1. Brand Positioning
1.1. How do we want customers to feel we fit in versus other brands?
1.1.1. We are for manufacturers first (See how Stripe talks about developers. They make developers feel important.)
1.1.1.1. Made for Manufacturers
1.1.1.2. Manufacturers First
1.1.2. It's Manufacturing Management Software.
1.1.2.1. ERP, IoT, and other manufacturing technologies are only a part of manufacturing management as a whole. FactoryFour is above all that. In fact, it can coordinate all of those things for you on its own. If we call ourselves an ERP, we will forever be constrained to people thinking that we can only do the things that other ERPs can do.
1.1.3. Other software is complicated and cluttered. Ours is simple and intuitive.
1.1.3.1. It's a refreshing new take on how you manage manufacturing that's easier to use and more intuitive.
1.1.4. Actionable insights. It's not about data, it's about informed decision making.
1.1.4.1. They should feel like our software makes real life things happen instead of just sitting there as data.
1.1.4.2. Mick said that he "doesn't want data, he wants intel" (meaning actionable insights)
1.1.5. Manage manufacturing, not your software
1.1.5.1. Isn’t it funny how every software company say they’ll make your life easier and save you money, then you have to hire more people just to manage what they sold you, or pay them an annual “maintenance fee”? That just adds to your already hectic day as a manufacturing company.
1.1.5.2. Isn’t it funny how the software you use to run your manufacturing business is supposed to make things run smoother, but it’s actually super annoying to use and slows you down?
1.1.6. Integrated, not complicated
1.1.6.1. Imagine how hard running your business would be if everyone spoke a different language. For all the critical software systems you use to run your manufacturing business, it’s reality.
1.1.7. Trustworthy & Compassionate
1.1.7.1. Why are we trustworthy?
1.1.7.1.1. We are VC-backed
1.1.7.1.2. Customers we've worked with so far
1.1.7.2. Why are we compassionate?
1.1.8. Custom to you, other systems are not. Every manufacturer is unique. Customizable control. Nothing else has that.
1.2. What word or phrase will we own? (i.e. Salesforce owns "CRM", Oracle and SAP own "ERP", Hubspot owns "Inbound Marketing". How will customers categorize us? What category are we in?)
1.2.1. Manufacturing Management
1.2.1.1. People come to our content to learn how to better manage their manufacturing businesses.
1.2.1.2. Google "Manufacturing Management". It seems that it will be pretty easy to get top ranked pages in this. There's not much out there on the topic, even though a lot of people out there do the job. We should envision having a blog as influential as the Hubspot marketing blog, which has 400,000 subscribers and 4.5 Million monthly visitors. There are more manufacturers than marketers. I think we can make it equally if not more influential in our space. We can also create books, magazines, interviews, and other content about manufacturing management.
2. Product Messaging
2.1. What message are we trying to convey about the product?
2.1.1. What's the first thing someone thinks of when they hear "FactoryFour"?
2.1.1.1. Manufacturing Simplified
2.1.1.2. Made for Manufacturers
2.1.1.3. Manufacturing Management Reinvented
2.1.2. What can we do for our target market that no one else can? (i.e. what is our unique selling proposition)
2.1.2.1. We let you start managing manufacturing the way you want to in under 30 days. We let you start seeing the truth of every order and make informed real-time decisions in under 30 days. See the real-time truth of every order to make smarter real-time decisions in under 30 days. [Need to find a way to convey how our way is truly any way you want it to be] See the real-time truth of every order to make smarter real-time decisions
2.1.2.1.1. What does that let our customers do that they couldn't do before? (or couldn't do well before)
2.1.2.1.2. How do we make those things happen?
2.1.2.1.3. What are the end results of those changes?
2.1.2.2. Question to help us answer this from Challenger Sale: What’s currently costing our customers more money than they realize, that only we can help them fix?
2.1.2.2.1. Every extra second you take to make the right decision loses money. But how can you make the right decision without knowing what needs to change? You can't. Right now, you don't know what needs to change because you can't see what's happening right now.
2.1.3. Another way to frame question above: What is our big idea? (Equivalent here is for the iPod "1000 songs in your pocket", it's basically the idea that makes you say "wow")
2.1.3.1. Brainstorm from Josh: Manufacturing is tough, managing it shouldn't be. Control your manufacturing process as easy as you can draw it on a napkin.
