Answer
Jul 03, 2018 - 07:19 AM
positioning exercise
Hi @Sarah Facebook, the best way to go about this is to run through a value proposition discovery exercise.
And when I say value proposition, I don't mean something you've read in a book before. I mean answering this very practical definition:
"If I am your ideal customer, why should I buy from you rather than from anyone else?"
-"If I" forces you to answer the question from theirperspective, which means their cares, interests, desires, wants...
-"your ideal customer" forces you to think about your known customer segments, and where you have the best fighting chance for each of these segments, and how they are different from each other.
Different people buy for different reasons.
-"Why should I" forces you to come up with some primary reasons, the type they remember after the purchase or just before to justify the decision. Even though we often buy emotionally, there is ALWAYS a part of us, especially as the sale gets larger, that plays the Vulcan, to ensure that we are indeed making the best choice.
-"Rather than from anyone else" forces you to compare yourself to others in the perspective of the consumer. People compare by nature/subliminally, especially to help make decisions, and unfortunately, if you are the slightly "uglier" one, you won't even get a fair shake (see Dan Ariely's bit on comparison in Predictably Irrational)
So you already have a question you want to answer about choosing the right position statement, now you need to list out all your claims of value and rate them on two categories:
-How bad does [X segment] want this?
-Can someone else claim this?
Be honest. You want to identify the claims that are both high in desire and exclusivity. AND... you want to identify this per major segment (or at least see if it differs).
After you find the top 3 or 4 claims, then you need make them believeable and immediately understandable.
So write down a few pieces of evidence that proves your claim of value, from either 3rd party sources, specific numbers, information that when read immediately helps someone conclude "yeah, these guys aren't BS'ing about this"
And then... re-write your claim in such a way that someone can get it in less than a second. Kind of like that "Ohhhh, yeah... I know that" effect.
Put it all together in one sentence, and batta-bing batta-boom.. you have yourself a positioning statement.
Here's an example I wrote-up for some training I did at the American Marketing Association Workshops (Both at their annual national event, and then regionals...)
Now, i haven't worked specifically with this company, but they do a good job communicating their value proposition practically in their main video, and they show parts of these relentlessly on TV channels for their target demographic (I know because ive been in their demographic)
Go to abcmouse.com and watch the main video
Now, read this statement... and tell me if it summarizes what they are trying to communicate:
Estimated Value Proposition: “Because we have the world’s most comprehensive (1) award winning (2) and fun (3) early learning site for kids ages 2-6. ”
Their Evidence
(1). Hundreds of hours of learning content from over 5,000 learning activities and more than 450 lessons.
(2). Parents’ Choice Gold Award, Editor’s Choice Award for excellence in design, Mom’s Choice
Awards Gold, Teachers’ Choice Award, National Parenting Center Seal of Approval Winner and more.
(3). Six different types of learning activities that simulate children’s most popular mediums, including books, songs, games, puzzles, and painting
It's one thing to write a statement, and then another to express it. I like to think of the positioning statement above as the go-to litmus test for all marketing. If marketing and brand communication doesn't hit on those things, then it's not being done right.
Another example was this Star Wars video game called "The Force Unleashed"
It was their most successful in the entire 10-20 years of making games.
Why? Every single meeting, they started off by saying what will make this game win and stand apart:
"What are we allowing players to do?"
And all employees respond:
"To kick someone's a$$ with the force"
And in all their marketing, it got through. Fans of that franchise, that also played video games, have been WANTING to do that FOREVER.
So they made a ton of money on that game. Because they focused on something that their demographic highly wanted, that no other game could do, and proved it in all their marketing/communications with clear, and credible messaging.
Does this help?
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