FerroxLabs Positioning Sprint
Estimated time: 45-60 minutes
This workflow runs a positioning sprint from competitor map through brand audit to a recommended position and a per-audience messaging matrix. By the end the user has a defensible position statement and language tuned to each audience. It is interactive across three review checkpoints.
Steps
Step 1: Kickoff and Gather the Brief (uses: market-competitors)
Ask the user for the offer, the current positioning (or "we don't have one"), and the top 3 competitors (or "we don't know who"). Do not proceed without a clear offer. It is fine if positioning or competitors are unknown; later steps infer them.
- Input: user-supplied offer, current positioning, top competitors
- Output: positioning brief
- Key focus: a clear offer; missing positioning or comps is acceptable input
Step 2: Infer the Competitive Set (uses: market-competitors)
From the brief, infer the competitive set: direct, adjacent, and status-quo alternatives. State it plus your reasoning and ask the user to add any competitors you missed.
- Input: positioning brief
- Output: confirmed competitive set
- Key focus: include status-quo alternatives, not only direct competitors
Step 3: Build the Competitor Map (uses: market-competitors)
From the brief and competitive set, build the competitor map: positioning, target customer, and claim hierarchy per competitor. Show the map to the user.
- Input: positioning brief, competitive set
- Output: competitor map
- Key focus: how each competitor positions and who they target
Step 4: Review the Competitor Map (uses: market-competitors)
Present the competitor map and ask whether to refine it or proceed to the brand audit. If refining, re-run the map step with the user's feedback (at most two passes) before continuing.
- Input: competitor map; optional refinement feedback
- Output: confirmed or refined map, decision to proceed
- Key focus: agree the map before auditing against it
Step 5: Brand Audit Against the Map (uses: market-brand)
Audit the user's brand against the competitor map: where the current positioning overlaps competitors, where it is undifferentiated, and where it has a credible claim no competitor owns. Show the audit to the user.
- Input: positioning brief, competitor map
- Output: brand audit relative to the competitive field
- Key focus: find the white space the brand can credibly own
Step 6: Recommend the Position (uses: market-audit)
From the brief, map, and brand audit, recommend the position: what the brand stands for, what it stands against, and who it is explicitly NOT for. Make it defensible. Show the recommendation to the user.
- Input: positioning brief, competitor map, brand audit
- Output: recommended position statement
- Key focus: a sharp, defensible position with a clear "not for whom"
Step 7: Review the Position (uses: market-audit)
Present the recommended position and ask whether to refine it or proceed to the messaging matrix. If refining, re-run the recommendation with the user's feedback (at most three passes) before continuing.
- Input: recommended position; optional refinement feedback
- Output: confirmed or refined position, decision to proceed
- Key focus: lock the position before translating it into messaging
Step 8: Build the Messaging Matrix (uses: market-copy)
From the confirmed position and the brief, build the per-audience messaging matrix: the same underlying position expressed in the language of each audience segment. Show the matrix to the user.
- Input: confirmed position, positioning brief
- Output: per-audience messaging matrix
- Key focus: one position, segment-specific language, no positioning drift
Step 9: Final Review and Ship (uses: market-copy)
Present the messaging matrix. Ask the user to ship the positioning deliverable or refine the matrix. If refining, re-run with their feedback (at most two passes), then assemble the final Positioning Sprint deliverable with sections for the competitive set, competitor map, brand audit, recommended position, and messaging matrix.
- Input: messaging matrix; optional refinement feedback
- Output: final Positioning Sprint deliverable
- Key focus: ship a defensible position plus ready-to-use per-audience messaging