Stage 2 of i.d's consulting methodology: developing messages
1
Information
Gathering
Numbers matter - if they're the right numbers. i.d's fivefold consulting methodology starts with a deep dig into your communications objectives and their effect on the volume and tone of your media coverage.
All of which leads to solid facts and figures and a sound basis for decisionmaking.
2
Message
Development
What's your story? Stage 2 works out how to tell it. A matrix of messages that covers every concept you want out there. Imagine a landscape of ideas describing the perfect you
with every topic backed by its importance across your peer group. i.d plots every twist.
3
Situational
Analysis
Where you are now, contrasted with where you want to be. That's Stage 3: finding the baseline and working out how to raise the bar.
Charting influential journalists, respected commentators, and opinion leaders - for every key message. Is your PR releasing its potential? i.d unearths opportunities.
4
Campaign
Creation
When you know where you're going, you can work out how to get there. In Stage 4 i.d works with you on strategy, shaping those messages into their most effective forms.
And defining the delivery channels where they'll work hardest. Making sure your audience hears you.
5
Results
Analysis
What worked? And why? The last stage of i.d's methodology casts a critical eye over the KPIs and KSFs foremost in your business strategy, a set of handpicked metrics.
All in order to decide actions. Make changes. And then apply them to the next cycle.
To see how each stage of i.d's consulting methodology applies to the main sectors we work with, click here.
Brand & Media
1 Information gathering
2 Message development
3 Situational analysis
4 Campaign creation
5 Results analysis
Finance & Investment
1 Information gathering
2 Message development
3 Situational analysis
4 Campaign creation
5 Results analysis
Governance/Reputation
1 Information gathering
2 Message development
3 Situational analysis
4 Campaign creation
5 Results analysis
Who to talk to, what to talk about. Seek first to understand: work out who your audiences are and the channels that bring them together. Ask i.d to develop your messaging matrix, and the result is a concise brief you could hand to an agency tomorrow.
Your message matrix for each audience is shaped like a pyramid. At the top is your highest-level positioning, the fundamental human truth or unique attribute on which your company is built. Further down is how that positioning translates across channels: perhaps success story messaging for the trade press, heart-warming human interest for consumers. And at the base, the hard facts and figures: proof points and objection handling when you need to back everything up.
Building this hierarchy makes it easier to see how individual messages are contributing to the broader narrative about your company and its sector. (And which ones aren't.) In other words, your company's story can be more clearly told.
See how message development works for the sectors below, or go on to Stage 3: situational analysis.
Customer quotes
"MediaDashboard is the only service we have seen that integrates comprehensive media tracking, robust analysis and tailored research within a single package." - Sal Viveros, Senior Director, McAfee Inc.
News >>
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i.d's approach >>
See how we do it, with a look at i.d's fivefold consulting methodology.
Case studies >>
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