Upload
lustratus-repama
View
217
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
1/56
Page 2
Research
A guide to interpreting Lustratus
REPAMA competitive studies
REPAMA Competitive
Intelligence
Author: Danny Goodall
Version 1.1
September 2009
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
2/56
Page 3
Table of ContentsWhat Questions Does REPAMA Answer? ......................................... 2
Sales .......................................................................................... 2Marketing ................................................................................... 2
General Management and Equity Investors ................................. 3
A Guide to Lustratus REPAMATM ...................................................... 4
The REPAMA Reverse Engineered Marketing Elements .............. 4
The REPAMATM Methodology ..................................................... 5
The Marketing Element DistributionTM (MED) ............................... 5
Multiple Vendor Comparisons and the Market Mean ................... 6
REPAMA Ranking and Scoring System ...................................... 7
The Scoring System ................................................................... 8
Why is there no scale on the charts? .......................................... 9
Other Lustratus REPAMA Deliverables ........................................ 9
Organisation and Market Approach ................................................ 10
What will this tell us? ................................................................. 10Company Profile ....................................................................... 11
Offer Category .......................................................................... 13
Primary Audience ...................................................................... 15
Job Titles .................................................................................. 17
Sales Engagement Level ........................................................... 18
Market Stage ............................................................................ 19
Vertical Market Segmentation ................................................... 21
Channel Approach .................................................................... 22
Implied Sales Methodology ....................................................... 25
Geographic Operations ............................................................. 26
Product ........................................................................................... 27
What will this tell us? ................................................................. 27
Primary Feature/Benefit ............................................................ 28
Interpreted Primary Feature/Benefit .......................................... 29
Value Proposition Approach...................................................... 29
Primary Value Proposition ......................................................... 30
Interpreted Value Proposition .................................................... 31
Use Cases ................................................................................ 32
Positioning ...................................................................................... 33
What will this tell us? ................................................................. 33
Depositioning focus .................................................................. 34
Differentiation strategy .............................................................. 35
Perceived threat ........................................................................ 36
Reverse Engineered Positioning Statement ............................... 37
The Positioning Spectrum Analysis (PSA) .................................. 39
PSA For...(Ideal Customer) ..................................................... 39
PSA Who...(Pain, Need or Desire) .......................................... 42
PSA - Our...(Product Name)...................................................... 43
PSA Is A...(Product Category) ................................................ 43
PSA That Provides... .............................................................. 45
PSA Unlike...(Primary Competitor or Alternative)..................... 46
PSA Our Product...(Primary Differentiation/USP) .................... 47
Appendix I - Glossary ...................................................................... 49
Appendix II Audience Strata ......................................................... 50
Appendix III IMF GDP Rankings ................................................... 51
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
3/56
Page 4
Table of FiguresFigure 1 - REPAMA for sales teams .................................................. 2
Figure 2 - REPAMA for marketing teams ........................................... 2
Figure 3 - REPAMA for general management teams ......................... 3
Figure 4 - The REPAMA Reverse Engineered Marketing Elements .... 4
Figure 5 - Example Single Vendor Use Case Example MED Chart .... 5
Figure 6 - Multiple Vendor Use Case Example MED Chart ................ 6
Figure 7 - Example Primary Audience MED ....................................... 7
Figure 8 - Example Direct Geographic Operations MED .................... 8
Figure 9 - Company Profile Categories ............................................ 11
Figure 10 - Example Company Profile MED .................................... 12
Figure 11 - Example Offer Category MED ....................................... 13
Figure 12 - Primary Audience Classification .................................... 15
Figure 13 - Example Primary Audience MED ................................... 15
Figure 14 - Example Job Titles MED ............................................... 17
Figure 15 - Example Sales Engagement Level MED ........................ 18
Figure 16 - Example Market Stage MED ......................................... 19Figure 17 - Example Vertical Market Segmentation MED ................ 21
Figure 18 - Example Channel Approach MED ................................. 23
Figure 19 - Example Implied Sales Methodology MED .................... 25
Figure 20 - Example Geographic Operations MED .......................... 26
Figure 21 - Example Primary Feature/Benefit MED .......................... 28
Figure 22 - Example Value Proposition Approach MED ................... 30
Figure 23 - Example Primary Value Proposition MED ...................... 31
Figure 24 - Example Use Cases MED ............................................. 32
Figure 24 Example Depositioning focus MED ............................... 34
Figure 24 Example differentiation strategy MED ........................... 35
Figure 28 Example perceived threat MED .................................... 36
Figure 25 - Typical Positioning Statement Structure ........................ 37
Figure 26 - Ideal Customer Classification ........................................ 40
Figure 27 - Example PSA For... (Ideal Customer) MED .................... 41
Figure 28 - Example PSA Who...(Pain, Need, Desire) MED ............. 42
Figure 29 - Example PSA Is A... (Product Category) MED ............... 43
Figure 30 - Example PSA That Provides... (Reason to Buy) MED .... 45
Figure 31 - Example PSA Unlike ... (Primary Competitor) MED ........ 46
Figure 32 - Example PSA Our Product... (USP) MED ...................... 47
TablesTable 1 - Lustratus REPAMA Products and Services ........................ 9
Table 2 - Channel Approach Categories ......................................... 22
Table 3 Differentiation strategies .................................................. 35
Table 3 - Example Positioning Matrix .............................................. 38
Table 4 - End User Organisation Audience Strata ........................... 50
Table 5 - IMF GDP Rankings........................................................... 51
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
4/56
Page 1
DisclaimerWhilst reasonable care and skill has been taken by Lustratus Research Limited (the company) in the preparation
of this report no liability is accepted by the company (except in the case of death or personal injury caused bythe company's negligence) by reason of any representation or any implied warranty condition or other term or
any statutory or common law duty or otherwise howsoever arising for any direct or indirect general special or
consequential damages or loss costs expenses or other claims (whether caused by the negligence of the
company or otherwise) which come out of the provision of this report or its use.
All trademarks are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
5/56
Page 2
Whataremycompetitionsayingaboutus?
HowcanIsellagainstaspecificcompetitor?
Whatvaluedomycompetitorsbelievethey
providetotheircustomers?
Whatbusinessissuesdomycompetitorsfeelare
importanttotheirprospects?
DowecompetewithXYZcompetitor?
DoesXYZtargetcompanies,jobtitlesorindividualsthat
wearenot?
DoesXYZtargetthesamecompanies,jobtitlesand
individualsasus?
DoesXYZuseaspecificsalesmethodology?
Willwewastetimetalkingaboutourfeaturestoa
techieifXYZistalkingtoClevelcontactsaboutbusiness
value?
Inasales
situation
which
featuresandbenefitsdoesXYZbelievearetheir
strongest?
Whatpartnershipsdomycompetitorsrelyupon?
Whatgeographiccoveragedoesmycompetitionhave?
What Questions Does REPAMA Answer?The range of Lustratus REPAMA reports and consultancy services helps sales teams to win more business,
helps strategic marketing teams to build more competitive market propositions and helps marketing execution
teams to generate better sales leads. REPAMA supplies detailed competitive information that examines:
How your competitors actually address their prospects What messages competitors rely on in sales situations What types of companies and individuals your competition targets What value your competitors believe they provide to their customers How your competitors try to deposition and undermine their own competitors What features and benefits competitors stress in sales situations How your competitors are positioned in the marketplace
The REPAMA research is used by the sales, marketing and general management functions to understand the
market landscape, tune or re-engineer propositions and to benchmark marketing performance against peers.
SalesIn competitive situations, sales teams need to
understand how their competitors are likely to behave.
Gaining insight into the current messages and sales
tactics that competitors are likely to use can provide a
powerful advantage.
