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Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

CO NTENTS
2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved.

Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

In tro d uc tio n
Describing a creative process in a step-by-step how-to guide is not a simple matter, since there is not a clear-cut answer that is best for all small businesses. Like a good chef, you'll need to modify the following recipe and season it to taste. This template covers positioning, naming and taglines, which are typically among the first marketing decisions a new business makes. They also can be the most important topics in a total marketing review for existing businesses. The three subjects—positioning, naming and taglines—are almost
inseparable, so you'll want to consider them simultaneously.
2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved.

Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positio n in g
We'll begin with a clear definition of positioning: It is the way consumers think about your brand. It resides in their brains, where they store data, emotions and perceptions related to your brand. It's not something you own; the consumer owns it. But if you understand your customer's emotions and perceptions about your brand, you can use that knowledge to your advantage and may be able to influence future perceptions and purchasing decisions. From a marketing strategy standpoint, we describe our desired or intended positioning in a document called a positioning statement. The two essential parts of the positioning statement are:

The positioning promise—the benefit you promise consumers
The reason why someone should believe that you/your company can deliver on that promise 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
An effective positioning statement has several characteristics. It is:

Focused, single-minded and memorable
Benefit-oriented
True, accurate and precise … not exaggerated or a wish list
Believable … does not challenge credibility
Unique and competitive
Substantive, relevant and important to the target audience
Able to capture and reflect the most important source of competitive advantage Developing a good positioning statement is not easy. However, since the positioning is at the core of a marketing strategy, the effort spent to craft a good positioning statement is usually rewarded with a successful 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
Four steps to help develop a positioning statement:
1. Start by understanding who your prime target audience is. Be as
specific and narrow as possible so that you have a clear picture of your target audience. You don't want a long list of everyone who might possibly be interested. You're looking for the sweet spot—the people most likely to need or want your product or service. You can narrow your audience:

Geographically
Psychographically or by lifestyle characteristics
By current product usage
By industry or market segment
Demographically—by age, gender, income, education, children at home, etc. Sometimes this is done graphically using a target. The bull's-eye area is our prime target audience, and you then expand it ring by ring, including more people as you move further away from the bull's-eye. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template—A Step-by-Step Approach
Positioning … continued
It is important to understand the nature of your audience so you can address their needs as specifically as possible and express your product message using the words that will make most sense to the intended audience. If you already have a business, you need to find out who your current customers are and use that definition as the starting point. Your current customers have already demonstrated that they value your product or service, so your goal is to figure out what it is about them that caused them to make their purchases while others didn't. If you haven't already done carefully planned market research, this is a good place to start. You need to understand your target audience in as much detail as possible. 2. Next, you need to identify the most important benefit your target
audience realizes when they buy and use your product or service. Again, if you already have a business, it's a matter of identifying what your customers think is your most important strength. You may be able to find this out using the same market research tool you use to identify the unique/distinctive characteristics of the customer base. It's a good idea to have an objective measure, rather than trusting your own ideas and perceptions. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
When developing positioning for a new brand, it is important to have an objective source of input. Otherwise, you're "drinking your own wine," so to speak, and you run the risk of getting a shock when you introduce your product to the market. It is customary to begin with a guess as to who the target audience is likely to be and convene focus groups of people from that general population. During the focus group discussions, ask participants about their current habits and practices, and listen carefully for the benefits they think they get and those they think are lacking in the current brands. You're listening for important unmet needs that you might be able to satisfy and that would be unique elements in your positioning. If the project is really important, you should follow up the focus groups with a quantitative survey to test different positioning concepts with your target audience to see if your understanding from the focus groups can be applied to the broader target audience. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
If you don't end up with a winner, go back to the first step and work your way through the process again. If this seems like a tedious process, consider that it is much less costly (and ultimately less time-consuming) than introducing a product that is positioned in a way that doesn't appeal to the target audience. The entire process is a way to match the product benefits, as perceived by your target audience, to an important need that they recognize they have. It is not an exercise that's based primarily on product features. It's based on understanding consumer needs and perceptions. When the two match, it is called a "product-market fit," and you can then proceed to develop the elements of the marketing mix with a positioning that expresses the essence of that product-market fit. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
3. Consider the level of benefit you can safely promise. There are three
levels to explore: Level 1: Benefit positioning
Level 2: End-benefit positioning
Level 3: End-end-benefit positioning
Level 1: Benefit positioning identifies the basic positioning: "Nobody
beats Federal Express when it comes to reliable overnight delivery." Or "Hallmark cards deliver the most meaningful messages to recipients." Level 2: End-benefit positioning takes that benefit to an emotional
payoff: "You won't have to worry about your package arriving on time if you use Federal Express" or "Your Hallmark greeting card will be appreciated by the recipient as being on target, meaningful 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
Level 3: End-end-benefit positioning expresses that in a way that
reflects directly on the customer: "People will think you are
conscientious and committed to delivering what you promise if you use Federal Express" or "The recipient of your greeting card will recognize that you selected the card specifically for them and that
you took the trouble to pick a card that they would appreciate." Of course, these are not the actual taglines or slogans used by Hallmark or Federal Express, but they come close to them. Consider their well-known taglines: FedEx: "When it absolutely, positively has to be
there overnight."
Hallmark: "When you care enough to send the very best."
2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
Many companies either don't use benefit-oriented positioning or they stop at the benefit level and never consider what end-benefit or end- end-benefit positioning can do for them. Levels 2 and 3 are not always appropriate, but when they are, they can be very powerful and make a significant difference in the effectiveness of marketing plans that are based on the positioning statement. Positioning—especially positioning at levels 2
and 3—is not limited to consumer products, even though its importance is most obvious in packaged goods. FedEx targets a business-to-business (B2B) audience. So do many other B2B companies—all of which understand this multi-level positioning 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
4. When you have a draft of a positioning statement that you think is
close, it is a good idea to test it against the checklist for effective positioning statements. You can use a five-point semantic scale to express how well it meets certain criteria, ranging from 1 being "not at all" to 5 being "perfectly." If you have a marketing or management team that wants to be involved, you can have each person fill out the assessment form independently and then compare notes. If there are major disagreements, it's probably a good idea to explore them and see what the reasons are for the disparities. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
Criterion
does it meet
Comments
criterion?
Focused, single-minded and Benefit-oriented True, accurate and precise Believable/credible Unique and competitive Substantive, relevant and important to the target Reflects most important source of competitive Different people have different standards they find acceptable. My personal rule of thumb is that I would want a minimum of 30 points total and no individual criterion rated below a 4; and I wouldn't stop development until I reached that point. Some companies are satisfied with an overall rating of 25; others say nothing below a rating of 4 (which forces a minimum of 28). Still others weight the various criteria and compute their own metrics and standards. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Positioning … continued
Since the positioning statement is critically important, you don't want to force-fit the solution. You want to get it right. It often takes several months to develop a positioning statement, especially when market research is involved. Can you speed up the process? Of course. However, doing so generally increases the risk of a suboptimal positioning, and you need to decide if that is something you can live with long term. It's not easy to modify positioning once it's established. It's much easier—and considerably less costly—to get it right the first time. Many marketers bring in positioning specialists for particularly important projects. They recognize that there is as much art as science to positioning and that developing a good positioning statement is not something that can usually be done by first-timers, no matter how good they might be The reality is that most marketers deal with positioning issues once or twice in their careers, if at all. Positioning specialists have dealt with dozens, if not hundreds, and they agree that the process gets easier the more often they 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

