Value Propositions

A value proposition: It's a clear statement about the tangible business results customers get from using your product, service or solution. (source: Jill Konrath)

Jill Konrath has created a "Value Prop Generator" that you will find useful in crafting a clear value proposition.

Another useful definition of a value proposition is “a believable collection of the most persuasive reasons people should notice you and take the action you’re asking for.” (source: Kissmetrics blog)

For the startup company (as opposed to the growth company), much more customer research is necessary to craft a value proposition. A recently published book provides a process for this:

Related to this process are the following resources:

• A Value Proposition Canvas
• Video Introduction to the Value Proposition Canvas
• A Guide from MaRS
• A Workbook from Applied Marketing Inc

Starbucks vs Dunkin Donuts - Lessons in Segmentation

As we discussed in class, these two companies are mostly non-competitive as they service different segments of the coffee drinker marketplace.

Here is an article with a summary of how their customers differ.

And here are some interesting infographics:

for more details on the socialgraphic differences, see this article.

Beyond Positioning

The positioning statement formula is a strategy tool that becomes a reference (or touchstone) for all marketing that you do. It is, however, not to be used in its formula form in your marketing.

The more common elements that do get used in your public communications are:

• Tagline
• Mission Statement
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

A tagline is an important part of your brand identity. Here are some of the greatest taglines:

For guidance on creating a great mission statement, please watch this excellent clip from Fast Company:

And the story you want to tell needs to articulate clearly what you do, how you do it and why you do it. An excellent talk on the importance of "why" is found in this excellent TedX talk by Simon Sinek:

Steve Jobs and Product-Market Fit

Steve Jobs is famous for saying that Apple does not do market research. Here is a sample quote:

“We do no market research. We don’t hire consultants. The only consultants I’ve ever hired in my 10 years is one firm to analyze Gateway’s retail strategy so I would not make some of the same mistakes they made [when launching Apple's retail stores]. But we never hire consultants, per se. We just want to make great products.”

What I think is misunderstood here is that they do not depend on market research to decide what products to make. They do, however, do a lot of research about the markets they will operate in to market and sell their products. Below are some examples of the understanding Steve Jobs has of his markets.

Here is an early draft of the Apple Macintosh business plan which includes a section on markets for the Mac. Here is the Macintosh Product Introduction Plan written in 1983.

Here is a video where Steve Jobs explains the market fit for NeXT computers, his startup after leaving Apple.

Sales Topics

There are many sales methodologies you can employ for managing your sales pipeline. Solution selling is one of the more popular methods and it is the basis of the sales process for many large companies like Microsoft. If you are a partner of Microsoft, they have some excellent training materials on the Microsoft Solution Selling Process (MSSP) that can found on their partner site. Here is a link to a PowerPoint that outlines the Microsoft sales process in the context of a Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimization (BPIO) campaign.

Another popular methodology with technology companies is the SPIN selling method. Popularized in a book by Neil Rackham entitled SPIN Selling, his firm, Huthwaite, offers a lot of online resources. As well, I found this excellent summary of the concepts online from the University of Ohio ...

SPIN Selling Sales Class Overview

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Click here for a great sales management checklist from JustSell.

For an example of how a company employs sales management, here is a link to resources from Salesforce.com that describe how it manages its own salesforce using its software.

And if you want some ideas on crafting a good sales letter, here is a step-by-step process.

3forward has a great resources page with many links to white papers and reports that are useful for sales teams.

Marketing Calendar Topics

A key homework assignment coming out of our Marketing Communications session is the creation of a marketing timeline to proactively define when marketing communications will occur.

Some good guidelines about building a marketing timeline ...
http://marketing.about.com/cs/advertising/a/mktgcalendar.htm

Sometimes called a marketing calendar, here is a simple overview of why you need one .. http://www.eversmall.com/2008/02/06/want-a-simple-marketing-calendar/

and a simple YouTube overview of the process ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHDM-Y2kMPM

Here is a sample template ...
http://www.hgf.org/uploads/11878Worksheet_-_Marketing_Timeline_in_WORD.doc

Here are some other template examples:
http://www.brandeo.com/node/1135
http://www.businesspartnerships.ca/downloads/marketing_calendar.pdf
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/Calendar.pdf

Brandeo provides a FREE template for Microsoft Excel for creating a marketing calendar.

Here are some more tips ...
http://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2006/12/how_to_create_a.html
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/25165.asp

A great summary of "internal communications" tasks/milestones you should incorporate in your overall timeline ... http://www.communicationtoolbox.com/internal-communication-timeline.html

A tradeshow planning guide that should help you incorporate into your overall timeline ...
http://www.trade-show-advisor.com/trade-show-planning-timeline.html


Good luck preparing your marketing timeline/calendar.

Social Media Topics - Part 3

Once you begin implementing your grand scheme using Social Media, you need to actively engage in measuring your outcomes. The trendy word for the analytic tools for Social Media is "socialytics".

This article on econsultancy.com outlines 10 ways to measure social media success. Those tips are well complemented by these from Microgeist. Here is a good list of near-free analytic tools for social media.

Twitter is a social media tool that provides an opportunity to observe the power of "word of mouth" to build awareness, and has stimulated the creation of many analytic tools.

For people that love to justify their efforts in financial terms, there is a social networking ROI calculator that you can use for campaign measurement.