Launch Playbook (Global)

A playbook is not a plan. A plan is for one launch; a playbook is reusable and improves after every launch. Successful launches are not luck — they are the product of correct preparation and disciplined execution. Run 59-go-to-market-global first for the GTM plan; this playbook is the execution layer underneath it.

Information gathering

Read the GTM plan and the campaign brief if available. If missing, ask up to 4 questions:

1. What is launching, and on what date? Product or offer, exact D-day, and any blackout dates in the period.
2. Who is on the team? Content, design, media buying, sales/support, engineering — who can do what?
3. What assets exist already? Landing page, creative, email sequence, tracking — status of each.
4. What did the last launch teach you? Read the previous retrospective and update the playbook; never reuse the old version unchanged.

Principles

1. Update the playbook after every launch. Lessons from the retrospective must land in the playbook.
2. "No-go" is a valid decision. Launching at the wrong time is worse than launching late.
3. Only the leader decides go/no-go. Never delegate it.
4. Plan backwards from D-day. Every task has exactly one owner and a deadline with a specific time and timezone. Keep a one-day buffer before launch for the unexpected.
5. Ads are built and left Paused. They go live on D-day only, never earlier.

Phase 1 — Pre-launch (T-30 to T-1)

T-30 to T-21: Foundation

• Offer finalized: price, bundle, guarantee, bonuses locked (no changes after this point)
• Positioning and core message locked (from 58-positioning-global or the GTM plan)
• Landing page brief handed to design/dev
• Content team briefed: angles, hooks, visual direction
• Media buyer briefed: audience research, account structure, ads plan
• Full asset list built (run 41-campaign-asset-list-global)
• Claim substantiation file started: every performance, health, or income claim has evidence on record

T-21 to T-14: Build

• Landing page live, tracking verified green (pixel, server-side events, UTMs)
• Pre-launch email sequence written (3-5 emails), unsubscribe and sender identity compliant with CAN-SPAM/GDPR
• Designer has the brief and the asset list (T-14 checkpoint)
• Teaser content starts: 1-2 posts per week, problem-aware, NO offer reveal
• Warm-audience ads live (engagement objective, low CPM)
• Email #1 sent: name the problem
• Seeding in relevant communities (Reddit, Discord, Slack, niche forums) following each community's self-promotion rules
• Creators / UGC partners briefed, with disclosure requirements stated (FTC requires clear #ad or #sponsored disclosure on paid endorsements)

T-7: Ramp up

• Teasers move to daily cadence
• Designer submits MVP concept > leader approves (T-7); complex assets such as the landing page finished by T-5
• Email #2: reveal the problem, hint at the solution
• Ads budget increased (traffic to landing page to build custom audiences)
• Social proof collected: testimonials from beta users or existing customers
• FAQ content published: handles the common objections

T-3: Final prep

• All content approved and scheduled (medium-complexity assets — carousels, banner sets — done by T-3)
• Ads fully built and Paused, waiting for D-day
• Landing page final QA: load time, forms, payment (card, PayPal, wallets), mobile rendering
• Email #3: "Doors open [date] — want to be told first?"
• Team brief: who does what, at what hour, in which timezone (war room roster)
• Inbox coverage assigned with response scripts ready
• Fast assets (statics, stories) done by T-1

T-1: Go / no-go check

• Tracking 100% working
• Payment tested successfully across every method offered
• All links resolve, no 404s
• Offer copy correct (price, bonuses, deadline)
• Consent, privacy notice, and unsubscribe paths verified
• Team confirmed ready
• LEADER SIGN-OFF: GO / NO-GO — any missing item means NO-GO

Per-function checklist (before D-day)

Function	Checklist
Content	Captions, scripts, and creative approved by leader; hashtags and UTM links complete; schedule set or a person on duty to post; backup content if creator delivery slips
Design	Correct size per platform; assets follow the timeline T-14 brief > T-7 concept > T-5 complex > T-3 medium > T-1 fast; quick-asset standby on launch day
Ads (media buyer)	Pixel and tracking verified; campaigns built and Paused; budget matches plan; UTMs on every link; backup creative ready in case of policy rejection
Sales / support	Inbox coverage by shift and timezone; reply scripts for common comments and DMs; lead handoff process to sales; complaint-handling script
Engineering	Page loads fast, forms work, payment tested; on-call engineer on launch day; redirect plan if the page goes down

Phase 2 — Launch-day war room

The war room is one shared channel plus a clear on-duty roster. The leader coordinates and each function has a single point of contact. Data is checked hourly and decisions are made same-day. For distributed teams, publish the roster in a single reference timezone with local equivalents, and require written status updates at each checkpoint so no decision depends on someone being awake.

