A product launch has a different shape to most events. There is no long programme to sustain — there is a room to hold, a story to tell and one moment that everything builds towards. The AV should be built around that moment, and around the fact that most people who experience the launch will do so through photographs and video afterwards rather than in the room.
Design the reveal first, then work backwards
Decide precisely how the product appears — a screen transition, a lighting change, a curtain drop, cold-spark fountains, or some combination — and build the rest of the AV to serve it. The reveal needs cueing to the second, which means a technician following a cue sheet, not someone improvising from the back of the room. Rehearse it. A reveal that happens half a beat late reads as a mistake to everyone watching.
Screens carry the story
Launches are visual. An LED screen holds attention before the programme starts, carries brand content and video during it, and gives photographers a backdrop that identifies the event in every shot. For a bright venue or a daytime outdoor activation an LED screen is the only display that stays readable. Get your content in the correct aspect ratio well in advance — content built for a laptop and stretched onto an event screen looks exactly as bad as it sounds.
Lighting is what makes it photograph
This is the most under-appreciated element. The photographs and video from your launch will circulate far more widely than the guest list, and lighting determines whether they look professional or like a well-attended meeting. Light the product properly, light the presenters, and use uplighting in brand colours to make the room read as yours. Flat overhead venue lighting flattens everything, including your product.
Sound for a room that is standing and talking
Launch audiences stand, move and talk, which is acoustically much harder than a seated audience. You need enough coverage that people at the edges hear the presentation without it being punishing near the front, wireless microphones for presenters who will move and gesture, and a technician managing levels as the room noise rises and falls. If there is a demonstration, plan how its audio reaches the room.
Look after the press
If media are attending, give them what they need: a clean audio feed from the desk for broadcast, a clear line of sight to the stage and product, decent light on the presenter, and a branded backdrop for interviews afterwards. Journalists working with usable material produce better coverage, and the audio feed in particular costs you nothing to provide.
Stream it and record it
The room is a fraction of the audience. Streaming the launch reaches customers, partners and media who are not there, and the recording becomes content you use for months. Film with audio from the mixing desk, cover the reveal from more than one angle, and make sure someone captures the product itself in good light rather than only the speeches.
Do not skip the technical rehearsal
Run the whole thing once with the actual presenters, the actual slides and the actual cues. Launches have more transitions per minute than almost any other event — video, presenter, demonstration, reveal, questions — and each transition is where things break. A rehearsal that finds two problems has paid for itself several times over.
Talk to us early
JMG Audio supplies LED screens, sound, lighting, staging, special effects and streaming for product launches and brand activations in Harare and across Zimbabwe. The earlier we are involved, the more the AV can be designed around your reveal rather than fitted around it afterwards. See our LED screen hire and special effects pages for what is possible.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important AV element at a launch?
Whatever serves the reveal — usually the screen and lighting working together on a precise cue. Everything else supports that single moment.
Do I need an LED screen or will a projector do?
For a bright venue, an outdoor activation or anywhere you want real visual impact, an LED screen. Projectors only work in rooms where you fully control the lighting, which most launch venues are not.
Why does lighting matter so much for a launch?
Because most people will see your launch in photographs and video, not in the room. Lighting is the difference between images that look like a professional brand event and images that look like a meeting.
Can you provide a clean audio feed for journalists?
Yes. A press feed taken from the mixing desk gives broadcasters usable audio, which meaningfully improves the coverage you get. It is straightforward to provide if we know in advance.
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