The Positioning Toolkit: Ensuring Consistent and Efficient Communication
Developing a positioning strategy is fundamental to the strategic planning process and the development of supporting implementation plans. Among other benefits, it guides the direction of the company, resource allocation and provides the foundation for company and product messages. It is particularly important for the executive team to work together to finalize the positioning strategy prior to launching the company or introducing a new product. But agreement on the positioning and the message architecture is only the first step; communicating the messages consistently, both internally and externally is often an even greater, ongoing challenge. The ‘Positioning Toolkit’ is a document that forces the company to ‘freeze’ the positioning and related message architecture and to articulate these concepts as standard phrases and ‘copy blocks’ that can be used both internally and externally by contracted resources such as web designers and PR firms. Once completed, the Toolkit can then be scheduled for 9-12 month update cycle, ensuring that there is adequate time to analyze responses and results, but eliminating continuous, time-consuming iterations that inhibit message consistency and,therefore acceptance by the market participants. Adherence to a positioning Toolkit is a simple, yet powerful strategy, one that has significant benefits – it drives buy-in by the executive team and board of directors and ensures the consistency required to establish your messages in the market. Even more important, given the need to conserve limited marketing funds, it results in significant time and cost efficiency. Less time is required to brief vendors and consultants in all functional areas of the company and shorter approval cycles for items such as press releases, recruitment ads, website content, etc. In fact, many documents based strictly on the Toolkit shouldn’t require approval at all. The Toolkit also has benefits for employee communication and motivation, since it translates all aspects of the company’s strategy into easy-to-understand ‘sound bites’ that can be internalized and used by employees at all levels, increasing confidence in, and support of, the company’s strategy and management team.
Elements of the Positioning Toolkit The Positioning Toolkit includes tools that the executive team has established to guide the direction of the company: •Market Vision – The company’s objective vision for the industry, identifying the emerging, growing customer problem that the company has an opportunity to address. It set the context for people to understand why your product(s) is important. •Mission Statement – The company’s high level goal in addressing the customer problem over a 3-5 year horizon •Positioning Strategy Statement (template and short text version) – The company’s targeted market and customer segment(s), the problem addressed and its competitive differentiation •Competitive Differentiation Tests or Knock-offs - The competitive differentiation section of the positioning statement; ‘unlike statements’ that concisely describe the company’s differentiation from all major categories of competitors both direct and alternative solutions •Message Architecture – The one-page message architecture articulates 2-3 key messages that offer tangible evidence for the positioning strategy in four major areas: Market: prove importance of market and category; market size and growth, customer segment(s) characteristics Technology: prove viability of technical approach; IP, patents, standards, interoperability Product: prove business benefits of the product; ROI, third-party benchmarks, ‘total product’ components Company: prove viability of the company; funding, board, management team, partner and customer references •Elevator Pitch – A simplified, single sentence statement, derived from the mission and positioning statements, that describes what the company does in layman’s terms •Brand Attributes – The four/five primary attributes of the brand (will vary by company/product/market). Some examples: Technical/Engineering executives, Trustworthiness, User Friendliness, etc. etc. •Company Story – A brief ‘human interest’ description of how and why the company came to be; often includes elements of the mission and vision or
describes the development and commercialization of the core technology (e.g. ‘HP founded in the prune shed’ story) • Tagline - A brief and memorable slogan or phrase that conveys the most important product attribute or benefit that the company wishes to convey to participants in its market. Taglines sum up the ‘sell’, and should evoke an emotional response. •Boilerplate – A brief paragraph also derived from the positioning strategy statement and message architecture that includes elements of the market vision and mission statements (Since the boilerplate is used at the end of press releases, it should include the top-level messages needed to pique interest in the company and establish credibility for the company and its products)
Format and Use: Launching the Positioning Toolkit The Positioning Toolkit should be formally launched to all internal and external audiences that publicly represent the company or develop materials for the company. Preferred format is a PowerPoint presentation (see attached example from Sana Security) along with a 1-page summary for easy reference,that is often posted in employee cubicles. Larger companies might also want to produce posters and laminated wallet-sized cards. Internal Launch: The Toolkit should be reviewed in a company meeting and then made available electronically to all employees. Many companies coming out of ‘stealth mode’ use the review of the Positioning Toolkit to communicate the final positioning strategy, reinforce the importance of message consistency as they interface with customers and partners, and present the formal launch plan. The Toolkit, along with a core corporate presentation, is then posted on a server or intranet for employee use, with executives leading departmental discussions about specific uses. For example, the positioning strategy and messages should be reflected in non-marketing materials and presentations such as documentation, emails to partners and customers, recruiting advertising and postings, meetings with suppliers and contractors, funding and financial presentations, etc. The Toolkit is particularly valuable for recruiting and new-hire orientation, giving managers a simple way to explain the company’s strategy and demonstrating consistency and credibility. Board and Advisors: Many companies will involve the board of directors in final review or approval of the positioning strategy, and will formally present the Toolkit in board and advisor meetings. It is particularly important to make the Toolkit available electronically to board members since they frequently discuss the company and its strategies in a variety of forums. This ensures message
consistency in board and advisor communication to their partners and associates, to other potential investors and to other interested parties. Marketing Use: The Positioning Toolkit is the foundation for all marketing materials, and provides an outline, and introductory bullets/paragraphs, for the two fundamental materials, the corporate presentation and the corporate backgrounder. These paragraphs are then reused---in the same words, for maximum reinforcement---throughout the website, in datasheets, white papers, press releases, sales presentations, sales training and tools, and a variety of other materials. The Toolkit is referenced in the outline phase, before materials are developed, and in the approval phase, to ensure that the final document accurately reflects the company’s strategy. Consultant/Contractor Kick-off: The Positioning Toolkit provides immediate ROI in its use with external vendors---some companies report that they are able to decrease website development and public relations agency cost by 50% using the Toolkit. If marketing strategy and/ or planning are outsourced, these consultants should be involved in the development or final review of the Toolkit. Consider holding a positioning Toolkit ‘kick-off’ meeting with any contractors/consultants that develop materials to represent you to the outside world; e.g. web design firms, public relations agencies, graphic design firms, writers and other marketing consultants. Review the kit and its use, and give consultants and opportunity to ask questions, clarify issues and brainstorm ways to use the tools. Many PR agencies find that the Toolkit significantly decreases the time it takes them to ‘get up to speed’ on a client’s business, and greatly improves the revision and approval process. Web development and creative firms are often able to use the positioning Toolkit in lieu of a creative brief, again saving time and money for both client and agency.