A strong product-marketing relationship goes beyond friendship. To achieve true alignment, marketing must embed product leaders into their processes from day one, inviting them to keynote jam sessions and press release reviews to eliminate surprises and build shared ownership.

A product launch isn't merely a release date; it's a strategic, coordinated campaign. Its primary goal is to change the market's perception, generate demand, and create momentum across the entire funnel, moving beyond a simple product announcement.

Qualified supports its relentless product launch schedule by operating its own creative studio. This eliminates dependency on external agencies, allowing the marketing team to move faster, shoot multiple keynotes and demos weekly, and maintain a high bar for quality.

To keep growth aligned with product, foster a shared culture where everyone loves the product and customer. This isn't about formal meetings, but a baseline agreement that makes collaboration inherent. When this culture exists, the product team actively seeks marketing's input, creating a unified engine.

A dual-track launch strategy is most effective. Ship small, useful improvements on a weekly cadence to demonstrate momentum and reliability. For major, innovative features that represent a step-change, consolidate them into a single, high-impact 'noisy' launch to capture maximum attention.

Qualified's CMO and much of her team have stayed for over four years—a rarity in tech. This stability isn't just about culture; it's fueled by a consistently innovative product roadmap. The constant excitement from the product team translates into higher morale and retention for marketing.

Fal treats every new model launch on its platform as a full-fledged marketing event. Rather than just a technical update, each release becomes an opportunity to co-market with research labs, create social buzz, and provide sales with a fresh reason to engage prospects. This strategy turns the rapid pace of AI innovation into a predictable and repeatable growth engine.

Go-to-Market (GTM) and launches are not interchangeable. GTM is the broader commercial strategy covering pricing, packaging, and segmentation. A launch is a specific, event-based moment within that GTM plan designed to create urgency and capture buyer attention.

Robinhood is shifting its planning process to focus on what will be announced at its next public product keynote. Instead of setting abstract internal goals, this aligns the entire company around concrete, customer-facing deliverables and creates a powerful, immovable deadline for shipping.