7 Steps to a Strong Value
Proposition
September 2016
Value Proposition
A value proposition is a positioning statement
that explains what benefit you provide for who
and how you do it uniquely well. It describes
your target buyer, the problem you solve, and
why you’re distinctly better than the
alternatives.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelskok/2013/06/14/4-steps-to-building-a-compelling-value-proposition/#73306fa01f2c
Positioning
Positioning refers to what the audience thinks
about your brand versus the competition.
Writing a Value Proposition is a strategic
exercise and tool to help you focus so you can
influence how people think about your brand.
Classic Form
For (target audience), Brand X is the (category
or competitive frame) that (differentiator) by
(reasons to believe).
1. Identify Your Competitive Frame
Key Question: What business are you really in? Be ruthlessly
honest with yourself about this.
• Is Facebook in the advertising business or in the
entertainment business?
• Is UPS in the shipping business or the logistics business?
• Does your company make nails or ¼ inch holes?
“Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, once
asked a group of MBA students to tell him
what business they thought he was in. The
hamburger business of course, they told
him. No, he replied, “My business is real
estate.”
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/06/mcdonalds-corporation-a-real-estate-empire-finance.aspx
2. Make sure there’s a benefit
Snap Spectacles are sunglasses that let you
record :10 or :30 video, sync it with your phone
and upload it to Snapchat. They cost $130.
What’s the product benefit?
3. Think hard about the target
Think long and hard about who’s going to use the product and
why. Do people like this exist in the real world or is it a fantasy?
Only one of these products appealed to consumers:
4. Don’t delude yourself
Identify real consumer needs and wants. Benefits that fit your
hopes and abilities aren’t enough. Unless you can create a need or
a want, capture imagination and manufacture desire. Can you?
5. Be different
It's best to be first or different. Then build a brand that can
withstand the shaving of differentiation; often it becomes a
distinction without a difference but for the brand.
Differentiation isn't just about the product features. It can be
rooted in the experience, the attitude, the culture, the
users/who it's for, the partners and products around it.
“All progress occurs because people
dare to be different.”
- Harry Millner, writer
How are they different?
6. Use emotion effectively
7. Use simple language
Avoid cliches, jargon or fuzzy marketing speak in your strategy.
Watch for words like:
• Disrupt
• Curate,
• Pivot
• Synergize
• Optimize
Write simply and clearly.
Positive Affirmation
You can write a great value proposition. It’s not
that hard. All you have to do is some homework,
lots of thinking and edit, edit, edit.
Let’s try to write one
For (target audience), Brand X is the (category
or competitive frame) that (differentiator) by
(reasons to believe).
QUESTIONS?
Please keep in touch
Crystal Merritt
VP, Director of Account Planning
Rodgers Townsend
[email protected]
7 Steps to a Better Value
Proposition
September 2016