REPAMA helps sales teams understand the strategies
and tactics that their competitors use in sales
situations which allows better competitive strategies to
be built. It helps to answer the following questions:
Figure 1 - REPAMA for sales teams
MarketingWhether setting product strategy, empowering sales
teams or generating leads, gaining an understanding
into competitive behaviour is key for the marketing
organisation. Comparing your own marketingstrategy to those of your competitors and to the
average strategy for your market segment allows for
early identification of potential weakness as well as
new opportunities.
REPAMA helps marketing teams to understand how
their competitors are positioning their offerings and
provides answers to the following questions:
Figure 2 - REPAMA for marketing teams
Whatcompaniesandverticalmarketsaremycompetitorstargetingforleadgeneration?
Atwhatleveldomycompetitorslookto
startthesalesprocess?
Whatistheidealtargetcustomerformy
competitors
Whatisthemainpainthatmycompetitors
claimto
address?
Whatdomycompetitorsfeelisthe
mainreasonfora
prospectto
buy
from
them?
Whatdomycompetitorsbelieveis
themajoralternativeor
primarycompetitor
to
them?
WhichUSPsdomycompetitorsclaim?
Whichproductfeaturesdomycompetitors
believearethemostimportant?
Howdoesmycompetitionsell?
Technicalsale,referencesale,value
addsales,solutionsale?
Whatdepositioningstrategiescanweuse
againstourcompetitors?
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
6/56
Page 3
General Management and Equity
InvestorsWhen comparing marketing and sales performance
against competitors it is important to understand the
differences in approach of the respective organisations.
To do this it is key to map your own performance for a
variety of indicators against those of key competitors.
REPAMA tracks the key marketing strategies of vendors
in a specific market segment and plots these graphically
against each other. By interpreting these indicators, the
following questions can be answered for general
management and equity investors:
Figure 3 - REPAMA for general management teams
Howfarismymarketingstrategyfromthenormfor
thesegment?
Whatstrategiesarethemostsuccessfulvendorsin
thesegmentfollowing?
Whyisourmarketingstrategynotassuccessful
asourcompetitors?
How
does
the
performanceofmyownmarketingorganisation
performcomparedtoitspeers?
Howdoesmymarketingstrategycomparewith
marketleaders?
Howisourmarketingdifferentiatedfromthe
competition?
Doesthecompetitionfocusondifferentprospectsthatus?
Isourcompetition'ssalesstrategyradicallydifferent
ours?
Dowehavethecorrectpartnershipand
geographiccoveragestrategiestocompete?
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
7/56
Page 4
A Guide to Lustratus REPAMATMLustratus recommends that the user of the REPAMA study familiarise themselves first with the concept of
REPAMA competitive intelligence at a high level by reading through this guide. Subsequently the relevant
sections of the guide can be referred to for reference when interpreting the results from a specific LustratusREPAMA study. This section of the guide describes the REPAMA methodology, the Marketing Element
Distribution (MED) diagrams, the scoring system and the high-level uses that the research can be put to. Three
further sections provide detailed descriptions of each of the MED studies within the following categories:
Organisation and Market Approach Product Positioning
A detailed description of the individual studies within each section is provided together with a list of the potential
strategies that may present themselves. The result of each MED is very specific to the segment, the vendors
included and their respective status in the segment. As a result it is not possible to provide definitive genericstrategies that will always be relevant for a specific study. Instead each study should be interpreted in context
and strategies and tactics should be created accordingly using the potential strategies as a guide.
The REPAMA Reverse Engineered Marketing ElementsLustratus developed the REPAMA methodology to allow us to prioritise, categorise and rate the following
elements of a vendors marketing strategy and tactics:
Figure 4 - The REPAMA Reverse Engineered Marketing Elements
Organisationandmarketapproach
Companyprofile Howdoesthevendorwanttobeperceived?
Offercategory Howdoesthevendordescribeitsoffer?
Primaryaudience Whodoesthevendortarget?
Jobtitlestargeted Whichjobtitlesaretargeted?
Salesengagement
level
At
what
level
does
the
vendor
look
to
start
the
sales
process?
Marketstage Whatmarketstageissuggestedbythevendorsmarketingtactics?
Verticalmarketsegmentation Whichindustriesdoesthevendorfocuson?
Channelapproach Whatchannelstrategiesdoesthevendorrelyupon?
Impliedsalesmethodology Doesthevendorappeartorelyonaspecificsalesmethodology?
Toneofvoice Whatattitudedoesthevendortakewhenaddressingthemarket?
Geographicfocus Whichcountriesdoesthevendorfocuson?
Product
Primaryandinterpretedfeature/benefit Whichfeaturesandbenefitsdoesthevendorascribetoitsproduct?
Valuepropositionapproach Howimportantisvaluebasedsellingtothevendor?
Primaryandinterpretedvalueproposition Whichvaluepropositionsdoesthevendorfocuson?
Usecases Whatusescanthetechnologybeputto?
Positioning
Reverseengineeredpositioningstatementcoveringthe
idealcustomer
Theirmainpain,needordesireaddressed
Theproduct
name
and
category
Themainreasontobuy
Theprimarycompetitiororalternative
Theuniquesellingproposition
Depositioningstrategy Howdoeseachvendordepositionthecompetitionoralternative?
Differneitationstrategy Whatapproachdoesthevendortaketodifferentiation?
Perceivedthreat Whatisthekey,impliedthreatthatthevendorfears?
PositioningSpectrumAnalysis Comparingeachelementofthepositioningstatementwitheachoftheothervendorsinthestudy
MarketingEfficacyandProof
Useofindependenttestimony Doesthevendorsupplyindependentproofofitsclaims?
News/Blogcoverage Whatlevelofcoveragehasthevendorbeenabletoachieve?
Pressreleases frequency/consistency
Successfulpartnerships Isevidenceprovidedofsuccessfulpartnerships?
Independentspeakers Hasthevendorbeenabletofieldcustomerstospeakateventsontheirbehalf?
Programmixandfrequency Whatmarketingtacticsdoesthevendoruseandhowfrequentarethey?
Messageconsistencyovertime(BoilerplateDelta) Hasthevendorsmessagingbeenconsistentovertime?
GoogleRanking Howwellisthevendorusingsearchenginestoreachtheirprospectsand/ordamagetheircompetitors?
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
8/56
Page 5
The REPAMATMMethodologyGaining a comprehensive understanding of a competitors marketing strategy is an essential but complex job
for marketing communications, product marketing, product management and sales individuals. Understanding
what techniques a competitor is likely to use when they are generating leads, depositioning your own
organisations to analysts and press or selling against you in a sales situation are essential in building a
successful sales and marketing organisation.
Whilst this is valid in any competitive situation, it is especially true when competitors are either late entrants to a
market or are present in an early market where less intelligence is available to build a full competitive picture.
REPAMA from Lustratus Research is a set of research and consultancy offerings that provide marketing
intelligence on high-tech vendors marketing strategy. We are able to document a vendors implied strategy by
reverse engineering key marketing elements from the way they engage their prospects, customers,
shareholders, the press and market analysts through their outbound marketing communications.
The Marketing Element DistributionTM (MED)
For each of these elements we identify and categorise the valid strategies and tactics for the vendor or vendorsin the study. We then track, rate and rank the distribution of the vendors strategies across them. For example,
if we look at the use cases that a vendor believes their technology can be put to, we will look for evidence for
each of the uses and compile a list. We then rank the use cases in the list and score the relative importance of
the use case to the vendor. We do this by distributing a use case score across all of the valid use cases.
This results in a prioritised picture based on the relative importance of each use case to the vendor.
To facilitate interpretation of this complex analysis, Lustratus represents this information graphically in the form
of a Marketing Element Distribution (MED) diagram. This is a radar chart where each of the marketing elements
from the study is shown on the spine of the radar and the relative rating given in the analysis above is plotted to
show a vendors relative commitment or lack of commitment to each of these elements. An example MED
chart is shown below.
