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Nailing The Value Proposition

What’s a value proposition all about?
The value proposition is a powerful statement that (preferably) captures the mind and the heart, and reveals a unique, highly relevant advantage or appeal. It is usually expressed as a tagline and a clear set of statements that form a platform for communicating a company or product brand.

A value proposition can be thought of as a distinctive position in the "mind’s eye" of the customer, based on perceived emotional and functional benefits. It is often a promise of customer experience. It’s a single idea you own that makes someone more likely to choose you. It’s the essence of the brand’s benefits – functional and emotional – that current and potential customers should expect to receive when experiencing a brand’s products and services.

A value proposition is most akin to a positioning statement. Personally, I prefer to use the words “value proposition” instead of “positioning statement”, since it focuses attention on the number one need – establishing value. After all, what’s the point in blowing big media budgets on promoting something that, even if it manages to capture your target audience’s attention (the ad campaign won a prize regardless of whether the product sold), people don’t feel there’s enough value to bother trying the product or calling you for a meeting?

In search of meaning
There are plenty of ad agencies out there that create pretty meaningless statements about their companies and/or their products. Stuff like: “The preferred professional partner” or “We do it a little bit better”, or “the leading provider of xxxx”. Statements like these are, quite frankly, useless.

A true value proposition can take many forms. For example:
·- We’re No.2 – we try harder (reason to prefer: "I appreciate the values of modesty and a will to make things better, and I expect that a company that makes such a honest statement really does go the extra mile").
- Design for the people (reason to prefer: "I want designer furniture, but I can’t afford top-end brands – here’s a company that appreciates my position").
- A thousand shades better (reason to prefer: "This hearing aid delivers the best possible sound quality, which I understand is the most important single factor when choosing a hearing aid").

You can arrive at your value proposition by considering:
- What functional benefits might our customers want from a company like ours?
- What might grab their attention?
- What might appeal to their hearts? Capture their imaginations?

In a world where people are disinclined to give you even a split second of their attention, nailing the value proposition means identifying one key message you can say about your offering that will make people want to know more. Then supporting it with no more than three key sub-messages that make the main message even more compelling.

For example (a new hearing aid):

Main message:
"The No.1 choice for an active lifestyle"

Sub-messages:

ReSound Live™ is the No.1 choice when you want to be:

- Physically active – whenever you need to move your body

- Socially active – whenever you’re together with friends or family

- Mentally active – when you want to be at your focused best

Will it work?

How do you know whether you have a strong value proposition?

One of the most powerful value proposition strategies is to tell people that the product, service or company now enables them to do or feel something they wanted to do or feel before but couldn’t. For example: "Use just one remote control for all your electronic devices". Skype’s offering enabled people to call anywhere in the world either for free or for much lower rates than was previously possible.

Then there’s the "wastepaper basket" acid test of your value proposition idea. Here you should imagine that you have put together a letter to a prospective client, using the value proposition as the lead headline. The client has opened the envelope and is standing over the wastepaper basket, quickly scanning your letter. All she has in mind is whether to drop your letter in the trash or to read on. If you don’t think your value proposition is strong enough to stop the client letting go, try again.

I often ask my clients to imagine their brand standing on a supermarket shelf along with the brands of their category competitors, and further flanked by beyond-category competitors (alternative ways your prospect’s time and money could be used). What is it about the brand’s personality (e.g. visual appearance) that gets shoppers to pull it off the shelf instead of the brand next to it? What value proposition statement and supporting points might then get the shopper to drop it into their cart?

Another useful exercise is to imagine you are a company salesperson operating in a highly competitive region. What statement would be most likely to get you an appointment with a busy, stressed-out prospect who actively fights off all but the smartest salespeople? For a workshop with a large food ingredients producer, I began by asking the participants to tell me all the things that both a) were interesting enough to get a meeting, and b) their competitors couldn’t claim as well. We ended up with five solid value propositions that could be individually selected as a door-opener by the company’s salespeople, depending on the customer’s known or expected hot buttons. Then we considered what it was that united these five value propositions and discovered the company’s overall value proposition.

Bring in an expert
There are many, many paths to identifying your value proposition. And many pitfalls along the way. That’s why you really need someone who is both experienced and objective to facilitate the process. Otherwise you risk spending a lot of senior management time on creating something that feels good by the end of your meeting, but which falls flat on its face when it meets marketplace realities.



