The document provides guidance on developing a brand essence and product messaging brief, which are two core branding tools. It explains that a brand essence articulates a company's vision, promise, attributes, personality, and style. An example brand essence for Nike is also given. The document also outlines what a product messaging brief should include: the product name, category, key benefits, differentiators, positioning statement, and a concise 25-word description. An example brief is also provided for the social HR software TribeHR.

1. Preaching the Good Word
Startup Blender Chalk Talk #9
By Adam Berrey | ab@adamberrey.com | startupblender.com

2. Introductions
 Your name
 Company name and description (1 sentence)
 1 thing you want out of the workshop
 Favorite desert

3. Building a Business Strategy
8. Competitive
Strategy
7. Pricing &
9. Positioning &
Editions
Messaging
6. Ecosystem &
10. Customer
whole product
Acquisition
5. Product 1. What do your 11. Sales
Channels
Functionality Customers “Need”?
4. Target 12. Services
Market & Support
2. User 3. Customer
Discovery Discovery

4. 2 Core Tools
 Brand Essence
 Product Messaging Brief

5. Brand Essence
Vision What about the world is changing that makes us necessary?
Promise What do we promise to customers at the most fundamental level?
Spike unique
Attributes Special different & What makes us distinctly
better valuable to our customers?
Standard cost of entry
Personality Style
Emotion If we were a person what How would we present
would be like? ourselves to the world?

6. Brand Essence: Nike
Vision Personal fitness movement
Promise Achieve your athletic potential
Spike
Performance
Attributes Special
Technical Exel.
Innovation
Standard Style
Quality, price, ethical, etc.
Personality Style
Emotion Positive In our workout gear
Intense pushing our self to excel.
Driven

10. Vision
What is it about the world that is changing?
Why should we care?
Why does this matter?
Why should you even bother to exist?

11. Promise
At it’s core, a brand is a promise of value
You full fill that promise in every customer interaction
As your customers you have to keep earning our trust

12. Attributes
A brand is associated with a set of
attributes. These are all reasons we
should choose this brand over another.
Spike unique
Special different &
better
Standard cost of entry

13. Emotion
Personality & Style

14. Case Study: IntraLinks

16. IntraLinks Brand Essence
Vision The Extended Enterprise
Promise Successful collaborations between businesses
Spike Intelligent
Control
Attributes Agility
Special Trust
Service
Solutions
Standard Scalable, reliable, secure, SaaS,
easy, high-performance, global
Personality Style
Committed to Relationships In a suit working with our
Emotion Serious & Professional sleeves rolled up and
Resourceful & Pragmatic jacket on the back of the
Self Confident chair.

18. Product Messaging Brief
Name What is the name of the product?
Category What category does the product fit into?
Benefits What are the 3-4 key statements benefits?
Differentiators What are the 1-3 ways you are different than the competition?
Positioning What is the positioning statement?
25 Word One easy to say sentence that describes what you do
in 25 words or less.

19. Name
Eponymous is good.

21. Category
Makes sense of complexity
Allows compare and contrast
Shows scale and value
Create, challenge, modify or disrupt
Online Video Platforms
Social Networks
Rich Internet Applications

23. Benefits
Make three lists.

24. TribeHR Benefit Messages
Build a
culture of
Needs Features
Attract talent success
Recruitment Module
Retain talent
Kudos & Social
Great workplace
Great culture Build the People Profiles
Time tracking
Reduce hassle best team Payroll Automation
Ensure compliance
Performance reviews
Get automation
Focus on
what matters

26. Differentitors
What makes your product or service
different than the competition?

27. Social

28. Positioning Statement
For... (target customers)
Who… (statement of need and opportunity)
The (product name) is a (product category)
That… (most compelling reason to buy)
Unlike… (primary competitive alternative)
Our product… (Key differentiator)

29. TribeHR Positioning Statement
For small and medium businesses who are
passionate about their people, TribeHR is
a social HR software that helps companies
create great corporate cultures in real-
time. Unlike other solutions, TribeHR is
built for the social media era.

30. 25 Words
One sentence
Plain English
Easy to say
Understandable

31. TribeHR 25 Words
TribeHR provides SMBs with online HR
software that helps them manage every aspect
of HR and build a great company culture.

32. Product Messaging Brief
Name TribeHR
Category Social HR Software
Build a culture of success
Benefits Build the best teams
Focus on what matters
Differentiators Social
For small and medium businesses who are passionate about their
people, TribeHR is a social HR software that helps companies create
Positioning great corporate cultures in real-time. Unlike other solutions, TribeHR
is built for small business and the social media era.
TribeHR provides SMBs with HR software that helps companies build
25 Word great cultures and eliminates the hassle of HR paperwork.

33. Product Messaging Brief
Name Brightcove
Category online video platform (OVP)
Comprehensiveness
Benefits Leadership
Productivity
Flexibility
Differentiators Comprehensive
For media companies and marketers who need to publish quality
online video, Brightcove is an online video platform that provides
Positioning everything you need to deliver great video experiences, unlike point
solutions, Brightcove provides a compressive set of capabilities.
Brightcove is an online video platform that is used by media
25 Word companies, businesses and organizations worldwide to publish and
distribute video on the Web.

34. Exercise

35. How likely are you to
recommend this workshop to
a colleague or friend?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Not likely Extremely
at all Likely

36. Preaching the Good Word
Startup Blender Chalk Talk #9
By Adam Berrey | ab@adamberrey.com | startupblender.com