There are many ways to create value in a business, and many ways in which that value can be communicated to clients. Our services are targeted uniformly to helping you increase the value you create, and to better communicate that value.
We work with multi-billion-dollar international companies, and with small, private firms. Every client proposal is tailored to the needs and budget of that client. The following services show some of the categories within which we operate.
Marketing Communications Planning
It’s easy to imagine that the primary task of marketing is the creation and deployment of communications tools. Certainly this is an important activity, but it comes almost at the end of the workflow for marketing.
- Begin with a clear strategy;
- Identify key segments and their needs;
- Develop positioning and messages;
- Understand your delivery channels,
…and then design the collateral and communications tools.
Having gone to the trouble of building products and offering services of real value, it makes sense to communicate effectively with your potential and current customer base.
We will help you through this entire chain, resulting ultimately in a well-documented creative brief that can be taken by graphics designers and copywriters as the starting point for the creation of marketing deliverables. Because we work with advertising agencies and marketing communications firms on a regular basis, we can ensure that you maximize the value from your advertising dollar, in terms of real impact on your chosen markets.
A typical creative brief for marketing communications contains the following elements:
- The business purpose of the communication
- The key audiences to whom the communication is addressed
- The users of the collateral or marketing communications tools
- The beliefs we want to create with the materials
- Specific messages, with evidence, that will help create the desired beliefs
- Pointers to information on the corporate brand and existing standards to which the communications materials must adhere
- A timeline
- Other considerations (if required).
There’s a simple, well-documented process to achieve these results. A…
Vision and Values
Behind all the technology and product and business activity in a company is a group of people. Increasingly, that group is diverse in culture, language and experience. It has never been more important to clearly define the basic beliefs and intentions of the company in a way that the team can understand. This is the purpose of establishing values within a company.
A complete solution provides what we call a business philosophy. It contains three elements, and may include more:
- Three to five values that underlie all other activities for the company
- A mission statement that clearly defines the focus of the company’s activities and how they benefit the customer
- A vision statement that places the mission and values in a much larger context, communicating the ultimate “good works” to which the company is committed.
Additional elements may include:
- A tag line that summarizes the company’s value proposition in a catchy way for marketing purposes
- A customer bill of rights that establishes how customers can expect to be treated in all their dealing with the company.
None of these issues are the same as business strategy or positioning, but they all play an important role in creating corporate focus. They can be developed through workshops and interviews, in a relatively rapid process. It is very important that the vision, mission and values come from the grass roots in the company. We have found that once the values are determined with a team that represents all levels in the…
Product Launch
Launching a new product is a complex task, and one that is well-staffed and competently handled in many organizations. However, there are two primary reasons why you may want a consultant to help:
- The product involves a new paradigm or entry into a newmarket where you have less experience
- You would like to acquire a set of product launch best practices that will increase your effectiveness for future product launches.
The cost of delays in product launch are legendary. In the electronics business, system revenues may range up to $50M per day of delay! How much are you willing to pay to reduce your launch time by one week? Or simply to increase the probability that you will launch on schedule?
We have developed a rapid launch planning process that was responsible for the fastest ramp-up of a new systems product in the history of the contract furniture industry. The key is to concurrently analyze and make progress in the key areas of pre-launch decision-making. These include:
- Market research—do you know enough about the customer you’re aiming for?
- Internal product cannibalization—does the new product risk existing revenues?
- Competitive positioning and marketing issues—what’s your primary differentiation?
- Product completion issues—will all the elements be in place on launch day?
- Marketing collateral and channel preparation—will the sales engine be ready to go?
- Management alignment and project management—does everyone know their role?
The launch planning process can be expedited over a week of intensive workshops, or it can take place in gentler…
Business Strategy
Strategy is really just another word for intelligent planning of your business in order to maximize value creation and delivery. It can involve re-vitalization of brand; new product plans; expansion into new geographies; and much more.
There are some basic issues that turn up time and again.
- Core competencies – What is my company really good at?
- Sustained advantage – What must I do to sustain those strengths over time?
- Differentiation – How do my strengths set me apart from other companies?
- Segmentation and market analysis – Who are my customers
- Value proposition – What is most important to keeping and growing my customer base?
Without a crystal-clear understanding of these issues, it’s very difficult to run your company effectively.
All the other questions – product and corporate positioning, branding, launch planning, channel strategy and so on, depend on understanding the five questions above. The questions of core competency and sustained advantage are about value creation – the way you generate something of interest to a customer. Differentiation clarifies your position relative to competitors, and segmentation and market analysis allows you to focus your message specifically to maximize the communicated and delivered value to different kinds of customers. The value proposition is the ultimate boiling down of your message – sometimes we call it your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP.
If you need answers to these five questions or others, we can help. We have a specific methodology that begins with examination of the five questions, and proceeds to positioning, brand development, message development and marketing communications…
Market Research
It is so easy to think that you are like me.
Yet every client is different, with unique interests, challenges, and organizations. Research is how we keep ourselves honest in business. It can be informal or formal; it can be statistically based or qualitative in nature.
We specialize in qualitative research, focused on understanding what’s really going on in your business. There are many research companies that do a great job of generating statistically significant research data. Cheskin Research is one (large) firm that does a great job in this area.
You will usually want qualitative research before you go after a quantitative (statistical) study, because qualitative research looks at causes and structure, while qualitative research is best at testing a hypothesis based on a current understanding of the market.
The research process looks something like this:
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Define the core questions that need to be understood
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Identify the characteristics of the desired research subjects
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Create a research "protocol" - an interview or focus group script
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Recruit research subjects, and have an experienced, knowledgeable consultant carry out the research. This is key - good qualitative research is about understanding and exploring, and it can't be done well by a third party. I build the research protocol and execute the research myself in conjunction with a small team of known experts.
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Organize the results and develop a hypothesis
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Facilitate an analysis workshop with the client to explore the opportunities and issues raised by the research. Develop a plan to move forward with ...
Brand Strategy
A brand is first and foremost a promise to the customer. It is intended to cause the appropriate customer to prefer the products and services associated with that brand.
Over the years, marketers have become more and more creative about how they build those perceptions. It’s no longer just about product value – it includes lifestyle issues, fashion, links to TV shows and famous people and so on.
In the end, branding must do one thing, and one thing only. When you see the logo, or the name, or the designs associated with a brand, you must be more likely to buy the products and services associated with that brand than previously. This means that real branding takes place inside your head. It’s a psychological function that makes a link between an identity and your actions. Remember Pavlov’s dog? He trained it to salivate when he rang a bell. Branding is a similar activity.
But there’s more. I firmly believe that the most successful businesses create real value. They have a great advantage. Rather than having to spend vast amounts of money to advertise a product of dubious utility, they can use the product experience as a key part of the brand. Apple Computer is one company that does both. By exercising strong control over the design of the product, every experience with the product builds the Apple brand.
We do not provide graphic design. There are many firms offering branding implementation, and I can point you…
