketing Examples
No matter how innovative your product is or what core problems it solves, it will fail to create a dent in the market if not marketed well.
To summarize, here are the key takeaways from these product marketing examples. Learn from and apply these insights before your next product launch.
- Don’t sell your product; sell emotions
- Word-of-mouth marketing is the best way to promote your product. 77% of consumers are likelier to buy a product if it is recommended by someone they know
- Dare to do what your competitors won’t; sometimes, unconventional marketing campaigns can make your product iconic
- Align your product with what the market wants
- Localization is the best way to capture foreign markets
- People’s perception of your brand makes all the difference in sales—communicate it wisely
- Taglines play a crucial role in making your product memorable
- Data gathering and analysis are essential to understand customer behavior, improve user experience, and stand out in the crowded market
Summarize this article for me pleaseClickUp–The ‘Secret Sauce’ for a Successful Product Launch
A successful product launch relies on three pillars: rigorous planning, progress tracking, and effective team collaboration.
ClickUp helps you take control of your product marketing strategy. From documenting plans to monitoring developments during the process—ClickUp takes care of the details.
Keep tabs on your product marketing performance to gauge strategy effectiveness and make informed decisions. ClickUp’s Product Marketing KPI Tracking Template makes it a breeze to monitor key metrics that truly matter for your business.
ClickUp’s practical Technology Product Marketing Plan Template empowers you to efficiently handle tasks, improve productivity, and ensure success in the market.
Moreover, ClickUp’s communication and collaboration features help teams and stakeholders stay on the same page. At the same time, ensuring that everyone’s ideas and suggestions never go unheard.
Rev up your product marketing with ClickUp—the ultimate tool to streamline tasks, collaborate effortlessly, and track critical metrics for a smooth ride with your next big product launch!
Summarize this article for me pleaseCommon FAQs
1. What makes a successful product marketing strategy?
A successful product marketing strategy comprises three core elements: market research, understanding the target audience and their pain points, and a plan to tweak the strategy as the market changes.
2. How is product marketing different from regular marketing?
The main difference lies in its focus. While regular marketing focuses on activities to promote a company, its brand, and its products or services, product marketing concentrates explicitly on promoting and selling a particular product. However, both marketing practices align with the company’s mission and objective.
3. Does ClickUp support product marketing tasks?
Yes, ClickUp is an all-in-one collaboration and product management tool. It supports tasks and activities related to product planning, development, and final launch.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