Figure 5 - Example Single Vendor Use Case Example MED Chart
Usecase1
Usecase2
Usecase3
Usecase4
Usecase5
Usecase6
Vendor1
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
9/56
Page 6
Interpreting the chart is relatively straightforward and the example above shows that Vendor 1 believes that use
cases 5 and 4 are the highest priorities to stress in their marketing communication with their prospects and
customers. A lesser commitment is made to use cases 1, 2 and 3 with use case 6 being of little apparent
importance to Vendor 1.
Multiple Vendor Comparisons and the Market MeanLustratus refers to a REPAMA study that focuses on a single vendor as a Vendor Analysis Study (VAS). Whilst
understanding the detail of a single vendors marketing strategy is important when building specific strategies to
combat their threat, it is equally important to gain insight into the competitive landscape across multiple
vendors strategies. Lustratus uses the same methodology and MED diagram shown above to plot multiple
vendors strategies against each other. This makes relative vendor to vendor comparison much easier.
Lustratus refers to this multiple vendor comparison as a Segment Analysis Study (SAS).
Whilst rating the various vendors positions Lustratus also computes the market mean. This, as its name
suggests, is a simple average of all of the other vendors scores in the MED. The value and importance of the
market mean differs from chart to chart and requires interpreting for each MED. In some MEDs where large
differences exist between the different vendors positions, the market mean may not truly represent the middleground that the vendors take. Instead it may simply be an averaging of significantly different positions.
A significant difference from the market mean represents a significant differentiation in strategy from the other
vendors in the segment. This of course may be a positive or a negative situation depending on the perception
of that difference. In other MEDs, understanding exactly where the common ground lies can help enormously in
building effective competitive strategies.
An example of a multiple vendor MED diagram including the market mean is shown below.
Figure 6 - Multiple Vendor Use Case Example MED Chart
Usecase1
Usecase2
Usecase3
Usecase4
Usecase5
Usecase6
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
10/56
Page 7
Figure 6 above shows the different priorities that vendors 1, 2 and 3 place on the use cases they attribute to
their product. The market mean, shown above as the dotted line, shows the mean for the use cases across the
particular segment (vendors 1, 2 and 3). In this example most vendors in the segment cite use cases 1 and 2.
It is also worth noting that only Vendor 2 cites use cases 5 and 6. The significance of this fact depends on the
status and perception of Vendor 2 within the segment.
REPAMA Ranking and Scoring SystemREPAMA measures perception. The results are subjective and should be interpreted as such. Our analysts use
a methodology backed by decades of technology marketing experience to reverse-engineer implied strategic
marketing elements from the language vendors use to reach their prospects and customers. These elements
are scored against other possible competing strategies to give a relative picture. This relative picture is referred
to as a Marketing Element Distribution (MED) diagram.
An example MED is shown below for Primary Audience.
Figure 7 - Example Primary Audience MED
In the example above which shows a group of vendors likely relative reliance on a specific target audience, we
can see that Vendor 1 leans towards IT Technical as the primary audience (see Table 5 below for a description
of the primary target audience categories). At the same time the analyst notes that Vendor 1 also addresses
the IT Business audience and in a very minor way the Business audience. Now whilst suggesting multiple
primary audiences might be at odds with the term primary, it is important to note that the analyst is suggesting
that during the research, Vendor 1 was found to use language or strategies that addressed the IT Business and
Business audiences, but that this was considerably outweighed by the vendors commitment to the IT Technical
audience.
Vendor 2 has a similar profile but splits its strategy between the Business and, in a lesser way the IT Business
and IT Technical audiences. We can see that the analysis of Vendor 3s primary audience was inconclusive. It
appears that Vendor 3 uses strategies and language aimed at multiple audiences. As we will see in theInterpreting the Results sections below, whilst Vendor 3s result looks inconclusive, it provides very valuable
Business
ITBusiness
ITTechnical
Other
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
11/56
Page 8
intelligence. A vendor that is using language that attempts to equally address multiple, different audiences;
each of which has very different needs, pains and desires, will likely fail to satisfy each audience constituent and
will therefore confuse their prospects.
The Scoring SystemThe REPAMA ranking and scoring system features two different approaches.
Relative focus Absolute score
Relative Focus
The Primary Audience MED above shows the relative focus scoring system. This allows the analyst to score a
vendors position out of a maximum of 11 across all of the axes that represent the various marketing elements.
Such charts highlight the value of focus as the 11 points are distributed relatively across the marketing elements
according to the weightings the analyst arrives at during the research.
By spreading the maximum score across each of the categories strong single areas of focus are rewarded witha higher score and obviously multiple areas of focus (if thats not an oxymoron), score less prominently on a
single axis.
Absolute Score
The absolute score system as shown below in Figure 8 - Example Direct Geographic Operations MED, allows
the analyst to rate each of the market elements out of a maximum of 11. This differs from the relative focus
system which distributes a maximum score of 11 across all of the axes. In the diagram below geographic
coverage of a particular territory will score 11 if the vendors commitment to a territory is total i.e. a presence in
each major country within the territory. In the example below Vendor 3 is shown to have a near total
commitment to each of the major geographic regions.
Figure 8 - Example Direct Geographic Operations MED
Africa
Americas
AsiaPacificEurope
MiddleEast
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
12/56
Page 9
Why is there no scale on the charts?As mentioned above the REPAMA MED charts are designed to compare multiple vendors relative commitment
to various strategic marketing elements. It is not intended as a tool for precisely quantifying the differences
between the various vendors strategies. Instead its use is to show the relative differences between vendors
positions and does not aim to precisely quantify these differences.
Other Lustratus REPAMA DeliverablesLustratus REPAMA deliverables take the form of single vendor reports, multiple vendor reports, assessment of
a vendors marketing effectiveness and consultancy to create or tune competitive marketing positioning and
messaging. The table below shows the full range of REPAMA offerings.
Lustratus REPAM A Del iverable Descr ipt ionREPAMA Vendor Analys is Study In the REPAMA Vendor Analysis Study (VAS) we reverse engineer
a specific vendors marketing strategy from the way they engage
the market through their outbound marketing communication.
This material is presented graphically through Lustratus Marketing
Element Distribution charts as well as textually via observations
that Lustratus analysts make for each of the studies. Users of the
REPAMA VAS will typically focus on a specific competitor or they
may chose to carry out an introspective version that studies their
own perceived approach to the market. This allows a comparison
to be made with the intended strategy and steps taken to affect
any changes required.
REPAMA Segment Analys is Study The REPAMA Segment Analysis Study (SAS) combines the sameprocess used in the Vendor Analysis Study above but here we
compare the strategies of multiple vendors present in a particular
segment. Importantly we are able to infer a mean or average
value for each of the marketing elements in the study. Again thisresearch is presented graphically through Lustratus Market
Element Distribution chart and the results of each study are
interpreted by a Lustratus Marketing Analyst.
REPA MA Interpretat ion Consultancy Lustratus provides consultancy services to help vendors interpretthe details of a REPAMA VAS or REPAMA SAS, to map these
onto the vendors specific needs and to build and tune strategies
as required.
REPAMA Posit ioning Consultancy For vendors building positioning, re-positioning or competitivedepositioning strategies, Lustratus has developed a positioning
workshop. Based on years of experience, the workshop walks
vendors through a process to develop sustainable, compelling and
differentiated market propositions.
REPAMA Market ing Ef f icacyAssessment The Lustratus Marketing Efficacy Assessment provides acomprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of a vendorsmarketing tactics. Vendors commission a Marketing Efficacy
Assessment on key competitors or introspectively to reveal
strengths and weakness in their own marketing strategy.
