You hear the buzz about Guns N’ Roses’ new hard rock album, Chinese Democracy? The much anticipated and repeatedly delayed album has been in the making since just after the band put out its last original... in 1991. GNR fans are rejoicing about the new music that critics have described as everything from “audacious” to a wreck greater than the Titanic.
Why should you care? There are three salient points for inventors:
1. Don’t wait 14 years to bring your invention to market. The world changes far too fast. This album will likely sell big... but nowhere near as big as it would have had the band released the album when it was at its prime—not even 14 years of speculation will make up for an audience that’s largely moved on. And let’s not forget, copyrights on music are a lot more long-lasting than patents on inventions, with the latter good only 14-20 years depending on the type of patent.
2. The only store carrying Chinese Democracy is Best Buy. In fact, it’s the only bricks & mortar store granted rights to sell it. So while GNR may not have been smart enough to release this album when it was in the best position to capitalize, its members were smart enough to realize that the future is all about special relationships with individual retailers... and iTunes... and they crafted the distribution strategy accordingly. You too should think about distribution strategy—or get help from someone who will—as you develop your final launch plans.
3. Who’s the biggest winner in the launch of Chinese Democracy? Dr. Pepper! Yes, the soft drink maker many months ago—at a time when the album release was still far from certain—said it would give everyone in the U.S. a free soda if GNR actually released the album in 2008. So sure enough, Dr. Pepper made as many if not more headlines than the band, and got such high volume to its website that its servers crashed. I wouldn’t recommend you try to follow exactly in the Dr.’s footsteps, but also don’t be shy about looking for creative, opportunistic ways to market your invention.