The development of a sustainable positioning strategy for a product, service, division or company. Each engagement utilizes our 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.
Essentially, we take the view that our clients are both highly intelligent and very knowledgeable about their own market sectors. However, creating a viable and executable positioning strategy requires that appropriate managers in a company:
--Have a structured process for articulating and analyzing positioning strategy options
--Have a shared vocabulary and a set of models for use in group strategy development exercises
--Have simple templates for expressing the overall strategy and it's various implications and action steps
These are the things Positioning Strategies provides.
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. Our brand planning services are usually offered as an adjunct to our positioning strategy services, but can also be provided independently.
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 planning 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. For this work, we utilize our own Brand Voice Matrix for Technology Brands.
As clients usually prefer, we involve internal and external marketing and mar-com organizations in our brand management strategy development process.
Custom Positioning Seminars
Typicallly, we manage and execute projects ourselves, but we are also happy to utilize our mature materials and training skills to transfer our methodologies to client personnel.
Positioning Strategies offers one- and two-day interactive seminars 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.
The development of a sustainable positioning strategy for a product, service, division or company. Each engagement utilizes our 
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. For this work, we utilize our own