Points of Differentiation

Two Thursday’s ago we received a call from the good folk at AusIndustry about our application to the Commercialisation Australia innovation grant. They’ve been swamped by this new program which only opened its doors for applications on Jan 4 this year so we were quite glad to have received a call from our Customer Service Manager so quickly.

After some preliminary questions about some financial details to our grant application, it was becoming apparent to me that our application wasn’t hitting the spot with AusIndustry; our points of differentiation to the other players out there just was not clear enough and AusIndustry gets the impression that Axle8 is a repackaging of existing technology and products (mind you, the Customer Service Manager does admit to not being tech literate).

Feeling totally helpless sitting behind my desk and adamant that what we’re doing is not only different but truly innovative and compelling, i was relieved when asked to come into the AusIndustry offices on George Street the following Monday to better explain ourselves.  Pause for thought: need to keep improving our 60 second elevator pitch - it ain’t cutting it at the moment.

Almost as soon as i put down the phone, i’m into Basecamp and creating a new Writeboard.  Guess what i titled it?  You got it, Points of Differentiation.  I’m thinking, what, i know how we’re different, i know how we’re better.  Or did i?  To be honest, there’s no real way to know until we have our Preview out in the wild and that’s something we’re not ready to do quite yet.

It wasn’t as easy as i thought it would be (it never is is it?) but we managed to distill our thoughts, views, observations, analysis and epiphanies into what we think is a unique combination of killer Points of Differentiation.  Here goes:

1. Our messaging is real time and future looking rather than historic
2. We empower marketers to create Notices themselves
3. Our data is reliable as marketers control what they post
4. Marketer control enables useful and powerful messaging
5. Publicise any event or location, not just venues
6. Games get old; we’re a practical tool that’s here to help
7. Not all Notices are created equal
8. Business intelligence elements will ensure relevancy and usefulness

Keen to address AusIndustry’s concerns, Jin and I arrive at their offices bright and early (via a Krispy Kreme breakfast).  We’re were pleasantly surprised to find out that our Customer Service Manager has taken the time during the weekend to research some of our competitors and get an understanding of the “geolocation proximity marketing” space.  How great is that? Our conversation leads to sharing vignettes of how Axle8 would be used in the real world that naturally highlights our Points of Differentiation and at the same time demonstrates the compelling nature of our service.

An important lesson we learnt was that not everyone is going to give us the benefit of a face-to-face meeting and homework research.  This is something we continue to refine and revisit - most of the elements are there but there’s still work to be done.

And no, we didn’t even run through our Points of Differentiation but it was an important process for Jin and i to go through.  Being clear yourself about why you’re different and where/how you’re creating value (for everyone) will permeate through all your conversations - people can tell and so will you.

Commercialisation Australia Pre-Checklist: Pass