Page 114 - Duct Tape Marketing

98 Part II: Sharpening Your Marketing Focus

Advancing Your Brand through
a Creative Strategy

Your creative strategy is the plan that directs the development of all your mar-
keting materials. It defines

ߜ Your target market
ߜ The believable and meaningful benefit you offer to your market
ߜ How you present your personality in your communications

Writing your creative strategy

You can write your creative strategy in three sentences that define the pur-
pose, approach, and personality that will guide the creation of your market-
ing communications, following this formula:

1. “The purpose of our marketing communications is to convince [insert a
brief description of your target market] that our product is the most
[describe the primary benefit you provide to customers].”

2. “We will prove our claim by [insert a description of why your distinct
benefit is believable and how you will prove it in your marketing].”

3. “The mood and tone of our communications will be [insert a description
of the personality that all your communications will convey].”

Following are sample strategies for two fictitious businesses:

ߜ Glass Houses, a window washing service: The purpose of our market-
ing communications is to convince affluent homeowners in our home-
town that our service is the easiest and most immediately gratifying
way to beautify their homes. We will prove our claim by guaranteeing
same-week and streak-free service, by promising four-month callback
reminders, and by offering special three-times-a-year contract rates so
that homeowners will never have to think about window cleaning after
their first call to us. The mood and tone of our communications will be
straightforward and clean — just like our service.

ߜ Bookworms, an independent bookshop: The purpose of our marketing
communications is to convince residents and visitors that our bookstore
is the most friendly, welcoming, and informative place to browse and
discover great reading material. We will prove our claim by extending
invitations to enjoy free staff recommendations, refreshments, and read-
ing areas in our store and by including reading choices and staff reviews