Combat Clutter With Our Four New Messaging Cs: Clear, Concise, Consistent and Coordinated

For decades, an organization’s marketing program has been driven by the Four Ps…the concept that you have a Product (service) at a given Price point, multiple ways to Promote (advertising, PR, direct response, digital/social etc.) and operate in a Place (geographic, industry, business-to-business, consumer etc.).

While the Four Ps remain viable, your organization’s communications and messaging have to be strong enough on their own to build awareness in an extremely cluttered environment. Therefore, I present our Four Messaging Cs for all external and internal efforts:

• Clear – State why “you” are relevant to your target audiences and how they benefit from your product or service. If the explanation is too complex, you will lose your audience.
• Concise – Pick the top three reasons which demonstrate how you help stakeholders solve a problem. If you provide too much information, you will be tuned out.
• Consistent –Utilize core messages in all you do. People need to hear/see information in multiple ways before it sinks in. Just as there is frequency (repetition) in advertising schedules, messaging needs frequency (consistency) as well.
• Coordinated – Use core stakeholder messages throughout all communications tools…press materials, collateral, employee communications, web, digital/social, annual reports, blogs, direct response (including e-mail) etc. In doing so, customers will better understand how you can help them.

It takes multiple contacts for people to understand how they benefit from your organization. If each “touch” has a different message, it creates confusion. Clear, Concise, Consistent and Coordinated messages mean your value proposition is understood faster, more deeply and for a longer time.

Richard Abels - Founding Principal of Abels Communication Company

June 2016