Plan a product launch with an asset matrix

A launch can have a finished hero film and still be missing the one image the sales team needs. Usually, the problem starts in the brief. Someone asks for a film, a few stills and social versions. Nobody writes down the questions those assets must answer.

This is a matrix of the product images and films a launch needs, not a finance or asset-register matrix. A product launch asset matrix connects each audience, question, visual and delivery requirement in one place.

Build it before the shot list. It gives the Creative Director a reason for every frame and gives the marketing team a way to spot omissions while they are still easy to resolve.

Start with the question in the buyer’s head.

Imagine a premium air purifier approaching launch. This is an illustrative brief, not a client result.

A person discovering the product wants to know why it deserves attention. A retail buyer wants to understand its footprint and range.

Someone comparing products wants to see how the filter is accessed. Your sales team may need all three stories on the same day.

“Make the product look premium” cannot resolve those differences. “Show that the filter lifts out without moving the unit” can. It names a visible action the film must explain. Before that line becomes a shot instruction, the product owner confirms the mechanism really works that way. Until then it is a claim to check, not a visual to build.

Write one question per row. When two rows ask the same question, you may be able to share a shot. When one row contains five questions, split it. Several rows can sometimes draw on the same CGI source, but each may still need its own composition and its own review.

Copy this launch asset matrix.

Scroll sideways to read every column.

Add the working columns.

The five columns above explain why each asset exists. A working matrix also needs to say where it goes and who is moving it. Add these columns to the same rows. The values below continue the illustrative air purifier brief.

Scroll sideways to read every column.

Keep “approval needed” and “approved” apart. When someone agrees a row, write down the product version it applies to, who approved it and what they decided. A row marked approved without those three details will be argued about later.

To start your own, copy this header line into the first cell of a spreadsheet and split it by comma:

Audience and moment,Question to answer,Visual evidence,Deliverable,Approval needed,Channel,Format,Language,Owner,Due date,Status,Product version,Approved by,Decision

Or download the matrix as a CSV file. It holds the same columns, the five illustrative rows from this article and blank rows for your own. It contains no client data.

The matrix is a starting point. It is not a requirement to commission five separate productions. A Master Asset can support multiple outputs, but each output still needs composition, checking and a defined purpose.

Plan the first asset first.

Ask which asset is needed earliest: a retailer listing, a press image, an event screen, a sales deck or the launch page. The public launch date is often not the first deadline. Work back from that first date to when the source files must be released and when each review has to happen.

Record what each row depends on, such as an approved CAD revision, a finish reference or signed-off wording, so a late input is visible before it holds up the rest. Leave the durations to the scoped production plan.

The matrix records the order and the dependencies, not how long each step takes. The product CGI timeline guide explains what a production window includes.

Add delivery details before anyone starts animating.

Give each deliverable a destination, shape, length where relevant, owner and deadline. “Social” is not a destination. A portrait placement with interface overlays is a different composition from a wide launch-page film.

Record where text will sit and whether it must change by market. A logo or claim baked into every frame makes later localisation harder. Ask for the required textless versions at the briefing stage.

For website assets, agree a poster still and the behaviour before playback. For films containing speech, plan captions and a transcript. The W3C guidance on accessible media is a useful reference when defining these deliverables.

For uploads to YouTube, hand the current official encoding recommendations to the delivery owner. Platform requirements should be verified when the files are exported.

Each row can carry its own delivery line: the intended channel, the aspect ratio, whether a textless master is needed, captions, a transcript, the language and the owner who receives the files. Treat these as questions for the brief, not fixed platform rules.

A new format or language can need a new composition and a fresh product and wording review, so it is not always an automatic variant of the master.

Choose the smallest set that tells the whole story.

Prioritise the assets without which the launch cannot explain the product. Then add the useful extensions. If every row is marked essential, ask what would happen if it were removed.

A film that introduces the product, an image that proves the defining feature and a clear technical explanation often do different jobs. Ten nearly identical beauty shots may do only one.

This also gives you a sensible response to a late request. A new asset should have a new audience need or a clear delivery requirement. Otherwise, it is probably another version of work already planned.

Give approval its own column.

A brand lead can approve the visual language while an engineer checks the mechanism. Those decisions should meet before the final frame is rendered. One nominated person should consolidate the response so the studio receives a single direction.

Who approves what depends on your organisation. This is one way to split it:

Your team decides who holds each authority, and whether technical or legal review is needed. An approved image is not an engineering or regulatory certificate. When two approvers disagree, resolve it before the studio receives the next instruction.

Write the required evidence beside the approval: current CAD revision, finish reference, approved wording or screen specification. “Approved” becomes useful when everyone knows what was checked.

Use our CGI briefing guide to assemble the wider brief. For a launch spanning film, stills and product explanation, tell us about your brief and bring the matrix. A partially filled table is enough to make the first conversation concrete.

Turn the table into a brief.

A partly filled matrix is enough to brief a studio. Prepare the production brief with the template and attach the matrix, so the deliverables list and the reasons behind it travel together. If the launch needs film, stills and channel edits from one source, scope a launch suite around the rows you have.

Where this fits in a wider launch plan

The matrix covers the visual part of a launch: which images and films each audience needs, and who approves them. Pricing, supply, channel strategy and the wider go-to-market plan sit outside it. For the wider picture, read the product launch content playbook, and check launch assets against the checklist on XO3D Labs.

See the asset mix in practice.

Our AUAR MicroFactory project brought together a hero animation, website loops, stills and supporting motion assets. The published case study lets you inspect those outputs together. Use it as a reference for the different jobs within one launch, then build the matrix around your own audience.