There are five common approaches to naming—whether it's for a brand 1. Take the names of people, animals, places or symbols:
Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Scientific Atlanta, Ford, Heinz, Alamo, Eli Lilly, Disneyland 2. Literally describe the business, product or service:
American Airlines, General Motors, Metropolitan Life, General Electric, Universal Studios 3. Use contractions, acronyms and initials:
IBM, FedEx, Nabisco, ESPN 4. Make up a nonsense name, or pick an unrelated or coined name, or
use a foreign phrase that sounds good: Google, Yahoo, Zocor, Exxon, Dos Equis, TiVo, Xerox 5. Come up with a benefit-related name:
Spic and Span (household cleaner), Edge (shaving lather), Head & Shoulders (shampoo), Nice 'n Easy (hair coloring), I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! (margarine). 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Naming … continued
Many times, especially when you're dealing with a company name or a long- established brand, changing the name isn't a realistic option. There is usually too much equity already built up in the name to simply abandon it and take Naming is most often a consideration when a company is coming out with a new brand, and sometimes the issue is whether or not to use an existing brand name for a new product. Which type of name is best?
The ideal, or textbook, approach is to come up with a benefit-related name (No. 5 above). It may be the most difficult, but it's usually the best approach—especially for smaller companies that can't spend millions of dollars each year to register a new name with their customer base and communicate its positioning effectively to the target audience. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Naming … continued
When is it OK to use an existing brand name for a new product?
Once again, we look to the positioning to determine whether a new name is appropriate. If the positioning promise of the new product—the key benefit— is very different, then a new name is probably the best approach. If the benefit is the same and the primary difference is in form or delivery method, then the current name (perhaps with a modifier) is a very real possibility. When Ford comes out with a new model, it generally names the model (with a new name) but keeps the Ford brand on the vehicle. "Ford" communicates something beyond and in addition to the model name. There's no reason not to use the equity Ford has built in its corporate brand name. Sometime the positioning for the car is so radically different from other cars manufactured and marketed by the company that the focus is almost entirely on the model name, and the corporate name is all but lost in the marketing materials. Two examples of this in the Ford line would be Mustang and Thunderbird. Those brands are so distinct from other Ford models that the company doesn't want to confuse consumers by putting both brand names on the vehicles. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

