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Sidebar: Three Ways to Communicate
by Mark D. Lutchen
Book (Excerpt)
Just as a company can have different key messages for different audiences, so too can those messages take different forms, depending on the venue used to deliver them. This article provides a good overview of the differences between using marketing, public relations, and other communications formats such as company meetings to deliver those messages.
Click here for full story.
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Gartner EXP Survey Shows CIOs Are Cautiously Optimistic Regarding Increased IT Spending in 2004
Global Survey Shows How CIOs are Preparing for the Upswing
CIOs look to be cautiously optimistic regarding the prospect of increased IT spending in 2004. Those are the results of a recent survey by Gartner EXP. While there's no sign of a return to the high flying days of 1999, the CIOs say an upturn in business could have a significant impact on spending, releasing a lot of pent-up demand.
[FULL STORY]
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Wi-Fi/Wireless Statistics
More signs that technology is on the rise again. According to research by In-Stat/MDR, wireless hot spots are popping up all over like mushrooms. Soon it seems no matter where you are in the world, you’ll be able to pop in for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and a quick review of your e-mail. Check out these stats.
[FULL STORY]
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Partner Corner
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Worldcom Public Relations Group Names New Group Board Chair
Names Asia/Pacific and European Chairs, and Welcomes New Partner
As many of you know, Tech Image is a member of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, the world’s largest network of independent public relations agencies. The Group recently announced some new chairs and inducted a new member at its worldwide meeting in Australia, which Tech Image’s Mike Nikolich attended.
[FULL STORY]
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Survey Results
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Last month we asked how important thought leadership is in your PR mix. Half of the respondents said it is a cornerstone of their programs, while the rest participate occasionally. No one said they didn’t do it at all. For those who answered that they should do it more, Tech Image’s award-winning thought leadership program might be just the thing. Contact Dennis Collins at dennis.collins@techimage.com.
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There’s more to messaging than meets the ear
by Dennis Collins
With many technology companies, messaging is often misinterpreted for its role and value. I’ve sat in any number of presentations where prospects are delaying important announcements because they don’t have their "messaging" finalized. Yet I’ve also experienced situations where salesmen are pushing a price message to prospects that runs contradictory to the company’s value message in all its collateral.
And then there’s the ubiquitous elevator pitch, which Geoffrey Moore and the Sand Hill Road gang made famous during the 1990’s. While it is an important tool, the elevator pitch is only one small part of a complete messaging effort.
It’s no wonder that many executives’ eyes glaze over at the mere mention of messaging. Yet strategic messaging is essential for any technology company that deals with multiple constituents or market segments, and well worth the extra effort it takes to get it right.
Mass communications pose a unique challenge. We all need to get our message out to a vast audience, yet it must somehow resonate with each individual. If it doesn’t, it becomes background noise rather than important data. So the trick is to develop a framework that builds and supports the key values, features and benefits of an organization in a way that is at the same time universal across all market segments and specific to each one.
It’s also important to balance a message with features and benefits. We refer to this as the GeeWhiz/So What (GW/SW) balance. The Gee Whiz is the company-centric, feature-set portion of a message, while the So What is the audience-centric benefit portion. Without a balance in your message, it is easy to get lost in a blizzard of acronym-speak and features or dismissed as all hype due to over-promising.
With this philosophy, effective messaging requires more than just an elevator pitch or mission and vision statement. We have identified six levels of messages in a hierarchy that serve specific functions and provide a comprehensive set of messages that can be referenced for any external communications. These six levels are listed in ascending order from broadest message to narrowest:
1. Market Definition – (GW in most basic, macro terms)
2. Value Proposition – (SW in more specific term)
3. Key Attributes/Issues – (represent both GW and SW in single words)
4. Key messages GW part – (company-centric)
5. Key messages SW part – (audience-centric, tailored to each target market)
6. Endorsement – (supporting message from a relevant outsider)
By keeping a company’s Gee Whiz message as the core for all target segments, it reinforces the message across all audiences, while the particular So What resonates with the individual recipient. This solves the mass communication problem mentioned earlier, and provides a set of reference guides for the entire company to utilize when delivering a presentation, designing a brochure or making a sales call.
In most instances, a well-conceived Market Definition and Value Proposition serve as the elevator pitch, along with a direct competitive comparison. They define in the broadest terms what you do, who you do it for, and why you do it differently than anyone else. By adding a differentiator from your most significant competitor, you have effectively positioned yourself in a general manner.
Once you are armed with all this strategic messaging, it’s important to remember that there is also a strategy for disseminating it as well. These messages don’t have to be memorized for regurgitation by everyone. Instead, they should be viewed as guides that still allow personal creativity to be expressed within their context. Tech Image offers its media coaching to highlight the different approaches needed for spokespeople to succeed in an interview or presentation, and to get executives comfortable putting the core messages into their own words. But that’s a topic for the next newsletter.
The messaging you create isn’t just for public relations. Ad agencies, web designers and other copy writers should receive a set to use as guides for their creative endeavors to make sure the message is consistent throughout all promotional efforts.
Companies that take the initial time to build this framework see long-term residual benefits in the quality of press quotes and the consistency of support that comes from editorial mentions, commercial collateral and personal presentations. As the frequency increases, the message cuts through the clutter and begins to be remembered by prospects and customers alike. And ultimately, that is the desired result of any marketing communications campaign – awareness that creates conviction that leads to action.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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