Marketing Foundations: STP, Positioning and Marketing Mix

Turn a client's business goal into the marketing decisions every channel, advertisement and post must obey: who we serve, what we stand for in their mind, what we offer, at what price, through which routes, and which two or three messages carry the load.

Use When

• A campaign, advertising plan, content strategy or website brief needs an agreed segment, target, positioning statement and value proposition first.
• A client says "everyone is our audience", lists ten benefits, or wants to rebrand without a stated reason.
• Nobody has chosen which segments to serve or where the brand should sit against competitors and rivals.
• Creative keeps failing because the brief carries no single message or no reason to believe.
• A retainer review must diagnose whether weak results come from positioning, offer, price or channel, or the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion) fight the position.

Do Not Use When

• biz-dev-positioning for the agency's own positioning statement or credentials, including an individual practitioner's practice.
• traction-channel-bullseye for deciding which acquisition channels to test once positioning is agreed.
• brand-strategy-and-distinctive-assets for mental and physical availability, distinctive assets and standing out as an online shop (e-commerce differentiation).
• Stop when customer evidence or decision authority is absent and cannot be obtained; return the intake gap. Full business-plan documents go to business-plan-skills.