| Developing a marketing plan or branding campaign involves 1) identifying your firm's competitive advantages (positioning statement), 2) creating messages that communicate those advantages, 3) identifying consumers who will be receptive to those messages, and 4) identifying the means that will best deliver those messages to your targeted consumers.
1. Positioning Statements
A positioning statement succinctly tells consumers why they should hire you over your competitors. Composing a positioning statement is an exercise that firm management can conduct on its own, or that RK Bechtel can facilitate, or that RK Bechtel can pursue based on interviews with management.
Ideally, a positioning statement is no more than a paragraph. Because it emphacizes what's special about a firm, it should be composed with an eye to your competitors' marketing. The positioning statement then guides all promotional communications, verbal, written and visual.
2. Marketing Messages
Crafting messages that resonate with your targeted market is the greatest challenge of the marketing process.
Consumers are numb to same-old claims. "Commitment to customer service" is like a sense of humor -- everyone claims to have one even if they don't. Small firms that tout low overhead makes their fees cheaper than than those of large firms overlook that there are far more small firms than large ones, all extollling their low overhead..
At RK Bechtel, copywriters and artists combine to formulate messages that make our clients' brands stand out. We can also take the guesswork out of identifying resonating messages by conducting surveys of clients and prospective clients. When confidential, client surveys can be eye-openers for firm management and are often appreciated by clients as an exercise in quality control. |
