Positioning, Marketing Strategy Framework Flashcards
6 C’s of Positioning
Core, Category, Community, Competition, Context, Criteria
Messaging Architecture
Message architecture is a framework of components that describe the company, with the positioning statement at the core. It contains coherent branding elements and all the critical elements necessary for consistent, clear marketing and communication.
Vision
Message Architecture (MA) component - The desired future state of the world.
Mission
(MA) - The actions your company will take to achieve your vision
Target Market
(MA) - Your primary customer
Target Audience
(MA) - Not only the target market, but also the people who will influence your target market.
Core DNA
(MA) - Who your company is and the root of your competitive advantage
Differentiator
(MA) - What makes you stand out against your competition (based on DNA)
Category
(MA) - The type of company you are. Defines your competitive set.
Position
(MA) - Rooted in competitive advantage, the positioning statement articulates your differentiated role in your industry and your ultimate customer relevance.
Archetype
(MA) - the human archetype that defines the company (branding)
Personality
(MA) - the personified traits and characteristics of your brand (branding)
Attributes
(MA) - the aspects that emulate the experience of working with your brand (brand)
Brand Driver
(MA) - The core principle of which your brand is aligned around (branding)
Voice
(MA) - Choice of language and tone for communication (branding)
Category (6 C’s)
where your company fits within the market landscape - no matter the company goal, the category you choose sets the boundaries for the landscape in which you intend to compete.
Community (6 C’s)
The target market and target audience of the marketing landscape you intend to operate within. Simply put, your customers and the people who influence them.
Competition (6 C’s)
The other companies that operate within your marketing category, or who vie for the attention of the same community (think about the petal diagram: consumers have many options to fulfill a need when making a choice).
Context (6 C’s)
The forces that shape and influence the category and community of the marketplace a company is entering (or, the world at large). You have to adapt whatever your company may be within the proper context of the marketplace to be successful.
Criteria (6 C’s)
The set of parameters that should come out of examining the other C’s. It’s the last step in creating a positioning statement: it’s the 5-7 factors that you consider when weaving together your statement/message architecture (it could be looked at as a broad “feature set” that appeals to your community contextually within a category.
Value Proposition
Defines the key benefit you promise to your most important customers.
Elevator Story
The corporate story in brief.
Key Messages
Top-line messages to communicate to primary audiences.
Core (6 C’s)
Who are you, how do you differentiate yourself?
Brand Driver
The single word or phrase that best captures the essence of what your brand stands for. This is a word or phrase that describes your essence in non-emotional terms. It is not a tagline. Instead, it is a concept that informs all your touchpoints with customers.
House of Brands
Markets a range of separate brand names - individual brands are given spotlight, while parent company stays behind the scenes (think Unilever’s product offerings with the bunch of brands they operate)
Advantages: Each brand is free to fight its battles on its own terms
Disadvantages: Each brand must be funded, built, and managed separately.
Example: Procter and Gamble = Pringles, Tide, Vicks, etc.
Branded House
Parent company is the brand itself and its products or services are subsets of the parent brand.
Advantages: All products and services can share the same budget, customers, and market position.
Disadvantages: All offerings won’t benefit equally from parent brand and competitors can easily outmaneuver offerings saddled with strategically weak meanings.
Example: Disney = Disney Parks, Disney Store, Disney Channel, etc.
