Consulting Services
Positioning Strategy Development:
The development of a sustainable
positioning strategy for a product, service, division or company. Each
engagement utilizes the Four Forces of Positioning
methodology. These projects include fresh articulation of market vision,
competition analysis, market segmentation, positioning statement development,
and identification of business model implications of positioning strategy.
A typical engagement is completed in
eight weeks and revolves around four workshops that correspond to the key
analytical phases of the Four Forces model. The style of consulting is
interactive, as opposed to directive. In this way, the intelligence and domain
expertise of clients is fully utilized.
Positioning and Strategy Reviews:
Working closely with a client team,
Positioning
Strategies
consultants
apply the firm's diagnostic and analytical methods, almost in real-time. These
intensive short-term projects utilize the Four Forces of Positioning
methodology, but truncate certain data gathering and workshop steps in the
interest of bring completion time down to three weeks.
The Positioning and Strategy Review
option is recommended for companies with an acute need to re-articulate or
re-direct strategy. It has been helpful to venture-backed companies facing
severe environmental shifts, as well as for subsidiaries of major corporations
facing shift-or-shut decisions.
Brand Management
Strategy Services: In an ideal strategy development sequence, creating a
comprehensive brand plan is the next natural phase following positioning. Few
management consulting firms offer both business strategy services and brand
planning because of the range of skills and experiences required to do these
well. However, our process-oriented approach and function-specific
analytical
models allow us to span both positioning and brand issues. In particular, we
understand how to create brands that are appropriate for technology companies.
Among the most important aspects of a brand management plan are reviewing and
rationalizing a brand architecture in a hierarchy that reflects current business
goals and delineates the roles of master brands, sub-brands and trademarked
technology elements. Next comes formalizing definitions of an overarching
brand promise that is consistent with the positioning strategy. Finally comes
clearly defining a brand voice, the subjective style a company uses consistently
in sending its messages to its various audiences. Our brand planning services
are usually offered as an adjunct to our positioning strategy services, but can
also be provided independently. As clients typically prefer, we involve
internal and external marketing and mar-com organizations in our brand
management strategy development process.
Custom Positioning Workshops
Positioning
Strategies offers
two-day interactive workshop to transfer the firm's proven positioning process
to client companies. The workshops offered by
Positioning Strategies are
customized for clients' specific requirements, but based on the same
process-oriented approach as the firm's consulting engagements. Topics covered
include competition analysis, market segmentation and needs, positioning
statement development and the key elements of a differentiation plan.
Prior to a workshop,
Positioning Strategies partners conduct interviews with a subset of the workshop
attendees to provide insight into the company's culture, products and issues.
Due Diligence Services
Rapid-results
consulting for venture investors and private equity capital firms. Our services
include: