Most launch narratives die from the same cause: they read like every other launch shipping that Tuesday. Same category noun, same "powerful new" phrasing, same three pillars. The fix isn't more polish — it's pressure-testing the draft against questions that surface generic copy before it goes live.
This is the checklist we run on launch narratives the week before announcement. Six items. Print it, walk through it once with a draft in hand, and rewrite anything that fails.
Pre-launch narrative checks
When to run this
The checklist is most useful at two points in the launch timeline — early enough to rewrite, late enough that the draft is real.
If three or more items fail, the launch isn't ready. Push the date a week, not the standard. A delayed launch with a sharp narrative outperforms an on-time launch that reads like wallpaper — every time we've measured it.
Keep reading
How to Build Battle Cards That Sales Actually Uses
Tactical guide to battle cards that field reps open during live deals — not the ones that rot in Drive two weeks after they ship.
When to Refresh Your Positioning (Not Just Your Messaging)
How to tell whether the problem is positioning or execution — the four signals that mean the thesis is wrong, not the copy.
Positioning Audit: How to Score Your Own Work Objectively
Scoring your own positioning is structurally hard — you wrote it. Six disciplines that reduce the bias without outsourcing the audit, plus the rubric.
Launch Playbook
Ship launches that land a point of view — not just a feature list.
Launch Playbook drafts your announcement copy, FAQ, and battle-card patch from your Strategic Context the moment you're ready to ship. Evidence-based, grounded in your positioning, built to be sent — not just presented.
- ✓Drafts announcement, FAQ, and battle-card patch
- ✓Grounded in your positioning, not a generic template
- ✓Ready to ship in the time it takes to brief an agency