Hour (launch timezone)	Activity	Owner
T-1h	Leader runs the final check (page, tracking, schedule)	Leader
0:00	Publish the official announcement	Writer
+0:30	Turn on BOFU ads (Meta, TikTok, Google)	Media buyer
+1:00	Email and SMS blast: "We're live"	Leader
+2:00	Data check 1: page views, form submits, ad delivery	Leader
+4:00	Second post (different angle — social proof or urgency)	Writer
+7:00	Mid-day review — adjust or hold	Leader
+12:00	Evening push at peak time: stories, reposts	Writer
+15:00	Day-1 wrap: numbers, anomalies, decisions for day 2	Leader

D+1 to D+7

Day	Activity	Owner
D+1	Follow-up email to non-buying leads — handle objections	Leader
D+1	Mark winning and losing creative from day-1 data	Media buyer + designer
D+2	Post social proof: first buyers, early results	Writer
D+3	Media buyer report > leader decides scale, hold, or cut	Leader
D+5	Urgency push: "X seats left" or "bonus ends [date]"	Writer + leader
D+7	Last call: email, SMS, post > close cart	Leader + writer

Escalation matrix

Situation	Severity	Action	Handled by
Tracking not firing	Urgent	Pause ads, fix immediately	Media buyer + engineering
Landing page down	Urgent	Redirect or fix within 30 minutes	Engineering
Payment failing	Urgent	Notify engineering and leader immediately	Engineering
Ads rejected by platform policy	High	Activate backup creative, file appeal	Media buyer
CPA above 3x target	High	Notify leader immediately, wait for decision	Media buyer
Negative comments spreading	High	Notify leader, do NOT self-handle — follow 66-crisis-playbook-global	Writer + leader
Claim challenged or complaint alleging deceptive advertising	High	Pause the asset, escalate to leader and legal	Leader

Roll-back criteria

Roll-back means pausing part or all of the launch to fix it. The leader decides.

Situation	Threshold	Roll-back action
Tracking wrong or not firing	Any	Pause all ads until fixed — do not burn budget blind
CPA above threshold	> 3x target after the first 24h	Pause BOFU ads, keep organic; review creative and audience before restarting
Landing page CVR far below expectation	< 1/3 of expected after 48h	Keep TOFU, pause BOFU push; fix headline, form, and speed, then restart
Offer displayed wrong (price or bonus)	Any	Remove the post, fix, repost — faster than apologizing on the broken post
Reputation issue or complaints spreading	Spreading	Switch to 66-crisis-playbook-global, stop all sales posts until resolved

Roll-back is not failure. Continuing while knowing you are wrong is.

Phase 3 — Post-launch (D+8 onward)

• D+8 to D+14: pull all data (revenue, leads, ROAS, CPA, CVR, top channels); media buyer writes the performance report; collect new customer feedback; 30-minute team debrief
• D+14 onward: decide on an evergreen campaign (if yes, always-on ads with an explicit ROAS target); document testimonials and case studies from the first customers
• Update this playbook with lessons from the retrospective (63-campaign-retrospective-global) — mandatory, never skipped because the team is busy

Output structure

File name: launch-playbook-[product-name]-[YYYYMMDD].md — contains the T-30 to D+7 timeline with owners and deadlines filled in, the 5 function checklists, the war room roster, the escalation matrix, the roll-back criteria, and a "lessons applied from last launch" section.

Related skills

• 59-go-to-market-global: run first — the GTM plan is the strategic input, this playbook is the execution layer.
• 02-campaign-brief-global: brief the team before entering the timeline.
• 41-campaign-asset-list-global: enumerate the assets to produce at the T-30 to T-21 checkpoint.
• 63-campaign-retrospective-global: run after every launch — lessons feed back into this playbook.
• 66-crisis-playbook-global: activate when negative sentiment spreads or a reputation issue appears.

Quality checklist

• Timeline complete from T-30 to D+7, planned backwards from D-day
• Every task has exactly one owner and a deadline with a time and timezone
• Checklists cover all 5 functions: content, design, ads, sales/support, engineering
• T-1 go/no-go checklist complete — leader signs off
• War room has an hourly roster and a named point of contact per function
• Escalation matrix is explicit: situation > severity > action > owner
• Roll-back criteria use concrete numeric thresholds, not judgment calls
• Ads are built and left Paused — only turned on at D-day
• A one-day buffer exists before launch
• Claim substantiation and endorsement disclosure are verified before assets go live
• The playbook update step after launch is included