It’s not about fine dining (apologies to the disappointed “foodies” out there), but about your message – that unique, compelling shorthand that perfectly communicates why your company is special and desirable.

In our client relations, I’ve seen more interest in the last four years in creating compelling messaging, and the recognition that this exercise is the foundation for all communications tactics going forward. Yet, few subjects are as difficult to tackle as defining who we are.

Fortunately, I found a very “user friendly” messaging process several years ago in “The Marketing Playbook,” by John Zagula and Richard Tong, former leaders of Microsoft Windows and Office Marketing, the folks who won the marketing wars that determined which programs we see on our desktops each morning. I was introduced to this “Yes But So” messaging scenario in a session with John Zagula for a new company funded by his venture capital firm, Ignition Partners. It worked so well in making a complicated, intensive process simple, we now use it in all of our client relations.

So what is the “Yes But So?” Simply put, it’s the “current reality,” the gap that exists between the situation now and the desired situation in the future, and how you and your company/product fill that gap – and the call to action. For example, “The Marketing Playbook” takes the classic story of Henry Ford and the Model T 100 years ago, which looks like:

Yes,

    • cars remain the domain of elites and aficionados, not regular people.

But,

    • the underlying auto technology and manufacturing techniques are becoming more efficient.

So,

    we should now be able to make a reliable car that the mass market can afford.

Fast forward 60 years, and you have the Volkswagen approach:

Yes,

    • there are terrific, German-engineered cars available on the market for driving enthusiasts.

But,

    • they are very expensive and appeal only to those who can afford them.

So,

    let’s offer a high performance German car for average enthusiasts.

There’s more, of course, which I can explain to you if you’re interested in learning more about client relations (email me at [email protected]), as well as speak with you about your own “Yes-but-so” story, or you can get the book, (available on Amazon.com) a highly readable, fast-moving and practical odyssey through the game plan behind one of the most successful marketing sagas of our time. For more insights on client relations, check out John Zagula’s blog.

As always you can find this and other interesting PR & client relations news at our Scott Public Relations website