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.

Social Media Topics - Part 2

Establishing a strategy for social media is not unlike any other marketing strategy - know your audience, know your objectives, choose an engagement method, and engage in a conversation. In fact, social media is more focused on the quality of the "conversation" than traditional media. In particular, I like how this article focuses on listening as a step before engaging customers.

This website called Brandtology has a blog that covers some of the fundamental elements of a good strategy. Forrester Research has published a good 4 part strategic model called POST. Using POST (People, Objectives, Startegy, Technology) is a great way to organize your strategic thinking for social media.

Christina Kerley has published a checklist for putting a social media marketing plan together. Another useful checklist is provided by ClickZ. The Social Media Group offers a very useful download to help you prepare a proposal for a social media project.

Although a lot of B2C social media strategies focus on brand awareness, most B2B social media strategies are focused on more direct forms of revenue generation. This is a good article on creating a B2B lead generation pipeline.

Social Media Topics - Part 1

We didn't cover much on social media in seminar 3, but it is an emerging area of much interest to marketers.

According to Wikipedia, Social Media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Another way of defining this is describing it as media which are formed mainly by the public as a group, in a social way, rather than media produced by journalists or other traditional media producers.

According to PC Magazine, Social Media is the "online forms of communicating to the masses, which include blogs, microblogs, social networking sites and podcasts. Contrast with 'industrial media,' which refer to radio, TV and film."

So what are the tools you need to get started? This post by Chris Brogan outlines the essentials. (Chris is the author of an interesting book entitled "Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust").

Christina Kerley has published an informative presentation on the benefits of social media for B2B marketing. Also, social media is very different from traditional media.

There is a lot of new concepts to understand to capitalize on social media. I think Blogs and Video are the best tools to start with for a young technology company.

The purpose of blogging is well outlined by this Inc magazine article.

There are many great examples of how to use video to great advantage, and here is a case study published by DH Communications on one example. Of course, there are risks as well, and this blog post discusses some of the issues for this particular case study.

(in part 2, I will discuss developing a social media strategy, and in part 3, I will cover twitter and social media analytics).

PR and Publicity Topics

As we mentioned in seminar 3, publicity is the most cost effective means of generating awareness. The goal of publicity is to get attention in online and traditional media (appearing in print by this "unpaid" manner is sometimes known as "free coverage"). The broader term of public relations is the process of molding public opinion through a variety of methods ranging from events, public speaking, and newsletters to the media and Internet communications channels we associate with publicity.

The most common method of getting media attention is through a press release. You need to write a press release, identify a distribution method, and have a list of contacts you want to work with to make sure your press release gets the attention it deserves. With your targeted media list, you need to approach this people directly and use a pitch letter to make the "story opportunity" crystal clear.

Remember as well that the most important side effects of good and frequent press release distribution is search engine optimization and increased website traffic.

Here are some valuable links that will help you with this process:

Publicity Do's and Don'ts

Useful overview of the process

How to write a press release.

How to write with template and sample

Here is an annotated example

Best practices for quotes in a press release

Creating a pitch letter:
from the Publicity Insider
from Inc magazine
Here is a checklist

Developing a media list:
article from eHow
article in Inc magazine
article from Suite101

Commercial Press Release Wire Services:
Marketwire
PR Newswire
BusinessWire
PRWeb
Canada Newswire/CNW Group

Free Press Release Wire Services:
http://presszoom.com/
http://www.pitchengine.com/
http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/
http://www.prlog.org/submit-free-press-release.html

Marketing Communications Topics

In follow up to this broad topic, I thought it would be good to review the concepts. This site, Small Business Notes, has a great definition for Marketing Communications and links to some simple explanations of advertising, sales materials, and public relations.

An HP article on making a marketing brochure (includes a template). Also, here is a good article on making the content convincing for customers. You may also find this article on "How To Improve Your Marketing Collateral" useful.

A Business Week article on "The Bang for Your Marketing Buck" (includes link to a ROI calculator).

Often people use tradeshows as a key promotional activity, here is an article on "Trade Show Marketing Mistakes".

(I'll make separate posts on publicity and social media as I have extensive list of resources for that) ...

Partner Program Topics

Here are a few articles that are interesting reading on the topic of "why partner?"

• Learning from Starbucks (point 4 is about partnering)
• Some of the global expansion of Starbucks in the 1990's was possible due to partners and allies.

Here are some articles on the topic of "how to execute a partner program".

• Phases of a Reseller Program
• Recruiting Resellers
• Intel's MDF Use of MDF

Here is a website very rich in news and articles about information technology partner programs, along with some notable articles you will want to read from those publications:

Channel Insider

• IBM Tops IDC ISV Program Study; Microsoft, SAP Follow
• Marketing Programs Vary Widely Among VARs
• Microsoft ISVs Outperforming Peers

Revenue Planning Topics

Frost & Sullivan offers a good definition of market size and some of the variables to consider.

Here are some useful articles by a VC on Addressable Market Size:
Addressable Market
Making the Estimate
Is Your Addressable Market Size Realistic?

It is important to understand some of the terminology ... this blog site has some great definitions and a diagram:

TAM: Total Available Market – i.e. how big is the overall market?

