If The Holidays Had Honest Positioning & Messaging
The Unofficial Guide to Crafting Positioning & Messaging for the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I’ve racked up many hours crafting positioning and messaging to the point where it’s hard not to subconsciously position things that might not have or need official positioning - my latest target - the holidays. Unless you are in the candy cane biz or Planet Fitness planning their massive New Year’s Times Square campaign, I’m assuming you probably haven’t framed the holidays through this lens outside of maybe a holiday social post.
Yes, I know holidays are one of the biggest commercialized times of the year; of course, massive marketing efforts are involved. But I’m not talking about selling something for the holidays; I’m talking about selling The Holidays, as in “Happy Holidays”, as in your competitors are Halloween and Easter.
The holidays could use a bit of a refresh to spruce things. Think, if Winter Wonderland Inc was doing a refresh, how would it go?
Understanding the Market Landscape
First, understanding the landscape is critical for crafting your positioning and messaging. In this case, the holiday landscape is crowded. Anything that can be commercialized will be, but when competing against each other, holidays spread throughout the year.
Although Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza have quite the battle each fall - specifically looking at you Christmas, with your decorations creeping into store isles by October. But which one wins? Which one do the grandparents fly in for? Grandma’s not flying cross country to carve a pumpkin, and there’s a reason.
Families have to plan strategically, make trade-offs, and sacrifice visiting one side of the family for the other. They subconsciously select holidays just like they would a product, and understanding the crowd helps you pinpoint how your product can stand out.
The Target Audience: ICPs & Personas
Once we understand our market, it’s time to define the target audience for your product or service clearly. This is where we drill into your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and personas and get more specific than just a general market segment.
So, who’s really in the thick of it during this season? Who needs to be reminded why we put on this production each year? Personally, I love the holiday season, but we all know parts of it have the potential to be hectic and stressful, regardless of how much we might love it.
As a family of four with two young children, celebrators of Christmas, and someone currently in the thick of it, I will be self-indulgent and pick myself as the target audience. Honorable mentions: anyone hosting family and anyone traveling cross country with small children - you can do this.
Creating detailed ICPs and personas helps tailor your marketing efforts more effectively, ensuring you address the right audience with the right message. There are many ways to carve this up, but in this case, your ICP might be families of four with young children who celebrate Christmas, and your personas are individuals with influence within that ICP. Then, for personas, I’m coming from a B2B background, so naturally, we have buyers and champions - and we definitely know who is doing the buying.
Ideal Customer Profile & Personas
Crafting your ICP is super critical because it helps you frame who your customers are and highlight their big-picture goals and challenges. Here, we've talked about demographics, challenges, and goals, but there's a lot more you can dive into, like tech stack, behaviors, buying cycles, etc. If you don't have time to dive deep into your ICP or personas, do your best to understand their goals and challenges - this will help your messaging resonate.
Let's look at our ICP
Demographics: Families with young children who celebrate Christmas.
Challenges: Juggling (gentle?) parenting, work, and festive preparations; budgeting for the holiday season; striving to create a memorable Christmas, giving all the credit to Santa.
Goals: To build lasting memories, uphold family traditions, ensure a joyful, stress-free holiday, and make Christmas magical while retaining their sanity.
Personas: The Buyers
The buyers are the primary decision makers putting on the show. This is the persona you need to convince in your selling process, which will be the deciding factor to move forward. In our scenario, it's usually the parents or primary caregiver for the children.
The Festive Planner & Christmas Conductor
How They Spend Their Time: Engaged in everything from decorating the house to meticulously planning the holiday menu and overseeing the kitchen on Christmas Day. They are the masterminds behind festive activities and can be found writing name tags for the table seating.
Pain Points: High expectations for creating the perfect holiday atmosphere and the stress of ensuring everything runs smoothly on Christmas Day.
Challenges: Balancing family dynamics and expectations, managing multiple tasks from cooking, wrapping, or remembering to move that elf.
Goals: Be the creator of joy, the crafter of a memorable Christmas experience while ensuring a seamless and enjoyable day - that they can also enjoy.
The Budget-Conscious, Relaxed Celebrator
How They Spend Their Time: Looking for deals, creating homemade decorations, and planning budget-friendly holiday activities while enjoying the festivities more relaxed and laid-back.
Pain Points: Financial stress of holiday expenses and feeling overwhelmed by the hustle of holiday preparations - they are pretty sure Aunt Jan isn't going to notice that the baseboards need to be cleaned.
Challenges: Delivering a festive experience on a budget and contributing to holiday cheer without getting caught up in the details.
Goals: Celebrating a meaningful Christmas without overspending and enjoying the cozy season's joy without the burden of planning and execution.
Personas: The Champion & Influencers
Next, we have secondary personas and influencers who use/experience the product or hold some influence. This is where the kids are the champions, and aunts, uncles, and grandparents are secondary influencers who have input on the big day.
The Starry-Eyed Kid: Champion
How They Spend Their Time: Engaging in festive activities like decorating, baking with parents, and eagerly anticipating Santa's arrival.
