This document discusses the importance of having a clear point of view (POV) for professional services firms and other brands to differentiate themselves from competitors. It provides a positioning framework and explains that generic messages about quality, service, etc. are not differentiators if others use them too. The document advocates finding a unique POV by understanding the target audience and why they choose a brand. Examples are given of musicians like David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen who built strong brands through consistency in their clear POVs as the "Futuristic Iconoclast" and "Blue Collar Rebel" respectively. Having a POV provides guide rails and permission to be innovative while staying aligned with audience expectations.
9. How many of you use one or
more of these core messages?
q Quality Work Product
q Superior Client Service
q Trust and Integrity
q Results Driven
q Collaborative
q Innovative
10. These Are Not Differentiators
If no one else claims the opposite, it’s not a differentiator.
§ Poor quality
§ Shoddy client service
§ Shiftiness
§ Process and profit driven
§ Selfish
§ Stuck in the past
11. Let’s Kill the Status Quo
These are not differentiating messages. They are reasons
to believe in a bigger story.
§ Poor quality
§ Shoddy client service
§ Shiftiness
§ Process and profit driven
§ Selfish
§ Stuck in the pastX
12. Abbreviated List of Sameness
§ Quality Work Product
§ Superior Client Service
§ Trust and Integrity
§ Results Driven
§ Collaborative
§ Innovative
14. A Positioning Framework
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Key Benefit
Reasons to Believe
For _______________
who are looking for
__________________
there is ____________,
the _______________
because only ________
is _________________.
The segment for whom the
positioning is focused on.
The category of services in
the competitive set.
What the brand delivers to
the market that is credible,
differentiated, and relevant.
Activities, technologies,
and capabilities that prove the
brand is capable of delivering.
15. For _______________
who are looking for
__________________
there is ____________,
the _______________
because only ________
is _________________.
A Positioning Framework
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Key Benefit
Reasons to believe
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Key Benefit
Reasons to Believe
The segment for whom the
positioning is focused on.
The category of services in
the competitive set.
What the brand delivers to the
market that is credible,
differentiated, and relevant.
Activities, technologies, and
capabilities that prove the
brand is capable of delivering.
16. For _______________
who are looking for
__________________
there is ____________,
the _______________
because only ________
is _________________.
A Positioning Framework
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Key Benefit
Reasons to believe
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Key Benefit
Reasons to Believe
The segment for whom the
positioning is focused on.
The category of services in
the competitive set.
What the brand delivers to the
market that is credible,
differentiated, and relevant.
Activities, technologies, and
capabilities that prove the
brand is capable of delivering.
21. Finding Fresh Ground
§ Makes audiences pay just a little more attention
§ Gives people a little hook to hang their memory on
§ Provides audiences an actual plotline
§ Gives you a better rationale for your pricing structure
§ Creates a framework to organize your offerings around
§ Gives context to your reasons to believe
27. Three Steps to Understanding Your POV
1 2 3
1. Know what you sell.
28. Know What You Sell
§ It’s not your practice areas.
§ It’s not industry expertise.
§ It’s not innovation.
§ It’s not collaboration.
“Glamour is what I sell,
it’s my stock and trade.”
- Marlene Dietrich
29. You Sell a Feeling
§ Confidence
§ Security
§ Bandwidth
§ Perspective
§ Focus
§ Salvation
§ Advantage
§ Etc.
“Glamour is what I sell,
it’s my stock and trade.”
- Marlene Dietrich
30. Three Steps to Understanding Your POV
1 2 3
2. Know your audience.
31. Know Your Audience
§ Not their names
§ Not how much they spend
§ Not what they do
§ Not where they live
32. Surprise Your Audience
§ Know what drives them.
§ Know what your work
does for them.
§ Know how they feel
when they are successful.
§ Know them as people.
33. Three Steps to Understanding Your POV
1 2 3
3. Try to understand why
they chose you.
34. Understand Why They Picked You
§ This is always changing.
§ Be ready to adapt.
§ Ask them why.
§ Be realistic about the
answer.
35. Three Steps to Understanding Your POV
1 2 3BONUS: Be disciplined
45. “Musicians are essentially all alike.
Audiences just want a tune they can
tap their foot to.”
- Some Music Executive
46. Full Screen Image
Common Traits of Most Music
You listen to it.
Made of notes
and/or rhythms.
It’s meant to
provoke a feeling.
It’s played for
pleasure.
48. “I am a full-service musician offering
a wide variety of songs that are both
complex and totally jammin’. I consistently
collaborate with a wide variety of innovative
musicians playing both regional and global
tunes for audiences everywhere and nowhere.”
- Some failed musician
54. How Do They Build Brand Equity?
§ They have a unique POV.
§ They know where and when to invest.
§ They know the impacts of that investment.
§ They have a keen understanding of their audience
and how those audiences might react.
55. Positioning Framework
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Key Benefit
Reasons to believe
For _______________
who are looking for
__________________
there is ____________,
the _______________
because only ________
is _________________.
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Key Benefit
Reasons to believe
The segment for whom the
positioning is focused on.
The category of services in
the competitive set.
What the brand delivers to the
market that is credible,
differentiated, and relevant.
Activities, technologies, and
capabilities that prove the
brand is capable of delivering.
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Reasons to Believe
Key Benefit
56. Positioning Framework
For _______________
who are looking for
__________________
there is ____________,
the _______________
because only ________
is _________________.
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Key Benefit
Reasons to believe
The segment for whom the
positioning is focused on.
The category of services in
the competitive set.
What the brand delivers to the
market that is credible,
differentiated, and relevant.
Activities, technologies, and
capabilities that prove the
brand is capable of delivering.
Target Audience
Frame of Reference
Reasons to Believe
POV
72. Bruce Springsteen
§ Familiarity leads to loyalty
§ His audience is looking
for comfort.
§ When you are familiar,
the songwriting has to
be great.
73. David Bowie
§ Perceived as an innovator
§ Deeply rooted in all the
arts, especially fashion
and film
§ Ultimate freedom to
make mistakes
§ Motivation to keep pushing
77. Achieving True Differentiation
1. Establish a clear point of view.
2. Get everyone aligned to that point of view.
3. Be disciplined and don’t stray.
4. Never follow the competition.
78. Finding Fresh Ground for Your POV
§ A long history or storied past
§ Super premium services/luxury
§ Quantifiable business
intelligence
§ Specific offerings that
become unique when
combined
§ A specialized region or
an industry
79. Two Secrets to Success
1. Half of differentiation is identification.
2. The other half is consistency.
81. Don’t Get Distracted by Shiny Objects
§ Never follow the
competition.
§ The competition’s story
is not yours.
§ Unless, of course, you
decide to make it yours.
82. A Story About Following the Competition
TayTay Ryan Adams
83.
84. “I write pop songs.” “I write songs about
heartache.”