SAM: Served Available Market – how much of that market is actually served by market participants?

TM: Target Market – how much will you reach within a given time frame (in diagram aove this is a called a Serviceable and Obtainable Market)

Here is the methodology that Macromedia used to estimate Total Addressable Market Size for its products. Here is another example of calculating a TAM.

Some tips to learn how to develop revenue projections for your plan.

A VC's guide to startup market sizing from OVP.

And an excellent market sizing example from Lightspeed Ventures.

Market Targeting Topics

Before you begin targeting, you need to do proper segmentation. Here is a review of the segmentation concepts.

This is a good summary article on B2B market segmentation concepts.

This NetMBA article is a review of variables you need to consider in selecting target market segments. Here is a detailed article describing B2B segmentation variables.

Here is an Oxford lecture discussing market segmentation on how proper segmentation can avoid a common pricing trap:

Competitive Strategy Topics

We discussed the use of a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Analysis and the basic questions you need to answer along with some examples can be found at this site. Then later, we showed a video by an Oxford professor pointing out that the analysis must be uniquely relevant, concrete and based on specific segments:

This QuickMBA article is a good overview of Porter's Five Forces model for competitive strategy.

We talked about the strategies outlined in the Marketing Playbook, so you can visit the site for that book for more resources. Here is a summary of the 5 strategies:

• No. 1: Drag Race: Pick a company and try to beat it in head-on competition. Example: Microsoft Excel vs. Lotus 1-2-3.
• No. 2: Stealth: Remain under the radar, slowly gaining on the competition. About 90 percent of startups begin in stealth mode. Example: when Enterprise Rent-a-Car focused on in-city rentals rather than airport business. It handles replacement cars for people who have been in accidents and loaner cars for repair shops.
• No. 3: Platform: This is where a company allows others to succeed. Example: A mall that draws in shoppers for multiple stores.
• No. 4: Best of Both: Bringing two ends of the market together. Example: Volkswagen, which ties the reputation of an economical, high-performance, German-engineered car for regular people.
• No. 5: High-Low Play: A product that can be both a big-margin product and a low-end product that sells a lot. Example: Michael Graves, the architect known for hip teapots, has crossed the chasm by selling both expensive ones and a mass-produced version at Target.

We highlight how Apple has been using differentiation as a key element in its advertising. Here is a video with many of those famous tv ads:

Channel Validation Topics

This Microsoft article is a good summary of the process of deciding on a channel strategy. This BNET article is also a good review of the concepts covered in Seminar 2. This article provides a simple list of questions you must ask yourself.

In the seminar, we showed the following video from Motorola that provided an excellent example of the key elements of a channel program to make sure it benefits prospective partners:


For more details on the Motorola partner program, here is a brochure that outlines the elements of the program.

Dell changed its "direct-only strategy" in 2008, to include multiple types of channel partners. Here is a 20 minute interview discussing this strategy decision:

Customer Validation Topics

In seminar 2, we discussed how to understand the customer better and how to find what words the customer would use to describe your solution. We also discussed how to leverage customer testimonials to prove your value proposition.

I showed this video at the beginning of the seminar to highlight the importance of talking to customers instead of guessing what they are thinking:

Here is a Harvard Business School article on customer experience. And this eHow article is a simple overview of "How to Integrate Voice of Customer into Marketing Programs".

Casey Hubbard's Stories That Sell is a book that I recommend on the value and methods around using customer case studies to market your offering in the marketplace, and the website has some great resources.

Pricing Topics

The NetMBA site has a good overview of the pricing concepts we covered in class.

Please review the LeveragePoint video on Value Management to see a very good example of evaluating the value of a product.

And here is the analysis of ZipCar using the Economic Value Estimation approach.

A good summary article on value based-pricing can be found here.

For more information on pricing metrics, please see this LeveragePoint article.

This is a simple, useful Pricing Strategy Article - Choosing Effective Prices.

Here is a great article on pricing pages on web sites.

Here is a Harvard Business School Toolkit for Break-Even Analysis that you will find useful for selecting a profitable pricing model.

The McKinsey Quarterly has some excellent articles on pricing. You will have to register for this service to access them, but they are well worth it.

Booz & Company also has some great resources that require you register for ... In particular, I found this article on how to turn commodities into branded goods to be invaluable.

Whole Product Topics

Here is a nice overview of the Whole Product concept.

In the seminar we mentioned the Geoffrey Moore book, Crossing the Chasm. If you haven't read that book, here is a good summary I found online. This will help you see why understanding your whole product scenario impacts you market strategy. When it is easy for the customer to acquire the "whole product", sales happen faster.

Eight tips on Whole Product Management from Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm.

Positioning Topics

This QuickMBA article is a good review of the "positioning" concepts we covered in class. This video from LeveragePoint provides an integrated view of the concepts.


We often find that people need to see more example of "positioning" from companies they know. This image is a table summarizing some recognizable examples.

Here is a wisemarketer.com article that looks at it from the start-up perspective.

This article from McKinsey shows the process for making sure your positioning is relevant.

As we mentioned in the seminar, Jack Trout wrote "the book" on Positioning (The Battle for Your Mind).

Here are two great video clips of Jack Trout:

1. Repositioning the Competition


2. Tests of Obviousness