Pain Points: The excruciating wait for Christmas, pretending to be excited and hiding their disappointment when they unwrap clothes, not being able to eat all the cookies.
Challenges: Balancing excitement while still following some semblance of routine and schedule.
Goals: To fully immerse in the magic and joy of Christmas, experiencing the wonder of the season and atmosphere of giving…. okay, okay, let's be honest, it is definitely presents and sweets.
The Memory-Making Grandparent: Influencer
How They Spend Their Time: Sharing stories, participating in traditional activities, and connecting with grandchildren.
Pain Points: Feeling the generation gap, possibly feeling left out of newer traditions, or splitting time across households.
Challenges: Keeping traditional aspects of the holiday alive, engaging with all family members, and asking why they changed the candied yams recipe when the old one was just fine.
Goals: To pass down family traditions, create lasting memories with the younger generation, and maybe do a bit of grandkid spoiling.
The Entertaining Aunt or Uncle: Influencer
How They Spend Their Time: Organizing and leading games, sharing unique stories or talents, and creating a fun atmosphere.
Pain Points: Trying to avoid stepping on the toes of the primary planners and figuring out if its more helpful to play with the kids or make a pie.
Challenges: Introducing new ideas or activities that resonate with children and adults. Try not to rile up the kids.
Goals: To add fun and spontaneity to the celebrations, making the holiday memorable for everyone - be the "cool" aunt/uncle.
Okay, great, now we understand a bit more about the target audience and the different roles and influencers that go into the decision process.
Positioning in the Landscape
Okay, so we understand our market and the target audience. How are we positioning this? Your positioning defines how your product uniquely addresses the market's needs. Positioning sets the stage for what your brand stands for and the unique value it offers.
In this case, we want to meet the needs of our families with small children to celebrate Christmas in a crowded holiday competitor landscape. Positioning statements can be approached with a formula for the big picture direction, giving you a draft to refine.
For [Target Audience], [Brand Name] is the [What You Are] that delivers [What You Do]. While [Personas] struggle to reach [Goals] because [Pains], [Brand Name] [How You Help]. Unlike competitors like [Competitor A, Competitor B, Competitor C], [Brand Name] is [You Differentiator].
So, our positioning statement for Christmas might look like this:
"For families with young children seeking holiday magic and memorable moments, Christmas is the ultimate celebration that delivers joy, tradition, and a touch of festive chaos. While parents, strive to create a perfect holiday amidst the frenzy and chaos, Christmas brings the magic to life with its unique blend of warmth and wonder. Unlike Valentine's Day's romantic focus, Halloween's spooky tricks, or Thanksgiving's feast-centric gatherings, Christmas stands out with its all-inclusive spirit, enchanting everyone. Christmas does this through beloved traditions, heartwarming carols, and the promise of a winter wonderland, making it the go-to holiday for family celebration."
Messaging Pillars
Now, let's support the gingerbread house with some messaging pillars, which are hopefully more stable than an actual gingerbread house (mine always severely lacks structural integrity). Messaging pillars are key themes or concepts that form the foundation of your marketing and communication strategy. They articulate the main points you want to consistently communicate to your target audience.
Typically, you have three pillars that support your narrative with core themes. Each theme is supported by a key message, the challenges it solves, the benefits it offers, and reasons to believe.
For our holiday scenario, they might look something like this:
Pillar 1: The Great Family Bonding Experiment
Key Message: "Surviving Family Togetherness with a Smile"
Challenges It Solves: Navigates the treacherous waters of too much family time without resorting to hiding in the bathroom.
Benefits It Offers: Opportunities to create those 'perfect' family moments that are social media gold.
Reasons to Believe: Anecdotes of families who managed not to argue over board games and found new ways to bond over burnt cookies.
Pillar 2: Holiday Chaos Coordination
Key Message: "Making Holiday Madness Look Like a Plan"
Challenges It Solves: Tackles the holiday frenzy, from untangling lights to pretending you love fruitcake.
Benefits It Offers: Streamlined chaos that feels almost like you had everything under control from the start.
Reasons to Believe: Tales from other brave souls who managed to wrap presents at 2 AM and still looked cheerful in the morning.
Pillar 3: Kid-Fueled Festive Frenzy
Key Message: "Fueling the Festive Overload for the Little Ones"
Challenges It Solves: Keeping the kids entertained without letting them eat their body weight in candy canes.
Benefits It Offers: Activities and ideas that might tire them out by bedtime (no promises).
Reasons to Believe: Stories from parents who actually managed to keep the magic alive without their kids finding the gift stash.
Wrapping It Up
Phew, okay, that was a long post, and for every step here, you could go much deeper. In fact, it's critical to see this as a living process that you continue to test, iterate, and refine. Understanding the 'why' behind each step and getting to the core challenges and goals is key. It's the difference between throwing tinsel everywhere to get the job done or strategically placing it to get the best shimmer.
If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me, and we hope you have a Happy Holidays with minimal chaos and maximum cozy.
Cheers!