Table 1 - Lustratus REPAMA Products and Services
For more information on any of these products or services please contact us at [email protected] or via
http://www.lustratusrepama.com .
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
13/56
Page 10
Organisation and Market ApproachThis section describes the elements of the REPAMA study that relate to the organisation and the way in which it
approaches the market. The individual elements examined are listed below.
What will this tell us?These studies reveal the strategic sales and marketing elements used by the vendors in the study when
executing go-to-market strategies. This information will be useful to sales, product marketing and product
management individuals looking to understand how their competitors have structured and planned their attack
on the market.
The studies in this section provide information on market engagement strategies as well as the tactics that sales
teams use to engage the market. As a result, many of these studies present details that will allow general or
sales management to benchmark their own sales operations against key competitors as well as the market
mean.
When looking to repel competitive threat, sales and operations management can use these studies to build a
detailed go-to-market execution picture of the competitive landscape which in turn allows strategies to bedefined to combat threat, cement market leadership or identify market opportunity.
Companyprofile Howdoesthevendorwanttobeperceived?
Offercategory Howdoesthevendordescribeitsoffer?
Primaryaudience Whodoesthevendortarget?
Jobtitlestargeted Whichjobtitlesaretargeted?
Salesengagementlevel Atwhatleveldoesthevendorlooktostartthesalesprocess?
Marketstage Whatmarketstageissuggestedbythevendorsmarketingtactics?
Verticalmarketsegmentation Whichindustriesdoesthevendorfocus
on?Channelapproach Whatchannelstrategiesdoesthevendorrelyupon?
Impliedsalesmethodology Doesthevendorappeartorelyonaspecificsalesmethodology?
Toneofvoice Whatattitudedoesthevendortakewhenaddressingthemarket?
Geographicfocus Whichcountriesdoesthevendorfocuson?
Organisationandmarket
approach
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
14/56
Page 11
Company Profile
What is this?
This study examines what type of leadership position or positions a specific vendor organisation claims to own.
This will typically stem from an internal corporate belief or philosophy that will be widely understood within the
vendors organisation. This may or may not be a conscious strategy that the company has embarked upon but
it will be an internally held belief.
When crafting marketing copy the vendor will typically lean toward language that paints the organisation in a
positive light for one of a number of different leadership positions. These leadership positions together with the
claimed qualities and characteristics are shown below:
Figure 9 - Company Profile Categories
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
This is an important element of the REPAMA study primarily because it talks to how an organisation wants to be
perceived and, if the vendor is doing its job well, all of its staff will understand this whether they be marketing,
sales or customer focused. This is a central corporate message and will be underpinned by everything the
organisation says and does. Understanding how a competitor communicates its own perceived leadership
position can be a key enabler for depositioning strategies.
A strong single leadership position in a single category is the ideal objective for a vendor. Implied claims for
leadership across multiple categories can show an organisation that is confused about its value. By not
focussing on a single leadership position, but instead hedging bets by claiming multiple areas of leadership, the
vendor leaves itself open to be challenged on multiple weaker fronts. An unfocussed approach will also likely
confuse its prospects and fail to gain a single strong brand value for the organisation.
Effective competitive or depositioning strategies can be created by understanding how an organisation would
like to be perceived in the market. Whilst some of these categories are highly subjective, many can be
challenged successfully. Before a competitive stance can be taken, the user of the REPAMA study should first
ensure that its own leadership position is well understood, clearly communicated and defensible. Picking a fight
with a competitor by looking to focus on a perceived weakness whilst risking a similar attack from the
competitor would be unwise.
Theknowledgeleader
Expertise
Highprices
Themarketshareleader
Biggest
Volume
Theserviceleader
Mostresponsive
Mostcommittedtocustomersatisfaction
Theprestigeleader
Mostexclusive
SmallgroupofcustomersExpensiveproducts/services
Thequalityleader
Thebest
Notnecessarilyexclusive(sodifferentfromprestige)
Nocompromiseonquality
Thegloballeader
Bestplacedtoserveworldmarkets
Worldwidepresence
Worldwidesupport/localisation
Thebargainleader
Lowestprice
Savingmoney
Theinnovationleader
Mostcreative
Canbelimitedtotechiesandearlyadopters!
Thetechnologyleader
Thefirst
Thevalueleader
Bestvalueformoney
Qualitywithsomecompromises
Theflexibilityleader
Mostadaptable
Madetoorder
"Whatdoyouneedandwewillcreateitforyou?"
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
15/56
Page 12
Many smaller early market organisations will gravitate towards innovation or technology leadership by claiming
unique creativity or first-to-market positions. A strategy that can be used effectively against organisations that
take these corporate profiles is one of outlining the risk involved in dealing with a vendor of that size/stage of
development. Companies are either, highly creative and innovative, OR they are large, global and stable.
Pointing to the risk associated with innovative and technologically-led organisations could be a valid corporate
depositioning angle.
Another depositioning strategy is to look for contradictions in their profile and to then exploit this. Such an
example would be Global Leadership. If the REPAMA study suggests that a vendor is claiming a global
leadership profile but it can be shown that this vendor is not truly global, or if the user of the REPAMA study can
demonstrate a more global footprint, this can be used to dismiss the claims of the competitor.
Other examples include claimed quality or service leadership. If an organisation is claiming leadership in either
of these qualities then a competitive kill strategy that looks to arm sales and marketing teams with examples of
the competitors poor customer service or product quality might be a successful option. Obviously any
negative competitive depositioning strategy has to be executed with care not to cross any legal or corporate
good practice boundaries.
Figure 10 - Example Company Profile MED
Figure 10 above shows that Vendor 3 alone claims a market and global leadership position. As the other
vendors in the study do not claim these positions it is likely to be a valid and easily defensible position. This can
be dangerous to Vendors 1 and 2 as many prospects and customers will be comforted by dealing with the
perceived market leading vendor.
A valid defensive strategy that Vendors 1 or 2 could implement would be to conduct or commission their own
research to ascertain the real market leader. Equally, Vendors 1 or 2 could redefine or re-segment the market
on their terms to claim market leadership in a smaller market segment where their expertise would allow them
legitimate title to the term market leader.
Knowledgeleader
Marketshareleader
Serviceleader
Prestigeleader
Qualityleader
GloballeaderBargainleader
Innovationleader
Technologyleader
Valueleader
Flexibilityleader
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
16/56
Page 13
Offer Category
What is this?
This REPAMA element tracks the way in which each of the vendors refers to the category of their market offer.
Lustratus will almost certainly have grouped two or more vendors in a REPAMA Segment Analysis Study
because of a perceived similarity between their products or services. Whilst market analysts might place certain
vendors product offerings in specific categories, not all vendors use the same terminology.
An example might be that of the Enterprise Service Bus (a specific piece of infrastructure software that allows
data and processes to be knitted together to make it easier for organisations to integrate their systems). If
Lustratus looked at this space it might be that all vendors in the study referred to their offer category as
Enterprise Service Bus. However, for differentiation purposes, it is likely that some of the vendors examined
would refer to their offering differently from their competition. Its likely that each vendor would attempt to
differentiate, in subtle, or not so subtle ways when compared to the competition.
As shown in the Figure 11 below, many vendors will use language in their outbound communication that will
define a primary category that they refer to when talking about their own product in generic terms. The OfferCategory MED shows both the primary as well as any additional categories that the vendor refers to.
Figure 11 - Example Offer Category MED
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
By examining the MED it is possible to see whether a single vendor is attempting to categorise their offering in
both their own segment as well as the primary segment of additional vendors. This may suggest that they have
ceded the advantage to their competitor by acknowledging that they need to be present in both categories.
