The methodology is designed to:

  • Identify and characterise the key audiences (communities of interest).
  • Develop just a few (typically 4-6) corporate marketing messages, which define the most effective 'below the line' identity for your company addressing these communities of interest.
  • Develop supporting marketing messages which reflect and reinforce your 'above the line' brand identity.
  • Develop product marketing messages, which, again, reflect and reinforce your corporate marketing messages. When this work has been done, various implementations can be chosen. In each case the final deliverable is designed to meet specific marketing objectives for specific communities of interest.

Typically these include:

  • Marketing professionals (internal)
  • Marketing professionals (external)
  • Sales staff
  • New / existing employees
  • PR companies / press

The types of messaging deliverables that meet the requirements of these different communities of interest include:

  • Marketing guidelines document, including content templates for all collateral
  • Internal positioning documents to communicate the positioning to all employees
  • Corporate sales presentations (fully scripted Powerpoint presentations)
  • Product sales presentations (fully scripted Powerpoint presentations)
  • Competitive analysis, including competitive positioning
  • PR pack, including press backgrounder
  • Thought leadership 'spins' for different vertical markets, including synopses of controversial opinion articles
  • Definition and characterisation of Communities of interest

The results of the messaging methodology, therefore, are detailed documents that simply, and clearly, identify the marketing messages in ways which are relevant to different internal and external communities of interest.

It is, therefore, an approach which can be used to police the identity of even the largest organisations. ALL marketing activities, after all, need to reflect and reinforce one or other of these messages.

Moreover, with such documents, companies are able to develop new marketing deliverables much more rapidly than ever before. What to say ceases to be an issue. Instead, creative energies can be spent on addressing the problems of how to say it.

Read Frequently Asked Questions about message guidelines.

Read Feature Article: More than skin deep.

Click here to read a case study on message guidelines for Hyperwave

Click here to read a case study on message guidelines for JacobsRimell