In the final part of a three-part series on embedding sustainability into the stage gate process, Neil, Jim and Shelley discuss the launch phase of a product. From voluntary reporting to confidential disclosures to avoiding delays, there are a number of important final hurdles to clear as you approach the finish line. Listen back to parts 1 and 2 of episode 6 to follow the stage gate journey from beginning to end. In this Episode Shelley: The launch phase is when you are getting ready to take your product to market. Neil let's start with you. What kinds of things does a product manager need to consider at this phase? [00:04] Neil: The first thing to consider is this is the combination of all the effort that you have put in until now. You've got a great innovation, whether it's a product or it applies to an entire portfolio. Maybe you've created new packaging, or more product efficiency. Or across the portfolio, maybe you've invested in green steel, or switched materials to something more sustainable across several products. [00:37] There are different ways to communicate this, but the framing is around whether you are B2B or B2C. In B2B your customer is very technical, and they use this information to decide whether to buy from you. They are more educated on this topic than a typical B2C. Therefore, the messaging on these products is to be catered to that customer. That’s the most basic thing to keep in mind, and it's more so for sustainability because not everybody wants to know whether it's sustainable or not. What sells this more sustainable product is the goal. It's not about telling the customer that it is more sustainable. Also, different markets geographically are more perceptive to different kinds of messages. In Germany, for example, people are looking for things that have claims of environmental sustainability, whereas in other regions this is meant to be assumed. Some require you to make a claim about the sustainability value of your product. CBAM is a recent one that is specifically related to the carbon content of products that you import into the European Union. Here you do not decide how to communicate because you send this information to the government and the lower the carbon value, the less tax you pay. There's a consequence of using accurate data. You could use average information and pay full price, or you can be as specific as you can and if there is a saving compared to the benchmark, then you pay less. If you're importing in the hundreds of millions, that's a significant tax saving. In other regimes, you're looking at safety of the materials that you've put into your product, whether its REACH regulations in Europe or Prop 65 in the United States. These are things that you need to get in order before you go to launch. Another consideration is voluntary reporting. You have type one, two and three environmental claims. You have labels like Blue Angel here in Germany, but there are other similar agencies who will assess your product and give you a stamp. Type two declarations are self declarations where you can write a report, make a claim, and have it validated by a third party. Type three claims are environmental product declarations - an agency principally tells you how to calculate environmental performance or the characteristics of your product and you share this depending on whether you are a B2B or B2C company. Type one claims are typically suited to B2C products, whereas type three claims or EPDs are more related to B2B products. And then type two, which is a self declaration, is neither here nor there; you could use it for both. For example, on Microsoft's website you can see the environmental characteristics of the laptop you are buying. This is a highly successful model that many co...