A high degree of correlation between the vendors in the MED would typically infer a mature market where new
innovation and change is very gradual and where differentiation is more subtle than at the broad offer category
level. An example of this might be the category Database. That said, even within the database category it is
Category1
Category2
Category3
Category4
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
17/56
Page 14
likely that vendors would attempt to differentiate themselves by appending or pre-pending adjectives of some
sort to create implied value and difference.
Defensive or offensive strategies that immediately present themselves here include highlighting differences that
could be perceived as deficient or simply pointing to the lack of a word, typically an adjective, and developing a
competitive depositioning strategy based upon that. For example, if the REPAMA user refers to their offering as
Reliable Process X and Competitor A refers to their category as Enterprise Process X, it would be possible
for the REPAMA user to point toward Competitor A and question whether their product is reliable. Now
obviously Competitor A had every intention of using the term Enterprise to infer that it was up to the rigours of
use across an Enterprise and as such reliability would be a given. Simply pointing to the lack of the Reliable
term may cause Competitor A to have to demonstrate its reliability when in competitive situations.
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
18/56
Page 15
Primary Audience
What is this?
This REPAMA strategy element shows what type of audience a competitor targets within end user
organisations. Lustratus infers which level of audience they are primarily targeting from the language and
programs present in the vendors outbound marketing activities.
Lustratus categorises the primary end user target audience as one or more of the following three categories:
IT Technical - Represents the overtly technical disciplines within theIT organisation that have no management, strategic or commercial
responsibilities
IT Business - Represents the higher management levels of the ITorganisation that have strategic and/or financial responsibilities
Business - Represents the line of business functions outside of theIT organisation
Figure 12 - Primary Audience Classification
A full description of the roles, concerns and area of focus for each of the 3 audience constituents can be found
in Table 5 - End User Organisation Audience Strata below.
Figure 13 - Example Primary Audience MED
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
Understanding which category a vendor targets can reveal many significant marketing as well as sales
strategies and tactics. For example an inferred primary audience of the Business tier would suggest that the
vendor believes the market and their product offering is mature enough to demonstrate deliverable value to the
business. It could also infer that they may use a solution selling based methodology and that they have a
whole-product approach that combines professional services, partnerships, etc. into a complete solution to the
needs of the business.
Business
ITBusiness
ITTechnical
Other
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
Business
ITBusiness
ITTechnical
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
19/56
Page 16
Both the types of vendor marketing deliverables as well as the language they use differ enormously when
addressing the different categories. The closer to the Business strata, the more benefits-focused the marketing
efforts will be. Likewise the closer to the IT Technical layer, the more focus is applied to product functionality,
capability, capacity, etc.
If a vendor is shown to be aiming their marketing communications solely at the IT Technical stratum, it suggests
that they are taking an evangelical approach to the market. This is based on the fact that the IT Technical
audience does not have the ability to buy anything. Rather this layer serves as an influencer and perhaps
gatekeeper during sales efforts. The implication here is that once marketing contact has been made with the IT
Technical community, a sales process will need to be engaged within the prospect organisation to network
above the IT Technical contact to a point where budget, pain and problem resolution is owned.
Addressing the IT Business category involves communicating technical capabilities but at the same time
translating that into language of the business-focused IT community. It also requires the vendor to show that it
understands the pains of the IT Business stratum and that it can address these. Pains and concerns at this
level are likely to revolve around the balance of strategy against tactical, resulting in messaging focused on cost,
time to value, etc. Providing proof of capability via references is more important at this level than it is at the IT
Technical level.
The Business audience category will be sensitive to messages that solve the business problems they are facing.
This category has little to no interest in technology so language that majors on the technology will only serve to
confuse and potentially alienate this audience constituent.
Vendors that appear to communicate at multiple levels may run the risk of confusing their prospects. Many
vendors successfully simultaneously address the IT Business and IT Technical communities by providing
educational/evangelical material to IT Technical and more benefits-focused material to IT Business. That said
this does show a reduction in focus and a lack of clarity and understanding of the key entry point into their
target organisation. In Lustratus experience, a reduction in focus typically results in a lack of success.
A vendor that focuses completely on IT Technical may be betraying the fact that their market is not yet real.
As the IT Technical community doesnt buy, the vendor may very well be attempting to get a foothold
anywhere it can within its target organisations. Wasting too much time with this audience constituent can be a
failing in many early market technology innovators.
If a REPAMA user is experiencing lost sales to a competitor, understanding what audience stratum that
competitor is focused on can help in mitigating lost sales. If that competitor is shown to focus on the Business
level it might suggest that they are gaining earlier access to the power within an organisation. Earning the right
to be able to address the Business audience is a long process that involves demonstrating and documenting
proof of value to other reference customers. Whilst access to the Business audience is seen as the ultimate
aim in technology sales, it takes time, focus and a continued demonstration of delivering and documenting
business value.
Addressing the Business audience without a complete solution to their pain will result in failure. Many vendors
of early technology see selling to the business as the panacea to many of the problems of early market
technology sales. In fact, prematurely addressing the Business strata is a quick way to burn a lot of cash and
waste a lot of time. As such, a vendor that makes a token commitment to selling to the Business is likely to fail.
Such a token commitment can be betrayed by communicating in business benefits at the same time as
addressing the IT Technical audience. An example of this might be attending a technical tradeshow where IT
Technical people are present at the same time as talking about the products ability to reduce the risk of
corporate governance failures.
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
20/56
Page 17
Job Titles
What is this?
Where possible the REPAMA analysis will attempt to identify specific job titles that are targeted by the vendors
in the study. These specific roles and job titles often figure in the vendors outbound marketing activity such as
invitations to seminars, webinars, press releases or even web site copy. Whilst it is not always possible to
collate specific job titles and roles, it is often possible to infer the likely roles within end user organisations that
are targeted.
Figure 14 - Example Job Titles MED
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
Assuming that the user of the REPAMA study is looking to emulate a competitors strategy then an obvious
implication would be to understand who is targeted and then to develop messaging and material that effectively
conveys the organisations value to that audience.
Defensive lead generation techniques can be improved by understanding which job titles are targeted by
competitors and creating similar programs. Obviously this has to be qualified first by understanding whether the
vendor can manage sales leads generated with a specific job title. For example, many vendors have great
expertise in dealing with highly technical job titles and roles but have little capability when dealing with
individuals in line of business management positions. Generating leads within a specific audience has to be
backed up by the vendors ability to nurture and mature the lead through the sales cycle.
The REPAMA user will also find value in understanding competitive job title focus across the segment as this
shows whether the same individuals are being targeted by competitors. The implication here is that if the
competitor also focuses on the same geographies and vertical markets, it is more likely that the REPAMA users
prospects will be familiar with, or even already talking to the competitor.
Developer
DevelopmentManager
SoftwareArchitectCIO
CEO
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
21/56
Page 18
Sales Engagement Level
What is this?
This part of the study attempts to identify where the vendors that are present in the study look to start their
sales process. Each vendors outbound marketing activities will feature calls to action aimed at creating leads
or contacts. For example a vendor may target a specific tradeshow or industry event exclusively for CIOs. This
suggests that the vendor is aiming to start the sales process at the IT Business level. Another vendor may run
their own webinar for software developers again suggesting that they see value in starting the sales process at
the IT Technical level.
This study differs from the primary audience in that it looks for where a vendor has used a call to action or
similar device, to attempt to get an individual engaged as a suspect and into the first part of the sales pipeline.
Whilst a vendor might communicate to audiences at different levels, this study examines when a vendor first
attempts to interact with potential prospects.
Figure 15 - Example Sales Engagement Level MED
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
A potential competitive strategy here would be to track the marketing events and activities of successful
competitors and look to mirror them. As mentioned above, the vendor must first ask themselves whether they
are able to deal with leads generated within a specific audience stratum.