T ag l ine s
Most of the time, taglines take on a different role depending on the naming approach the company has taken. When the name is itself a benefit-oriented one, then the tagline should extend the benefit to a more emotional or higher-level plane. It should punctuate or enhance the positioning benefit, not confuse the target audience with a completely different benefit. When the name is not a benefit-oriented one, then the tagline needs to state the benefit in a meaningful and memorable way. Think about these famous taglines:
Brand Logo
"When you care enough to send the very best" "The quicker picker-upper" "We try harder." 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Taglines . continued
Think about these famous taglines:
Brand Logo
"Think different." "Please don't squeeze the "With a name like Smucker's, Smucker's it has to be good." 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Taglines . continued
There are two particularly interesting taglines in this group—the last two. Do you notice something different about those taglines compared with the others? They include the brand names. Those are the best taglines because you can't say the taglines without saying the name of the product. You can't insert another name and have the tagline make sense. "Please don't squeeze the Northern" just wouldn't cut it. Nor would "With a name like Welch's, it has to be good." Of course, Procter & Gamble, the marketer of Charmin, spent a lot of money communicating the idea of "squeezably soft" with its advertising of Mr. Whipple and his request that shoppers "Please don't squeeze the Charmin." Most brands don't have that kind of marketing muscle—or millions of dollars—behind them. On another of its brands, Jif peanut butter, Procter & Gamble not only included the brand name in the tagline, but used the tagline to take the benefit to a new level. The name "Jif" suggests quick/convenient as the benefit. But with a tagline that says "Choosy moms choose Jif," they implied not only that the quality is superior (otherwise moms who care about their kids wouldn't choose it), but that the customer is discerning ("choosy") and astute enough to recognize the superior quality of Jif. By the way, Procter & Gamble has since sold the Jif brand to Smucker's! 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Taglines . continued
Guidelines for good taglines
Some taglines are obviously better than others, and there are a few guidelines, or rules of thumb, that correlate with good taglines:
It should contain no more than eight to nine words, and fewer is better.
Cute and catchy is not as important as meaningful. People remember big ideas about things that are important to them long after they forget cute phrases, puns or jokes with a
Paint a word picture if you can. Choose words that grab people and are easy to remember.
The goal is to communicate or enhance the positioning benefit, not to entertain or amuse.
If you can, include the brand name in the tagline so it's an integral part of it: "Please don't squeeze the Charmin," for example. Even if you don't have millions of dollars to spend on marketing, this is the best approach. It's not always easy, however, and most taglines do not do this. It's less of a problem, of course, when the brand name itself is benefit-oriented. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

The Creative Br ief
When we're developing taglines for a client, or any kind of copy for that matter, we insist on a formal creative brief—a document that lays out the specs for the work we're going to do and becomes the mutually agreed upon standard against which the creative submissions will be judged. Clients sometimes react negatively to that assignment. "Just come up with something catchy and memorable," they'll say. "If you need a creative worksheet, you prepare it. I'll trust you." Of course, that's a recipe for failure because no matter what you come up with, they'll say, "You can do better than that," or "I don't feel totally comfortable with that." The project never really ends because the criteria for judging success are so ill-defined. It becomes a subjective exercise, and that's not what copy and tagline development are supposed to be. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

The Creative Brief . continued
We've learned over the years to have explicit agreement in advance when we prepare copy or taglines. And that agreement takes the form of a If you do a Google search for "creative brief" or "What is a creative brief?" you'll find at least a dozen excellent descriptions, many with templates and examples. Alternatively, make your own; it's not difficult. Use the form on the following page, and provide thoughtful answers for each question within these five key areas: 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

The Creative Brief . continued
Creative Brief Components
Objective: What is the objective of the advertising, logo or tagline? What do we want
it to do? How do we want the target audience to react? How will we know when we
have a winner? Will we research it with the target audience? If so, how?
Industry overview: What are the market, category and industry like? Who are the
leaders? How do they go to market? Where do consumers and customers typically
learn about this category?
Target audience: Who is the primary target audience (not just demographics, but
lifestyle, attitudes, etc.)? The narrower you can define your audience, the better, and
the more you know about them, the better, too.
Positioning: What is the positioning benefit? What is the reason why? What makes
our brand different from and better than the competition?
Brand character: What is the brand attitude or personality? What tone should
we convey?
2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

