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 catch-up.
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 were 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."
