Sprint Square Two

Square 2 — My Marketing Message

Builds on the persona from Square 1. We know who the buyer is and what they feel. Now we define what to say and how to say it.

Purpose: Produce a complete messaging foundation — Key Messages, positioning statement, and brand voice — that every piece of content, every ad, and every sales conversation is built from.

Tone: Facilitative, direct, exacting. Words matter here. Rule: Work through sections in order. Don't skip to the Brand Positioning Statement before the Key Messages are solid.

Sub-skills this square uses (in order):

1. problem-usp-builder — Problem Statement + USP
2. brand-positioning-statement — Brand Positioning Statement + elevator pitch
3. brand-voice-builder — Tone of Voice workshop

Segue from Square 1

Bridge from the persona work before starting messaging:

"We know who [Persona Name] is. We know what triggers them to look for a solution, what success looks like for them, and what's in their way. The question now is: what do we say to them — and how do we say it in a way that makes them feel understood, interested, and convinced?"

Briefly revisit the PVP score (B2B) to confirm we're messaging to the right segment.

Section 1 — Key Messages

The Method

Key Messages are not ad copy, taglines, or slogans. They are the core truths about the product — stated plainly, from the customer's point of view — that everything else is built from. A Key Message should survive translation into a 300-word blog post, a Google ad, a sales email, and a conference slide.

The process:

Step 1 — Start with the Person and the Pain. Whoever describes the problem best wins. Before writing a single message, get the problem statement right.

"Before we talk about what you offer — let's make sure we've nailed the problem. From your buyer's perspective, what is the pain? Not the category of pain — the specific, felt experience of having this problem."

This is essentially the Problem Statement from Square 2's sub-skill. If problem-usp-builder has already run, use that output here. If not, work through the pain description now and hand off to problem-usp-builder before proceeding.

Step 2 — Reverse the problem. The USP is the inverse of the problem. Whatever the buyer suffers from, the product removes. Whatever feels hard, the product makes easy. Whatever is missing, the product provides.

"Now flip it. If [Pain] is the problem — what is the precise opposite of that experience? That's the promise."

Step 3 — Articulate the messages one at a time. There may be one central message or several. Each one addresses a distinct dimension of the problem/solution relationship. Common dimensions: speed, trust, cost, risk, expertise, access, simplicity.

"What are the two or three most important things a buyer needs to believe to choose you? Let's name them one at a time."

Each message should:

• State a benefit from the customer's point of view (not a feature from yours)
• Be specific enough to be credible
• Be distinct enough that a competitor couldn't say the same thing

Deliverable — Key Messages Table:

These become the source material for all content. Every ad, email, blog post, and sales script should trace back to one of these rows.

Section 2 — Message Objectives

Every message has a job. Three jobs exist, and they must be done in order:

2.1 — Clarity: "I Get It."

Before a buyer can want something, they have to understand it. Most marketing fails here — it assumes comprehension that doesn't exist.

The Horse for Sale exercise:

"Here's a test. Read me your best description of what you do — the one you use most often. Now imagine I'm a stranger at a dinner party. After you say that, do I know what you sell?"

Push until the description is crisp enough that a distracted person understands it in one sentence. No jargon, no category-speak, no assumed context.

2.2 — Desire: "I Want It."

Understanding isn't enough. The message has to make the buyer feel something — urgency, aspiration, relief, or fear of missing out.

"Why does this matter right now? What's the cost of not solving this problem? What does the buyer's world look like in 12 months if they do nothing?"

2.3 — Positioning: "I Want It From You."

Once the buyer wants the solution, they need a reason to choose you over alternatives. Three tools:

Features vs. Benefits (Customer POV): Features are what you have. Benefits are what the buyer gets. The message must speak in benefits.

"For each feature you're proud of — what does the customer actually experience because of it? What changes for them?"

Story and Emotion:

• Baby shoes exercise: "For sale: baby shoes. Never worn." Six words, complete story, full emotional weight. The goal is to load the message with implication. What's the version of this for your product?

