Product Launch Event Planning Template | Launch Countdown, Press and Media Plan, Run of Show, Budget and Vendor Tracker | Excel and Word

PRODUCT LAUNCH KIT

Twelve documents built around one product launch.

A launch is not one document. It is a countdown that starts eight weeks out, a guest list that decides who is actually in the room, a build that has to be finished before doors, a programme that turns on one reveal cue, and a set of assets that keep working for months after the night ends.

Six of the twelve are Excel workbooks carrying 2,868 formulas between them. The countdown dates itself from your launch date. The production schedule resets its clock at each new build day and totals crew hours. The run of show recalculates every start and end time when a cue moves, and re-anchors on hard times for the moments that cannot slip. The budget auto-totals estimated against actual. The vendor tracker runs balances and a COI dashboard.

Four of those workbooks open on one complete worked launch: a 320-guest product launch at a New York gallery, running from the eight-week countdown through the build, the reveal, the press interviews and the load-out. The countdown, the production schedule, the run of show and the launch day media plan all describe that same launch, with the same brand, date, venue and crew, and a filled-in vendor roster for it sits in the Worked Example folder. Read across them and you can see how a launch fits together before you replace a single cell.

BUYING MORE THAN ONE?

Seven of these twelve documents also appear in The Everything Bundle at $79, which carries nineteen files across the whole catalogue. Three are unique to this kit: the launch countdown, the press and VIP guest strategy, and the launch day media plan. If you are also looking at the Production Schedule, the Run of Show or the Vendor Management System as singles, compare the bundle before checking out. You never need to buy both.

WHO IT'S FOR

Brand and experiential producers running launches for clients. In-house marketing teams who have been handed a launch and a date. PR and communications agencies producing the event as well as the coverage. Retail, beauty and hospitality operators opening a room and needing the night to produce assets, not just guests.

WHAT'S INSIDE

01 PRODUCT LAUNCH COUNTDOWN · worked example loaded
Twenty-five real milestones across thirteen workstreams, W-8 through W+2. Enter your launch date once and every milestone gets a due date, a countdown and a flag. Override any date where the deadline is set by someone else. Every milestone carries a risk-if-late line, because a countdown that does not say what breaks is just a list. The dashboard shows completion, overdue and at-risk by workstream.

02 MASTER EVENT BUDGET
Estimated against actual, auto-totaling, with a live summary, a contingency line and a production fee line. Clean template, ready for your numbers.

03 PRODUCTION SCHEDULE · worked example loaded
The multi-day build. Load-in through load-out with department, responsibility, crew count, status and priority on every line. The clock resets at each new date, so a late strike does not push the next morning's call. Day Summary returns first call, last out, elapsed hours and crew hours per day.

04 RUN OF SHOW · worked example loaded
The show-day calling sheet. Type a duration and every start and end time below it recalculates. Hard times lock the moments that cannot move, including the reveal. An ACTUAL column logs live variance as cues fire. Talent timing pulls from the show flow, and a calculated Show Check tells you whether the programme ends when you promised and which cues are missing an owner, a duration or a comms channel.

05 PRESS AND VIP GUEST STRATEGY
Written guidance, not a form. Guest tiers, realistic accept rates, invitation waves, room modeling and press handling on the night.

06 LAUNCH DAY MEDIA AND CONTENT PLAN · worked example loaded
The capture schedule and the publishing plan. Shot times chain from your first capture, with hard times for doors and the product moment. A named owner on every must-have shot, and a check that flags shots with no crew, must-haves still needing approval, and afterwards, must-haves you did not get.

07 VENDOR MANAGEMENT TRACKER
Contacts, booking status, contracts, deposits, balances and COI status in one roster, with a certificate of insurance log and a live dashboard. The blank tracker is yours to fill; a completed eighteen-vendor roster for the worked launch is in the Worked Example folder.

08 CLIENT PROPOSAL TEMPLATE
Scope, timeline and investment, for producers selling the launch in.

09 SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL DECK
Eleven slides. The event, the audience, a channel-by-channel reach plan, a benefits-by-tier packages matrix, activations, deliverables and reporting, timeline and next steps, for launches carrying partners.

10 POST-EVENT WRAP REPORT
Results, coverage, spend against budget and a vendor scorecard.

11 COMPLETE YOUR SYSTEM
What else is in the shop and where it overlaps with what you now own.

00 START HERE
The order to work in, and what each file is for.

WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT

The operational core is one production rather than four unrelated samples. The countdown, the production schedule, the run of show and the media plan describe the same 320-guest launch, with the same brand, date, venue and crew. Read across them and you can see what actually has to land before what: which milestone gates the build, what the build has to finish before doors, what the programme does to the capture schedule.

And they calculate. One date drives the countdown. One duration change re-times the whole programme. The dashboards report where the production stands without you counting anything.

HOW IT WORKS

Download and read 00 START HERE.

Open the countdown first and enter your launch date. Every milestone dates itself. Work the guest strategy before invitations go out, because it decides the room.

Closer in, the production schedule runs the build and the run of show runs the night. On launch day the media plan tells the photographer, the videographer and the content lead what has to exist and when it publishes.

Afterwards, reconcile in the budget and write the wrap report.

FAQ

- What format is it? Twelve documents: six Excel workbooks, five Word documents and one PowerPoint deck, plus a worked example file. Microsoft Office, all editable.
- Do the spreadsheets actually calculate? Yes. 2,868 formulas across the six workbooks. Dates, countdowns, show timing, crew hours, budget totals, vendor balances and the dashboards are all calculated, not typed.
- Which files come filled in? Four: the countdown, the production schedule, the run of show and the launch day media plan, all loaded with the same worked launch. The Worked Example folder adds a completed vendor roster for it. The budget, the vendor tracker, the proposal, the sponsorship deck and the wrap report are clean templates.
- What if my launch date moves? Change it once on the countdown and every milestone moves with it. The production schedule and run of show carry their own setup tabs.
- Is this only for big launches? No. The countdown scales down to a one-room opening and up to a multi-day press moment.
- Can I brand it? Yes. Logo, colors and language throughout. Delete what does not apply.
- Is anything shipped? No. Instant digital download only.

COMPLETE YOUR TOOLKIT

The Brand Activation Kit covers the pop-up, sampling and activation work around a launch.

The Vendor Management System is the full vendor command center with a COI log, if vendors are the part that keeps you up.

The Event Permitting Atlas covers permits in thirteen US markets, for launches in cities you have not worked in.

NOTE: Digital product. Nothing is shipped. All sales are final. File trouble, reach out and I'll make it right.

LICENSE: For use within your own business or organization, including client-facing work on events you produce. No resale.

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