Jonathan is a great strategist with a extremely good understanding of our market and product...and i just like the way he writes! - Charlotte Bang Head of Brand support & group communications GN ReSound Nailing The Value Proposition What’s a value proposition all about? The value proposition is a powerful statement that (preferably) captures the mind and the heart, and reveals a unique, highly relevant advantage or appeal. It is usually expressed as a tagline and a clear set of statements that form a platform for communicating a company or product brand. A value proposition can be thought of as a distinctive position in the "mind’s eye" of the customer, based on perceived emotional and functional benefits. It is often a promise of customer experience. It’s a single idea you own that makes someone more likely to choose you. It’s the essence of the brand’s benefits – functional and emotional – that current and potential customers should expect to receive when experiencing a brand’s products and services. A value proposition is most akin to a positioning statement. Personally, I prefer to use the words “value proposition” instead of “positioning statement”, since it focuses attention on the number one need – establishing value. After all, what’s the point in blowing big media budgets on promoting something that, even if it manages to capture your target audience’s attention (the ad campaign won a prize regardless of whether the product sold), people don’t feel there’s enough value to bother trying the product or calling you for a meeting? In search of meaning There are plenty of ad agencies out there that create pretty meaningless statements about their companies and/or their products. Stuff like: “The preferred professional partner” or “We do it a little bit better”, or “the leading provider of xxxx”. Statements like these are, quite frankly, useless. A true value proposition can take many forms. For example: ·- We’re No.2 – we try harder (reason to prefer: "I appreciate the values of modesty and a will to make things better, and I expect that a company that makes such a honest statement really does go the extra mile"). - Design for the people (reason to prefer: "I want designer furniture, but I can’t afford top-end brands – here’s a company that appreciates my position"). - A thousand shades better (reason to prefer: "This hearing aid delivers the best possible sound quality, which I understand is the most important single factor when choosing a hearing aid"). You can arrive at your value proposition by considering: - What functional benefits might our customers want from a company like ours? - What might grab their attention? - What might appeal to their hearts? Capture their imaginations? In a world where people are disinclined to give you even a split second of their attention, nailing the value proposition means identifying one key message you can say about your offering that will make people want to know more. Then supporting it with no more than three key sub-messages that make the main message even more compelling. For example (a new hearing aid): Main message: "The No.1 choice for an active lifestyle" Sub-messages: ReSound Live™ is the No.1 choice when you want to be: - Physically active – whenever you need to move your body - Socially active – whenever you’re together with friends or family - Mentally active – when you want to be at your focused best Will it work? How do you know whether you have a strong value proposition? One of the most powerful value proposition strategies is to tell people that the product, service or company now enables them to do or feel something they wanted to do or feel before but couldn’t. For example: "Use just one remote control for all your electronic devices". Skype’s offering enabled people to call anywhere in the world either for free or for much lower rates than was previously possible. Then there’s the "wastepaper basket" acid test of your value proposition idea. Here you should imagine that you have put together a letter to a prospective client, using the value proposition as the lead headline. The client has opened the envelope and is standing over the wastepaper basket, quickly scanning your letter. All she has in mind is whether to drop your letter in the trash or to read on. If you don’t think your value proposition is strong enough to stop the client letting go, try again. I often ask my clients to imagine their brand standing on a supermarket shelf along with the brands of their category competitors, and further flanked by beyond-category competitors (alternative ways your prospect’s time and money could be used). What is it about the brand’s personality (e.g. visual appearance) that gets shoppers to pull it off the shelf instead of the brand next to it? What value proposition statement and supporting points might then get the shopper to drop it into their cart? Another useful exercise is to imagine you are a company salesperson operating in a highly competitive region. What statement would be most likely to get you an appointment with a busy, stressed-out prospect who actively fights off all but the smartest salespeople? For a workshop with a large food ingredients producer, I began by asking the participants to tell me all the things that both a) were interesting enough to get a meeting, and b) their competitors couldn’t claim as well. We ended up with five solid value propositions that could be individually selected as a door-opener by the company’s salespeople, depending on the customer’s known or expected hot buttons. Then we considered what it was that united these five value propositions and discovered the company’s overall value proposition. Bring in an expert There are many, many paths to identifying your value proposition. And many pitfalls along the way. That’s why you really need someone who is both experienced and objective to facilitate the process. Otherwise you risk spending a lot of senior management time on creating something that feels good by the end of your meeting, but which falls flat on its face when it meets marketplace realities.	Viewpoints Nailing the Value Proposition 10 Smart Things to Think About Value Propositions Is H.C. Andersen bad for business? Misplaced Modesty Looking Like a World Leader English as a strategic asset Modern Marketing's Toughest Culture Gap