Filmmaker John Waters said that “Iceberg lettuce is the polyester of vegetables.” When I read this, it made me think of some of the polyester companies I have seen out there. Don’t get me wrong, I know it is not easy being a start-up and trying to figure out how to position yourself, create the right message and elevator pitch to easily explain what you are offering and how you differentiate.
Too often, we still see many companies writing they are the “leader” of this or the “best” at that. These types of comments show little or no innovation. Unless you really are the leader, d�j� vu marketing words can make you look small. I will put this in the same category as blue logos with a circle or a sphere that signifies being a global company or Website home pages and partner sections that have a picture of the proverbial hand shake on them.
When I evaluate or work on a company pitch, here’s what I do: I take out all the adjectives (world-class, leader, tremendous, huge, powerful, state-of-the-art, etc.) and see what I have left in the end. Also, anything starting with “I believe…”, “I think…” or “We are convinced…” has absolutely no value and should be removed as well. If I can’t explain the product and cannot show value without these words, I am in trouble.
To get the bare facts on paper, I constantly go back to the Elevator Pitch template, called the CPT or Company Positioning Statement, created at http://www.embrase.com (I co-founded and am now Chairman at Embrase Business Consulting). I always ask management teams to fill out this form. Once I see the results, I quickly get a glimpse of the minds behind a company and how they are aligned. This template simplifies the process to get to the essence of a message… so you will never get compared to iceberg lettuce.
When I evaluate or work on a company pitch, here’s what I do: I take out all the adjectives (world-class, leader, tremendous, huge, powerful, state-of-the-art, etc.) and see what I have left in the end. Also, anything starting with “I believe…”, “I think…” or “We are convinced…” has absolutely no value and should be removed as well.