THE POWER OF A COHESIVE MESSAGE
THE POWER OF A COHESIVE MESSAGE
A.K.A.: “IN DEFENSE OF POLITICAL BULLS$#T”
There’s no place like home. That’s especially true when it comes to the ‘home’ of your message to the world. Having a cohesive and logical flow from what you do to the why, how, who and where of your mission is critical for both you and your audience to be able to make sense of all the facts about your business. It’s not enough to have a cute tagline, or even an obvious value to your potential market, you have to make sense of why the world should believe you when you state your purpose.
Whenever approaching how to properly position a brand, product or company, I construct a mind map, placing the core purpose of the business in the center and methodically building out a hierarchical structure in support of that value proposition. Above the core purpose is the NEED - the market factors, weaknesses in older solutions, challenges and problems encountered by the potential audience and more that create the need for someone to provide the expressed core value of the company. Below is the PROOF that the company in question is capable of fulfilling their promised value.
Typically, that PROOF tier includes headlines for the product(s), services, people, history, technology, competition, and more. Each of those spawns a tier below; products spawning FAB (Features, Advantages, Benefits), technology spawning clear choices in methodology, history spawning evidence of past success, etc. This allows even a tiny bit of technical minutiae to be tied to a larger tactic or feature, which in turn feeds the overall strategy or product, which in turn supports the business mission. Once the map is complete, it’s virtually impossible to discuss the business, even if responding to a detailed question about a simple user interface decision, without being able to tie the question back to the root value of the company. This serves to reinforce that EVERY decision is driven by the unwavering goal the business exists to achieve.
Sometimes it’s easiest to see this in play outside of the business world and instead in the world of politics. Politicians for high-office are often coached to cover their weaknesses and emphasize their strengths by redirecting ALL questions, difficult or easy, to their core platform and area of strength. Imagine for a moment I was running for Congress as the “Education Candidate”, leveraging my resume and voting history of support for education as the core reason to select me over my “National Defense Candidate” competitor. I’m not going to win in a discussion of foriegn policy, military strategy, or defense spending against my 20-year veteran competitor, so every mention of those issues strengthens him and weakens me...Unless, I can turn weakness into strength.
QUESTION: ”You’re competitor has said he would not negotiate with [country X] and instead bring military force to bear to settle the dispute; how would you remediate the issue?”
ANSWER: “It’s a serious issue and one I think we need to evaluate carefully. That said, I can’t justify spending $5 Billion on a military operation, especially at a time when we’re suffering at home, on actions overseas with unclear outcomes. Our schools are crumbling, and my top priority would be to apply those dollars toward educating the next generation so we can continue to prosper. What happens 8,000 miles away is irrelevant if we don’t deal with the mess in our own house.”
Agree or disagree, I have just pivoted your international policy question into a question that highlights my strengths and draws contrast against my competitor. Listen carefully to the sound bites of any candidate - or their respective cable news outlets - and you’ll see the effects of this coaching everywhere. Political spin aside, the lesson itself is valuable. Being able to pull, push or contort even the most disjointed data points into a single cohesive message makes you more memorable and more valuable to your target audience. Building a message map and training everyone in your organization to navigate it can ensure that even the most difficult questions support your core reason for being. Take the time to map out every aspect of your business and construct a model that makes sense of it all; it will literally become the backbone of your website, collateral, sales presentation, sales pitch, advertising and more. If you have any trouble, call us :-)
