“The Art & Craft of Outstanding Brand Positioning Platforms” Masterclass
Why this masterclass?
Our ability as marketers to take a fresh look at the abundance of available data out there and turn this information into insightful and compelling brand positioning platforms, messaging strategies or product concepts is one of the last sources of unfair competitive advantage we can give our brands. Sure you can always out-execute or outspend a competitor but without a strong and arresting strategic idea, most media spent will be ineffective.
Unfortunately, this type of skills and know-how can only be acquired through decades of actual experience. And most available “brand positioning” training courses out there only focus on the basics, the key frameworks and the 101s of brand positioning. They don’t help participants develop the advanced skills required to actually create outstanding and original strategic ideas.
Until now.
What?
First the Trousers is introducing the “The Art & Craft of Outstanding Brand Positioning Platforms” masterclass, a one-day training session that will teach participants how to develop, craft and recognize truly original, distinctive and yet always relevant positioning platforms, messaging strategies and product concepts.
What participants will learn?
- Participants will become familiar with the 26 universal positioning triggers, including:
- The 10 ways to “frame” a brand for more appeal
- The 9 sources of compelling product and service truth
- The 8 Ways to create a connection with consumers
- Participants will also learn how to use and combine those “triggers” to create truly unique and distinctive, yet always relevant strategic ideas and positioning platforms. This type of knowledge usually only comes with decades of successful marketing experience and working on dozens if not hundreds of brands.
- Participants will learn how to overcome the natural mental biases we all have and that prevent us from generating truly innovative and distinctive strategic ideas.
- Participants will learn how to spot and identify the most promising strategic idea.
- Ultimately, participants will become more agile, more rigorous, more efficient and more creative -basically, better strategic problem solvers- in developing innovative strategic ideas that can be applied to brand positioning platforms, new product concepts, and communication/messaging platforms.
A unique, yet proven approach
The foundation of the course is the “Positioning-Roulette” methodology. Behind this playful name is a very rigorous analysis of over 1200 case studies of effective brand building which identified the 26 universal triggers to successful brand positioning platforms. This methodology is already being used through workshops and consulting engagements by companies such as Siemens, Land O Lakes, Outlaw Energy Drink, Angel’s Envy, etc. and by thousands of marketing professionals around the world.
Who is the class for?
The masterclass is ideal for everyone involved in the management of brands including brand managers, strategists, consultants, market researchers, account people and communication experts (PR, design, etc.). It doesn’t require any prior knowledge.
What is the format?
The masterclass is a one day workshop and is offered as an in-house training session (ideal for groups of 8 or more) or as an open enrollment course. The open classes will be held in all major US & international cities based on interest.
For in-house sessions, we can also have the participants work on real brand problems the company is trying to solve.
We emphasize participation and group exercises over passive listening.
Who is teaching?
The masterclass will be taught by Ulli Appelbaum, an award-winning marketing and brand strategy consultant with more than 20 years of experience. He has held senior strategy roles at some of the largest advertising agencies in the world including BBDO, Leo Burnett, Fallon Worldwide, and SapientNitro, working on such brands as Wrigley, Harley Davidson, Hallmark, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Chrysler.
In 2014, he launched First-The-Trousers-Then-The-Shoes Inc. (FTT), a brand research, strategy, and innovation boutique with such clients as Siemens, Land O Lakes, Flexera Software and Outlaw Energy Drinks. FTT is based in Minneapolis but operates globally.
He’s contributed to 7 Effies and an ARF (Advertising Research Federation) Ogilvy award for Excellence in Research and his insights and strategies for Wrigley, Harley Davidson, Hallmark, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Chrysler, and others have helped build these brands in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the US.
He is a member of the AMA practitioner council and a regular contributor to the trade press in the US and abroad.
Contact us:
For more information about the masterclass, please reach out directly at Ulli@first-the-trousers.com
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