Opportunity might well knock, but it's up to you how wide you open the door. When JacobsRimell found itself first to market, it took advantage of Writing Machine's marketing messages service to ensure that it capitalised on the opening.

Head & Shoulders above the rest

In business today competition is often ferocious. With the ball well and truly in the court of the consumers, prices are being forced down all the time. The race for first mover advantage, therefore, is all the more bloody.

In such an environment, getting a strong message to market quickly is vital. And it's a goal that's certainly at the forefront of the mind of Jon Moore, marketing manager for JacobsRimell, a leading provider of service creation and delivery software products. Moore knows that, with a product that is the first of its kind, his organisation is in a great position. He also knows, however, that time is of the essence. JacobsRimell must deliver a strong, consistent message to its customers and potential partners, and it must do so before its competitors begin to catchup.

Saying the right thing

To help them do this, JacobsRimell drew on the experience of Writing Machine. Or, more correctly, its marketing message guidelines service. "Writing Machine was offering just what I needed," explains Moore. "Their message guidelines enabled me to create a really strong, high-level identity for JacobsRimell in a remarkably short timeframe."

Moore was impressed that this service could offer him the consultancy that he required. He explains: "I knew exactly what JacobsRimell had to offer that was original. I also knew what we wanted our customers to hear. Writing Machine consultancy, though, gave me the best ways to say it. Their perspective helped to fashion our messages in the most clear and powerful way."

Writing Machine's service is different because it offers companies a sounding board for their ideas. In creating any marketing messages, we rely on our clients to give us the raw material. Of course, they know their own organisations better than we do. But, by challenging these ideas, sometimes even the most obvious facts, we can help them to take a step back and see their company in a different light.

Doing the right thing

JacobsRimell's challenge clearly went further though. It needed to optimise its position as market leader as much as possible as quickly as possible. Implementing these messages, therefore, was going to prove just as important as creating them.

Paul Ayling, MD of Writing Machine, explains why we could help: "It is our strong belief that creating a powerful, distinct and consistent set of marketing messages is key to the success of organisations as a whole. Simply having those messages, however, is not enough. They need to be integrated throughout the entire company. And the only way to do this is through a well constructed implementation strategy. For JacobsRimell, there was the added element of urgency."

In JacobsRimell's case, as with all Writing Machine clients, this meant following a three pronged strategy.

Taking it from the top - Board level involvement

A key requirement for any marketing message process is that there is top level buy-in. Marketing messages should not just reflect the organisation, they should direct its entire strategy.

From the beginning, Writing Machine worked with David Jacobs, co-founder of

JacobsRimell to work out the company's messages. The result was the decision to position the organisation's APS product as an operating system for next generation service providers. By gaining this top level of input, the marketing messages quickly gained the full (and influential) support of JacobsRimell's senior executives.

Spreading the word - Internal communications

Marketing messages can often be weakened by the fact that not everyone in the company knows about them. And it's no good the marketing department being able to recite them off by heart if the sales team at the sharp end of the company have never seen them.

To ensure that this was not the case, Writing Machine created a 'manifesto' which documented all of the top level marketing messages as well as supplied finely crafted copy to explain each one. According to Jon Moore: "The manifesto is an invaluable tool to spreading the word to the rest of the company. Its existence means that I have every confidence that everyone knows our corporate position and, when they go out into the world, they are all reinforcing the same messages."

As well as this, Writing Machine also used the marketing messages to create a fully scripted credibility presentation for the sales force.

Common DNA for all types of collateral - External marketing strategy

The final area in which marketing messages can be used is to create empowerment tools to help employees to get the message across. To do this, Writing Machine was able to use the manifesto as the foundation for directing the content of a corporate overview brochure, high level case studies, datasheets and the website.

"The great thing about Writing Machine's approach to marketing messages," says Moore," is that they provide the 'starter-for-ten' for all types of collateral. This makes producing it much easier for the marketing department."

The ease with which Writing Machine produced the collateral needs no other proof than the lead time. The marketing messages and the whole raft of collateral was completed within three months.

It's this speed that has enabled JacobsRimell to make the most of its opportunity. Jon Moore says, "Writing Machine has simplified what could have been a very complex process. As a result, we have easily been able to take an extremely powerful message to the wider world."

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