• Storybrand framework: The customer is the hero. You are the guide. The message should position the buyer as the protagonist solving their own problem — with your help. Not: "We are the best." But: "You can achieve X — here's how we help."

• Table slap moment: What's the thing you say that makes a prospect lean forward, stop scrolling, or say "wait — say that again"? If you don't have one, you don't have a message yet. Find it.

Section 3 — Positioning

3.1 — STP: Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

A brief orientation before the tactical work:

• Segmentation: The market is not one thing. It contains many different types of buyers with different needs. We've already segmented via the PVP Index.
• Targeting: Of those segments, we've selected the one we intend to win. That's the ICP from Square 1.
• Positioning: Within that target, how do we want to be known? What do we want to own in the buyer's mind?

"Positioning is a claim. It's what you want the buyer to think of first when they think of your category. What's the one thing you want to own?"

3.2 — 5 Ps: Which Do We Want to Win On?

Every business competes on one or more of these five dimensions. The goal is to identify which one is the primary battleground — then build the message to win there.

Facilitation:

"If a buyer is choosing between you and your closest competitor — and everything else is roughly equal — what's the one thing that makes the difference? That's the P you need to win on."

Big box example: Walmart wins on Price. Apple wins on Product. Costco wins on Promotion (the deal). Amazon wins on Place. A boutique agency wins on People. You can be strong on more than one, but you need to be dominant on at least one.

3.3 — April Dunford Positioning Framework

(Reference: Obviously Awesome)

Dunford's framework moves positioning from gut feel to structured analysis. Work through in order:

Competitive Alternatives:

"If you didn't exist, what would your buyer do? Not your named competitors — what would they actually do? Spreadsheet? Nothing? A completely different approach?"

This is more useful than a competitor list. It reveals what you're actually being compared to in the buyer's mind.

Unique Attributes:

"What do you do or have that the alternatives genuinely don't? Not 'better service' — something structural, specific, and demonstrable."

Value:

"For each unique attribute — so what? Why does that matter to the buyer? What does it enable or prevent?"

Market Category:

"What category should you live in? Not what you call yourself — what mental shelf does the buyer put you on? And is that the right shelf, or should you be repositioning into a different category?"

Positioning Style (choose one):

• Head to Head: Compete directly in an established category, claim to be the best. Requires a clear differentiation story.
• Big Fish, Small Pond: Win a subsegment of a larger category where the rules are slightly different and the leader's advantages don't apply.
• Create a New Game: Define a new category where you are automatically the leader. Requires significant education investment.

Section 4 — Brand Positioning Statement

Hand off to brand-positioning-statement skill.

The BPS exercise builds on everything developed in Sections 1–3. The five parts:

1. For… (Persona — from Square 1)
2. Who… (Experience the pain — from Key Messages)
3. We… (Solution — the USP)
4. Unlike… (Competitive alternatives — from Dunford)
5. That's because… (Secret sauce — the unique attribute)

These combine into an elevator pitch. Run the full brand-positioning-statement skill flow here.

Section 5 — Brand Tone of Voice

Hand off to brand-voice-builder skill.

With the message defined, now define how it sounds. Run the full brand-voice-builder skill flow. The five dimensions:

1. Elite vs. Mass Appeal
2. Serious vs. Playful
3. Trusted/Conventional vs. Rebel/Maverick
4. Friend vs. Authority
5. Mature/Classic vs. Young/Innovative

Outputs: Visual Likert scale + scored reference artifact.

Deliverables

Facilitator Notes

• The Key Messages come from the pain — not the product. If the room starts listing features, redirect: "What does the buyer feel before they find you?"
• "Table slap" is a useful test for any message. If nobody in the room reacts when you say it, the message isn't sharp enough yet.
• Sections 1–3 feed Section 4. Don't run the BPS exercise cold — it depends on having real answers to pain, alternatives, and unique attributes.
• Tone of Voice comes last for a reason. Voice is about expression, not content. Get the content right first, then decide how it sounds.
• The Key Messages table is a living document. It will be refined as the sprint progresses and as real market feedback comes in.