#5 - Brand DNA Part 2 – Building a Strong Message Platform to Stand On

STRATEGY

In this Part 2 of describing our Brand DNA model, we focus on the building of a strong Message Platform for your marketing communications to stand on.

As mentioned in Part 1, every company has a brand, and if you haven’t defined yours then your competition is probably doing it for you. Avoid becoming a victim of a marketing drive-by by taking control of your message!

Just a quick recap of Part 1. The five elements of Brand Identity in our world include Brand Promise, Brand Position, Brand Story, Brand Associations and Brand Personality.

The Message Platform focuses directly on the Brand Promise, Brand Position and Brand Story elements.

If you aren’t actively managing your brand, chances are your competition is doing it for you!

Your Message Platform is the Foundation of Marketing Success

The graphic below illustrates our Message Platform model and value creation. The Message Platform itself is made up of your Core Competency, Brand Promise, Value Proposition and Brand (Market) Position.

In our Brand DNA Workshops we help clients define their Message Platform using conceptual models that we have used dozens of times.

Building the Platform

Let’s cover each plank in the Message Platform.

Core Competency. Your Core Competency is at the bottom of the platform because everything else is built on top of it. It is the combination of skills, expertise, processes, technology, intellectual property and people that allow you to deliver on your Brand Promise. Defining what you do in generic terms is essential for clear and compelling marketing communications.

Examples:

Creating Safe and Productive Work Environments – Diversified Safety & Scaffolding (DSS). DSS is not a household name by any means, but their Core Competency tagline sums up their expertise in creating sturdy, safe and reliable scaffolds for temporary access, generally for maintenance and repair work on offshore oil platforms, refineries, chemical plants and other tall structures where worker safety and asset protection are essential.
Streamline Innovations commercializes technologies to enable customers to meet environmental and sustainability directives in Energy, Wastewater, Renewable Fuels, and Industrial processes – Streamline Innovations. Streamline uses proprietary chemistry to destroy hydrogen sulfide, a dangerous pollutant, and convert it into Elemental Sulfur for use in Organic Production of food.

Value Proposition. Your Value Proposition is the combination of benefits, both qualitative and quantitative, that your clients and customers get by doing business with you. It is important to note that your competition may have a Value Proposition that is very similar to yours, but that is to be expected, especially in highly competitive markets.

Examples:

Capture 100% of your tank vapor, eliminating the need for routine flaring while generating more revenue – EcoVapor ZerO2
Increase oil recoveries by up to 50% at $3 to $4 per barrel – ESalinity
Engineered solutions to reduce the environmental impact of your operations while increasing oil production – Coldstream Energy

The above taglines communicate the benefits you will acquire by buying from each company.

Note: With rare exception, a B2B Value Proposition must have a quantitative component. You must be able to connect your solution to an improvement in a financial metric – reduced operating costs, increased revenue, higher returns, increased productivity or some other financial metric.

Brand Promise. Your Brand Promise is the one thing that you promise to deliver to your clients or customers. It is the experience that buyers want to experience time and again and is a combination of your Core Competency and Value Proposition. The Brand Promise is typically featured prominently on all your marketing assets.

Examples of effective Brand Promises:

We buy good fields and make them better – XTO Energy
Natural, Safe and Effective Decontamination – Yofumo
Eliminating Pollution Through Technology – Streamline Innovations
Accelerating and Maximizing the Value of the Well – Coldstream Energy
Pathways to Zero – EcoVapor Recovery Systems

Each of the above Brand Promises concisely and memorably communicate what the companies promise to deliver, founded on their Core Competency and expertise.

Brand Position. Your Brand Position communicates what makes your company and solutions different from the competition. It is where you sit on the competitive landscape. We typically employ proven conceptual models to define market position, including the Strategy Canvas, Golden Quadrant, SWOT analysis and Competitive Landscape, depending on the situation. We hesitate describing Brand Position as what makes your offerings better, because in a diverse and large market brands are needed in all positions.

Examples:

You don’t have to choose between achieving environmental performance goals and financial results, with EcoVapor you can do both – EcoVapor Recovery Systems
Valkyrie™ systems have the widest operating envelope of any H₂S Treating method – Streamline Innovations
Technology-Driven Land Services – TCO Land Services & Compliance

Benefits of a Strong Message Platform

The benefits of a well-defined Message Platform as the foundation of your Brand DNA are huge:

Quickly communicates to buyers what they need to know about your solutions and why they should buy them, instead of simply telling people what you do or focusing on features.
Conversely, it helps weed out prospects that are a bad fit. Not every solution is the best fit for every situation, and a clear Message Platform should help people self-select themselves out of a buying process, avoiding wasted time on your part and theirs.
Establishes a common language and purpose between functional departments and orients your team to the most important people in your company – customers.
Avoids the temptation to invent jargon that no one understands or that requires a massive advertising spend to define and promote. AT&T has $1 billion to spend on advertising, but do you?
Elevates the quality of your communications.
Makes your company and solutions more memorable.

Let’s Talk! Schedule a free 30-minute Digital Marketing consultation to see if there is a fit between your marketing challenges and our capabilities.

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About Prism Group

Prism Group is a full-spectrum, multi-talented B2B agency focused on Energy Tech, Technology, Energy, Services and Media markets. Our work is telling stories that matter, because our clients are working to change the world for the better. What makes us different is that we put into action the strategies we recommend – we get it done, so you can get results and increase the value of your business.