An interesting piece of competitive intelligence can be inferred from observing vendors that are struggling to get
traction with a specific audience suddenly looking to change audiences in the hope that they are able to gain
greater traction with the new audience. The REPAMA study can be used to identify companies who are
potentially executing this strategy by looking for a disconnect between the Primary Audience and the Sales
Engagement Level. It should be borne in mind that this could obviously be the actions of a vendor whose
prospecting is simply maturing to now include additional audience stratum.
Business
ITBusinessITTechnical
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
22/56
Page 19
Market Stage
What is this?
This study attempts to determine at what stage of development a specific vendor believes their market is
currently at. This is inferred by the language and marketing programs present in their outbound marketing mix.
The market stages that are monitored include:
Evangelism no real market. Small sales are made but the vendor is looking to create the market Early, proven the market is at an early stage but there is proof of customers deriving benefit from the
vendors technology
Mature the market has existed for some time, customers, competition and alternatives exist Mature with breakthrough as mature but with a significant recent technical or commercial
breakthrough
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
This is useful study in that it adds balance to any claims that a vendor may make for their success in a market.
For example if a vendor is claiming success, growth and market leadership but it appears that they are using
evangelical language in outbound marketing material and documented customer references are not in evidence,
then it suggests that the market isnt as real as it might otherwise appear to be. Vendors tend to use
evangelical language to push a market to formation and once the market is real, sales are being made and
references plentiful, the language tends to change to be more confident.
Figure 16 - Example Market Stage MED
Another use is understanding the subtle difference between Evangelical and Mature with breakthrough
approaches to the market. Whilst the result is similar because a new capability has been introduced, the way
the messages are spun and delivered can make a big difference. Innovations are often brought about by
technical advancement and not in reaction to customer need. Evangelical language such as radically new
Evangelism
Earlyproven
Mature
Maturewithbreakthrough
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
23/56
Page 20
approach, technological breakthrough, completely changes the way you do x may make some potential
customers nervous that they are in some way at the forefront of technological innovation and therefore risk.
Instead an approach that stresses the minor changes to the traditional methods that are now possible due to
some technical or commercial innovation may play better with prospects who are risk averse.
Likewise if a user of the REPAMA study is in a mature market segment and is experiencing stiff competition
from a certain competitor who is using language that suggests they have introduced a significant technological
or commercial breakthrough to the market, then competitive strategies can be drawn up to combat that
approach.
As individuals we exhibit a pre-disposition to either evangelical language that cites technical advancement or
pragmatic language that delivers value. The same is broadly true of industries or vertical markets. Certain
industries are seen as early adopters of innovative technology whilst other industries are seen as laggards.
Using evangelical language about an innovative technology whilst selling into a pragmatic sector such as
farming, may be seen as a disconnect.
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
24/56
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
25/56
Page 22
Channel Approach
What is this?
The alternative approaches that vendors take to selling indirectly are captured in this study. Channel in this
study refers to a route to taking products to market that is not directly part of the vendors organisation. Some
of the channel elements examined may not actually be commercially active for the vendor but they appear to
claim that they are.
The categories used include:
Channel Descr ipt ionNo spec if ic channel strategycommunicated The vendor demonstrates no clear or specific 3
rd party channel strategy.
System integrators System integrators are used to reach the market because of the relationshipthey have with end user customers. The vendors technology may be used
as some form of integrated solution that the SI takes responsibility for
delivering. This channel element may also be used by the vendor to deliver
professional services to their end user customer.
Resel ler/Distr ibutor The vendor uses distributors or resellers to reach the market. Often thesewill be present in overseas territories and will effectively be the face of the
vendor in these geographic territories. As vendors mature these channel
partners are often subsumed into the vendors direct sales force or the
vendor launches their own organisations into the territory.
Internal channel A number of large organisations will use internal channel to reach the market.Sometimes these internal channel organisations will focus on a geography,
vertical market or perhaps a horizontal capability such as a professional
services division.
OEM OEM relationships are the result of embedding a vendors technology intoanother vendors product. Due to the complexity of OEM contracts and
relationships, such channels will typically be developed manually. As such, in
most cases the need for vendors to target OEMs through outbound
marketing activities is minimal.
Technology partner Technology partnerships are typically formed with other vendors that havetechnology that is complimentary to a vendors portfolio. Quite often
amongst early market companies, such agreements may simply be co-
operative marketing relationships and may not be a genuine route to market
for the vendor.
Other channel As it suggests this category captures any additional channel approaches notlisted above.
Table 2 - Channel Approach Categories
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
Depending on the type of product and organisation, real growth may only come when others are doing your
selling for you. As a result, channel strategies become an important growth strategy for organisations of all
sizes. A failing in many early market organisations is that of not building channels to market at the right time.
Having a market opportunity but not the channel to achieve the growth potential will limit the effectiveness of the
organisation. However, the opposite is also true. Attempting to create a channel in advance of having a truly
repeatable sales model will result in a frustrated channel partner and wasted time, energy and money.
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
26/56
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
27/56
Page 24
The downside is obviously that the end user is not a direct customer. The customer instead is typically the
OEM.
In Figure 18 - Example Channel Approach MED above we can see that Vendor 2 appears to be targeting OEMs
and system integrators. This may suggest that they have little desire, or perhaps ability, to reach direct end
user prospects. Comparing this to Vendor 3 in the same diagram we can see that they appear to be executing
a strategy of working through system integrators and resellers/distributors. To build a reseller/distributor
channel suggests that there must be a real market for Vendor 3s products and services.
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
28/56
Page 25
Implied Sales Methodology
What is this?
This study attempts to infer whether a vendor uses a specific sales methodology. If such a methodology is in
place and well executed, the language that the vendor uses to reach its customers and prospects will typically
betray this.
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
If a vendor describes the product in purely technical terms, then it is likely that they will take a technical
approach to selling. Here features and capabilities will be important during the process. It is also likely that the
sales will be part of an existing project within the end users organisation. If however the language talks little
about the product capability and instead focuses on the customer pains and how the technology addresses
them, then as long as supporting evidence is there, it suggests that a solution selling-type methodology may be
in place.
Value added selling focuses on the value that can be provided by the vendor and vendors products. This is
different from a technical sale in that it interprets the value that can be derived from the prospect using the
technology. Reference selling relies heavily on documenting previous successes and typically involves
quantifying what those benefits were and listing the previous organisations the vendor has already helped. The
implication is that the prospect will be able to see how similar companies have benefited from dealing with the
vendor. Reference selling can also be used as a supporting strategy with each of the other methodologies.
Figure 19 - Example Implied Sales Methodology MED
If one vendor is shown to focus on a solution selling methodology whilst another vendor majors on more
technical/value-based selling, these vendors may not feel that they compete. Whilst they might not talk to the
same part of an organisation, they may still be competing for business within the same prospect organisations.
Understanding where vendors fit in this MED can help to interpret unexpected lost sales. This is a key study in
understanding how some competitors appear to be able to delay and scupper the deals of other vendorsbecause they have access to power that others dont.
Noevidence
Technicalsale
(feature/benefit)
Valueadded(stressthe
value)
Solutionsale(businesspain)
Refencesale(citecustomers)
Other
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
29/56
Page 26
Geographic Operations
What is this?
This study shows the relative commitment to the different geographic territories of the various vendors in the
study. This is an Absolute Score MED which means that scoring is based upon a maximum score for each of
the territories. i.e. it is possible for a vendor to score the maximum on each of the axis in the study rather than
having a maximum score distributed across the axes in the study.
The scoring works by mapping the claimed supported country territories of a specific vendor, either directly or
via resellers, against the IMFs GDP rankings (See Appendix III IMF GDP Rankings). The total GDP for the
supported countries is then mapped against the maximum GDP for each of the five categories below.
