Reactivity: Positioning and Messaging Strategy

Background
Reactivity is an early stage start-up offering enterprise software products that enable secure XML-based integration. At the time of the project, the company had not yet released its initial product and had not yet hired a VP of Marketing.

Business problem
Reactivity was telling an inconsistent story to key audiences; and the story that was being told was primarily a technical one, rather than a description of the Reactivity business value proposition. Needing better messaging to gain additional traction with customers, partners, and investors, and without a marketing VP, Reactivity turned to Ed to help solidify its business-oriented messaging and drive that messaging into key marketing vehicles.

Solution
Ed began by interviewing Reactivity’s management team to gain a deeper assessment of the current situation. He then facilitated a series of positioning workshops with Reactivity management designed to develop and articulate Reactivity’s core business value proposition. Ed leveraged the Strategic Planning Framework, tailoring it to Reactivity’s particular needs. The end result was a one-page positioning overview that was then validated with outside experts, investors, and advisors.

Once the positioning was agreed upon, Ed developed a series of sales tools and marketing materials to describe the value proposition. These documents included a business value proposition white paper, a sales presentation, and the development of an entirely new website to replace Reactivity’s previous two-page “holding area” website.

The engagement took approximately seven weeks from start to finish.

Results
In less than two months from project start, Reactivity had a new, consistent company and product message centered around its business value proposition, and a consistent set of marketing materials to describe it. Based in part on the strength of this message, it was able to lock in partnerships with IBM and nCipher, and to cement relationships with several new Fortune 500 prospects interested in trying out the product.