The Creative Brief . continued
The creative brief is not a lengthy report; generally, it is one or two pages. Sometimes, the brief writer adds or attaches additional exhibits, especially if he or she thinks a nuance needs to be explained in greater detail or thinks it is important to understand the workings of the technology. A good creative brief gives the tagline developer the needed direction in a simple and direct manner. In return, the client receives advertising, a tagline or other copy that meets his or her needs. Of course, if you're doing all the work yourself, which is not recommended, you could skip the creative brief. Doing so is not a good idea, since you will not have gone through the rigorous intellectual discipline that almost always precedes a successful creative project. Here's a short article from the Web site of a former creative director who spent the bulk of his career at a large New York advertising agency, then as a partner in a smaller agency. He's freelancing now, still creating powerful advertising, developing logos and taglines, and applying what he's learned about communication for smaller clients and independent agencies. He's been reflecting on how important it is for a creative team (a copywriter and an art director) to have a good creative brief: 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

The Creative Brief . continued
The Creative Brief
The Creative Brief is at the heart of any design or creative project. It tells the person developing the ad (or logo, or brochure, etc.) exactly what the ad is supposed to do, who it's supposed to reach, and how it will be judged. It is the "spec sheet" for the job, much as a blueprint and spec sheet are for telling a builder what goes into a new house. Perhaps the most frustrating thing for a professional creative team is to get fuzzy directions up-front. When you don't have a complete grasp of the situation, don't fully understand the objectives, and don't know the rules of the game, it's hard to create advertising that will be outstanding. And mediocre advertising is a waste of time and money. That's why I won't begin to think creatively about a design or advertising project until I have a really tight Creative Brief. If necessary, I'll involve a marketing strategy specialist to ask the questions and interface with the client to develop the Creative Brief. There's a certain knack to distilling all the information down to just what a creative person needs to deliver on an assignment. And often the very process of putting the Creative Brief together forces a deeper understanding of business objectives, positioning, and marketing strategy that are as important to a client as the advertising we eventually develop. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

The Creative Brief . continued
The real value of the Creative Brief, however, becomes evident when we present the creative product and recommendation to the client. A smart client will compare the recommendation to the "spec sheet" to see how well it delivers the stated objectives and how closely the criteria are met. It's not a subjective assessment of how well you "like" something. It's a question of how well the advertising delivers the objectives that were established A Creative Brief makes the development and approval process much smoother and more objective. And it places the responsibility for setting the strategy where it belongs – with the client. I'm always glad to offer thoughts on strategy, but ultimately that onus belongs to the client. It's his/her business, and the client must be comfortable with the approach. (from the website of John Caggiano of Caggiano Associates: 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

Reso urces
For consumer/customer research as the basis
for sound positioning:
Allium Research and Analytics (www.alliumresearch.com) For logos, naming and corporate-identity materials:
Caggiano Associates (www.jcaggiano.com) For positioning and marketing strategy:
Dialogue Marketing Group, Inc. (www.dialoguemarketinggroup.com) For taglines:
Taglines-R-Us (www.taglines-r-us.com) The Tagline Factory (www.taglinefactory.com) For general guidance and direction with marketing issues:
MarketingProfs.com (www.marketingprofs.com) For books on positioning/marketing strategy:
Positioning: The battle for your mind, by Al Ries and Jack Trout (McGraw-Hill, 2000) 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

A bo ut the A uthor

Michael A. Goodman is a veteran marketing
management consultant with Dialogue Marketing Group, Inc. (www.dialoguemarketinggroup.com). Dialogue clients range from micro-businesses and start-ups to the Fortune top 50 and span a broad spectrum of product categories, industries and business situations—both B2B and consumer-oriented. Goodman began his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble and then moved into director and vice president roles at Frito-Lay (a subsidiary of PepsiCo) and International Playtex, respectively. In his role as a consultant, he deals primarily with positioning and branding issues, along with strategic planning for all areas of the traditional marketing mix. He has taught market research and marketing strategy at the undergraduate and MBA levels and is the author of several books, including The Potato Chip
Difference (www.potatochipdifference.com) and Rasputin For Hire
(www.rasputinforhire.com). And he has been a leading expert on the MarketingProfs Know-How Exchange for several years. (See this profile/interview with Goodman.) He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved. Small Business How-To-Guide Positioning, Naming and Taglines Template— A Step-by -Step Approach

A bo ut M ar ke ti n gP rofs
Founded in January 2001, MarketingProfs is a publishing company that specializes in providing both strategic and tactical marketing know-how for marketing and business professionals in organizations worldwide through a full range of online media. With more than 200,000 members and 300 contributors, MarketingProfs provides marketers with practical tools and information in many forms, including: articles, online seminars, templates, benchmark survey reports, buyer's guides, a discussion forum and a blog. Updated weekly, MarketingProfs content helps professionals stay current and effective. 2007 MarketingProfs LLC • All rights reserved.

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