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
This is fairly a straightforward study to interpret showing as it does the places where each vendor claims to
conduct business. This can obviously reveal potential weakness in a REPAMA users own strategy if a
competitor is strong in a particular territory. It can also reveal opportunities where a competitor is not currently
present or is unable to exploit a specific geographic territory.
Figure 20 - Example Geographic Operations MED
Africa
Americas
AsiaPacificEurope
MiddleEast
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
30/56
Page 27
ProductThis section describes the elements of the REPAMA study that relate to the product and how it is promoted in
terms of value, features and benefits. The individual elements examined are listed below.
What will this tell us?This section looks at the marketing strategies specifically focused on the product. These studies show how
each vendor describes their products and looks at the features, benefits and value that they ascribe to them.
This information is useful for sales and product marketing teams to understand the relative differences between
their own position and those of their key competitors.
This section examines features and benefits as well as the value propositions some vendors use to engage the
market. These will be of interest to marketing communications professionals who need to track competitive
movements in these areas. In addition these studies will help sales professionals who need to understand the
major thrust of their competitors sales approach. By understanding the key features and benefits a competitor
is likely to use when in front of a prospect, users of the REPAMA study will be better placed to build strategies
to compete.
Understanding the approach that a vendor takes to selling on value and the value propositions that areimportant to them is equally important. Gaining insight into the value that a competitor believes they provide to
their customers will allow REPAMA users to build similar or countering strategies.
Primaryfeature/benefit Whichfeaturesandbenefitsdoesthevendorascribetoitsproduct?
Interpretedfeature/benefit forcomparingmultiplevendorsusingarationalisedlistoffeaturesandbenefits
Valuepropositionapproach Howimportantisvaluebasedsellingtothevendor?
Primaryvalueproposition Whichvaluepropositionsdoesthe vendorfocuson?
Interpretedvalue
proposition
for
comparing
multiple
vendorsusingarationalisedlistofvaluepropositions
Usecases Whatusescanthetechnologybeputto?
Product
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
31/56
Page 28
Primary Feature/Benefit
What is this?
This study looks at the specific capabilities or elements of functionality that a vendor highlights in their outbound
marketing activities. Importantly this study uses the raw claimed features and benefits from each vendors
outbound marketing communication with little consolidation. Only where two vendors claim to have the same
or similar features would the MED diagram score two vendors as being present on a particular axis.
The related Interpreted Primary Feature/Benefit study below looks to consolidate multiple features/benefits so
that vendors can be more easily compared across their claimed product strengths.
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
The results of this study feed straight into the competitive product marketing process. Understanding where
each vendor in the segment is placing their bets and understanding their perspective on the relative importance
of the key features and benefits allows a vendor to compare and review their own priorities.
Figure 21 - Example Primary Feature/Benefit MED
In highly competitive situations in mature markets or in markets that are newly formed around some new
capability, it is likely that there will be a high degree of correlation between the vendors in the study.
The market mean can be important here in that it may reveal consensus amongst different vendors as to what
the key features and benefits are for a particular market segment. The chart does need a degree of
interpretation especially if a specific vendor is seen as dominating the segment. Understanding the priorities of
a market leading vendor and then implementing similar marketing claims might be a valid strategy. Equally a
REPAMA user may look to create clear differentiation between their claims and those of their key competitors.
Feature/benefit1
Feature/benefit2
Feature/benefit3
Feature/benefit4
Feature/benefit5
Feature/benefit6Feature/benefit7
Feature/benefit8
Feature/benefit9
Feature/benefit10
Feature/benefit11
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
32/56
Page 29
Interpreted Primary Feature/Benefit
What is this?
This is paired with the previous Primary Feature/Benefit study with one key difference. Here Lustratus attempts
to interpret the different feature/benefit combinations and consolidates them into a reduced list. For example, if
the Primary Feature/Benefit study showed categories of Bandwidth, Throughput and Capacity these might
all be consolidated into a single category called Performance. This makes it far easier to compare each
vendors key areas of focus.
Value Proposition Approach
What is this?
Here Lustratus attempts to infer how important value proposition based marketing and selling is to the vendor.
Lustratus draws a significant distinction between vendors who major on product features and those that
interpret the value that can be derived when an organisation implements solutions using those features.
Certain vendors market and sell based on the relative strengths and weaknesses of their own and other
vendors features and benefits. All marketing material and likely the sales teams strategy will be based around
winning the feature battle. The implication of such a strategy is that the vendor will likely be targeting IT
Technical contacts who care about feature sets. Another potential implication is that vendors who focus on
technical features will likely be selling into existing or planned projects. It is unlikely that addressing the IT
Technical audience constituent alone about specific features will result in new projects being created based
solely on this feature now being available. This vendor behaviour is characteristic of, but not solely limited to,
early market vendors.
The other type of vendor will understand the worth of selling based on the value they believe they can provide
their prospects. These vendors will take their features and interpret what these features, if put to use within a
prospect, would mean to that organisation. The target audience for vendors that sell on value within their
prospects would be different from the IT Technical community and would likely be the IT Business or even the
Business strata. This is because these two audience constituents are more interested in the results of the
product rather than how the project will be carried out.
It must be stressed that the two approaches are fundamentally different across most departments within a
vendors organisation, from product marketing, marketing communication, lead generation to the sales team
itself. Selling on value is philosophically different from selling on features and it requires a very different
organisational approach and structure.
Whilst these are the two main categories of vendors that the study looks to identify, a third category exists. This
is where a vendor, that actually sells on features to the IT Technical stratum will actually go to the effort ofinterpreting the value of their features and communicate this to the market. The difference lies in the fact that
such vendors will use the derived value to show some form of affinity for the business problems and needs that
a prospect may face. But significantly the sales effort will still major on features and will still focus on developing
interest at the IT Technical level.
This approach is evident in vendors who communicate to the IT Technical audience constituent as well as the
higher level audience strata who are more concerned about value. Lustratus categorises such vendors as
making a cursory commitment to value-based sales and marketing purely to demonstrate some form of affinity
with their prospects higher level pains. Lustratus suggests that these vendors may use value statements but it
is unlikely that it is central to their sales approach.
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
33/56
Page 30
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
The value of this study depends on the perspective of the vendor using the study. If the REPAMA user applies
value-based selling techniques then it can be valuable to understand how to unseat potential feature-focused
competitors by aiming higher in the organisation and selling based on value.
Figure 22 - Example Value Proposition Approach MED
If the REPAMA user is one that favours technical sales (features) then it may be valuable to understand which
competitors they compete with who will be selling against them at a higher level in the organisation using value-
based selling statements. It can also be used to understand which vendors sell based on value and then to
perhaps mimic their tactics to facilitate a move to value-based selling. Obviously, moving to a value-based
selling methodology is not simply a matter of changing marketing tactics. As mentioned above value-based
selling runs through the entire organisation and has significant impact in both the sales and marketing
organisations in particular.
Primary Value Proposition
What is this?
This study looks at the specific value that each vendor attributes to their product/solution in their outbound
marketing activities. This is different from the feature/benefit studies in that the vendor must translate a feature
or capability into the value that the prospect would enjoy in business terms.
Importantly, this study uses the claimed value propositions from each vendors outbound marketing
communication with little or no consolidation. Only where two vendors claim to deliver the same value would
the MED score two vendors as being present on a particular axis.
The related
Nospecific
value
proposition
approach
CursoryusetoshowaffinityIntegraltothesalesprocess
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
34/56
Page 31
Interpreted Value Proposition study below examines the vendors claims in detail and looks to consolidate
multiple value propositions so that vendors can be compared more easily across their claimed value.
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
Again, this study allows product marketing and sales teams to review their priorities against other vendors. If a
REPAMA user feels that a specific competitor has had recent sales success over them then this study mayprovide insight into how that competitor describes the value they provide. This may allow for these strategies to
be mimicked.
Figure 23 - Example Primary Value Proposition MED
It is important to remember that the likely commitment to value-based selling as seen in the Value Proposition
Approach study has an impact on the interpretation of this result. If the result of the Value Proposition
Approach study suggests that a vendor is simply using value to show affinity with the prospect, then the result
of this Primary Value Proposition study should be interpreted as such. If however a vendor is seen to use a
value-based approach as central to the sales process, then the results of both this study and the Interpreted
Value Proposition below for that vendor are particularly relevant.
Interpreted Value Proposition
What is this
This is paired with the previous Primary Value Proposition study with one key difference. Here Lustratus
attempts to interpret the different value statements made by the vendors in the study and then consolidates
them into a reduced list. For example, if the Primary Value Proposition study showed categories of Accuracy,
Quality and Reliability. These might all be consolidated into a single category called Reduced Risk. This
makes it far easier to compare each vendors key areas of value focus.
Valueproposition1
Valueproposition2
Valueproposition3
Valueproposition4
Valueproposition5Valueproposition6
Valueproposition7
Valueproposition8
Valueproposition9
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
35/56
Page 32
Use Cases
What is this?
This study uses each vendors suggested uses for their product/solution to build a picture of which products
are claimed to be suitable for which use cases. Importantly, an omission here does not suggest a lack of
suitability but rather the fact that the vendor does not specifically list the use case in their outbound marketing
communications.
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
This study allows a vendor to understand what area of use key competitors are claiming that their product
offering can be put to. This can be compared with internal strategies and any perceived competitive weakness
can be addressed.
Figure 24 - Example Use Cases MED
Usecase1
Usecase2
Usecase
3
Usecase4
Usecase
5
Usecase6
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
36/56
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
37/56
Page 34
Depositioning focus
What is this?
The depositioning focus study attempts to identify how each vendor categorises their main competition or what
they perceive is the main alternative to their proposition. The vendor may explicitly or implicitly direct negative
attention towards an alternative. If they do it may suggest that the vendor fears this alternative and that
overcoming it, and ensuring that their prospects know that they are superior, is key to sales success. This may
be a specific competitor or simply an alternative way of doing things.
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
Figure 25 Example Depositioning focus MED
Understanding which alternative(s) a specific vendor fears is a key piece of competitive intelligence. If a vendor
cares enough to use marketing copy to attempt to damage a competitor or alternative approach then this
suggests that there may be a weakness that they are attempting to cover. At the very least it would suggest
that the vendor expects to meet that competitor in sales situations and that the competitor has a credible offersuch that it is worth spending time and effort damaging them. If the user of the REPAMA report is named as a
feared competitor then it is possible to research the nature of the depositioning tactics and build competitive
strategies that reduce the damage. For example, if a vendor attempted to deposition Competitor A by
questioning whether Competitor As product can perform under certain conditions, then it would be possible for
Competitor A to produce marketing collateral and perhaps even external testimony that proves that their
product does indeed perform under those conditions.
Depositioningfocus1
Depositioning
focus
2
Depositioningfocus3
Depositioningfocus4
Depositioningfocus5
Depositioning
focus
6
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
38/56
Page 35
Differentiation strategy
What is this?
This study attempts to identify the approach that each vendor takes to differentiation. Broken down into the
categories shown in the table below, the question being answered here is What does the vendor attribute its
superiority to?.
Element Detai lOrganisat ional The claimed differentiation lies with the company itself age, experience, stability,
track record, etc.
Technical/Funct ional Differentiation is about the product, features, functionality, capacity, speed, etc.
Service The human skills that the company provides, its ability to provide quality service to itscustomers
Holist ic No single thing differentiates the company, instead it is a combination of the above.Not present No evidence is provided for a specific differentiation strategy.
Table 3 Differentiation strategies
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
Figure 26 Example differentiation strategy MED
In the diagram above we can see that Vendor 3 believes that it is differentiated in the market by its services
strategy and also, to a lesser extent its technical/functional capability. Vendor 1 believes that its differentiation
comes from the technical capabilities of its products whereas Vendor 2 feels that a combination of factors
differentiate it in the market.
Notpresent
Organisational
Technical/FunctionalServices
Holistic
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
39/56
Page 36
Building a competitive strategy against a vendor based on their differentiation strategy would involve either
attempting to undermine their claimed strengths or bolstering ones own capabilities in that area.
Perceived threat
What is this?The perceived threat study looks to identify which, if any, of the other vendors in the study are apparently
perceived as a threat. This is similar to the depositioning focus study above but here the result is limited to only
the other vendors in the study whereas the depositioning focus study identifies any external threat that the
vendor apparently fears. In addition to the other vendors in the study two other categories are supplied.
Implicit/Explicit all suggests that either implicitly or explicitly all of the vendors in the study are perceived
threats. Other suggests that the perceived threat comes from a vendor that is not part of this study.
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
Figure 27 Example perceived threat MED
In Figure 27 Example perceived threat MED diagram above we can see that the majority of the vendors in the
study apparently feel that vendors 2 and 3 are the main threats. Only Vendor 3 in the study believes that Vendor
5 is a threat to them.
Competitive strategies here are similar to that of the Depositioning Strategy Study above.
Vendor1
Vendor2
Vendor3
Vendor4
Vendor5
Vendor6
Other
Impliedall
Vendor1 Vendor2 Vendor3 MarketMean
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
40/56
Page 37
Reverse Engineered Positioning Statement
What is this?
This section of the study covers the reverse engineered positioning statement and positioning matrix.
Positioning is the discipline of placing a product or an organisation in a unique space in a prospects mind.
Ideally the prospect will feel that the product has been engineered uniquely to address his or her specific needs.
The positioning statement is usually an internal tool that the vendor uses to capture the positioning focus for a
product. Lustratus reverse engineers a vendors positioning statement from their outbound marketing
communication to succinctly capture in one place their approach to the market.
The positioning statement is a natural language sentence that captures the following strategic marketing
elements:
The ideal customer Their specific pain, need or desire The name of the product and the product category The main benefit or capability of the product The primary alternative of competitor The unique selling proposition for the product.
Whilst there are many varieties of positioning statement, Lustratus favours the following format and structure:
FO R ideal customer descriptionWHO has this specif ic pain, need or desire
OUR productIS A product categoryTHAT PROVIDESthis main benefit or cap abil ity
UNLIKEthis primary alternative or co mpetitorOUR PRODUCT has this unique sel l ing proposition.
Figure 28 - Typical Positioning Statement Structure
Reverse engineering an accurate positioning statement from the way that a vendor addresses its prospects is
not a precise science but the results can be quite rewarding. It is particularly useful for gaining a high level
snapshot of a vendors marketing strategy. The positioning statement will provide most of the significant
marketing elements that the vendor will use to convince prospects and to compete against other vendors. As
such this is a useful tool to use with sales and marketing teams who need a succinct summary of the way aspecific vendor addresses a market.
It is important to realise that the positioning statement is an internal tool used to convey a vendors strategy to
internal stakeholders. The positioning statement is never usually communicated externally in a raw state but the
essence will be embodied within everything the vendor does to address the market. The positioning statement
is taken by the various elements of the marketing and sales teams and is turned into collateral, marketing
communications, press releases, sales presentations, etc.
Interpreting the Result and Potential Competitive Strategies
Taken as a whole the reverse engineered positioning statement is useful for reference and high level competitive
training. Understanding each of the separate 7 elements of the Lustratus reverse engineered positioning
8/14/2019 The Lustratus REPAMA Guide (1.10 Scribd)
41/56
Page 38
statement and how they should be used will probably be the