3. Brand Sentiment
3.1. How do we make you feel?
3.1.1. Confident
3.1.1.1. In control
3.1.1.1.1. Control comes from clarity
3.1.2. Clear
3.1.2.1. Think Apple here.
3.1.2.2. We make you feel like you have clarity. Both on what you have to do to succeed in managing manufacturing, and what we do to. We don't clutter. We make things clear and easy to understand. Because as a manufacturer, your life is cluttered enough.
3.1.2.3. It should feel like you're at peace
3.1.2.4. Peace comes from lack of noise and lack of busy
3.1.2.5. It should feel like all the complexity has vanished from your life
3.1.2.6. It should feel like you can breathe again
3.1.3. Valued
3.1.3.1. It should feel like as a manufacturer, you are doing something important and meaningful for the world. We appreciate that. That's why we built FactoryFour, just for you. Because as a manufacturer, you are important.
3.1.3.2. Empowered
3.1.3.3. Dependable
3.1.3.4. Reliable
3.1.3.5. We're compassionate towards you
3.1.3.6. Willing to hear you out and give you what you want
3.1.4. Intelligent
3.1.4.1. It should feel like you're not doing something purely vocational anymore, you're doing something intelligent
3.1.4.2. “Why not make the work easier and more interesting so that people do not have to sweat? The Toyota style is not to create results by working hard. It is a system that says there is no limit to people’s creativity. People don’t go to Toyota to ‘work’; they go there to ‘think’.” – Taiichi Ohno, one of the founders of the Toyota Production System
3.1.5. Refreshed
4. Corporate Messaging
4.1. What message are we trying to convey about the company?
4.1.1. Purpose (Why)
4.1.1.1. Since the beginning of time, humans have been defined by the things we make, from the arrowhead to the iPhone. Making things is in our blood. At FactoryFour, we push humanity forward by making it as simple as possible to create the things that make us human.
4.1.1.1.1. Help manufacturers get back to doing things that add real value, the same stuff they were trained to do and ultimately enjoy. Designers want to design things, manufacturing technicians want to make things. No one enjoys screwing around with software, and no one likes making a blind guess at what to do next. With FactoryFour, you don’t have to.
4.1.1.1.2. Pushing limits of resources as they're being consumed. Current structure, waste man hours will not be sufficient moving forward. By 2025, there will be 2.5 Million manufacturing jobs. We need to make everything more efficient by helping manufacturers produce more with what they have. Consumers pay less, entire value chain improved. Meeting demand of the future of the world. Not a single manufacturer is letting go of their resources. We're not trying to make people lose jobs. We're trying to maximize a skilled worker's ability to impact manufacturing. We're you're champion for helping you be a better manufacturer. Can make an impact for every manufacturer, not just the ones with a stock ticker. We can impact local communities. We can impact society as a whole. The more efficient manufacturers can be, the more we can impact society. Eliminate waste, maximize efficiency.
4.1.2. Mission (How)
4.1.2.1. Why mission is critical to our success:“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea…” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
4.1.2.1.1. Our mission is simple: The relentless pursuit of effortless manufacturing. It’s the idea that you should be able to say “Factory, make this” and everything will flow seamlessly from there, without disrupting you for a single moment until what you asked for exists, in physical perfection. Right now, organizing and coordinating manufacturing is a nightmare of complexity and chaos. We want to make it simple, peaceful, and enjoyable.
4.1.2.1.2. We strive for the deepest possible understanding of what makes the world’s best manufacturers accel above the rest, then translate that understanding into brilliant tools to uncomplicate the art of manufacturing.
4.1.2.1.3. We believe that every aspect of your factory should make your life easier and more rewarding. That’s why we reinvented manufacturing management for the way you actually work.
4.1.2.1.4. Understand the manufacturer's problem and adapt to their processes/problems. In no way do we feel we have to force them what to do. We help them come to a higher understanding of what works and what doesn't within their current process so that they can then choose how to make things. Empower them to evolve. Empower them to be the best they can be. We conform to manufacturers, we don't make them conform to us. Getting the most out of your resources (See purpose section, can have it in both).
4.1.2.1.5. Making decentralized manufacturing viable.
4.1.3. Vision (What)
4.1.3.1. Our vision is to become the thread that connects humans, software, and machines, regardless of where they came from or who they were created by, breathing consciousness into your factory so that it can manage manufacturing all on its own. It's like giving your factory a brain.
4.1.3.1.1. Master Plan
4.1.4. Values
4.1.4.1. What do we believe?
4.1.4.1.1. Manufacturing is tough. Managing it shouldn't be.
4.1.5. History
4.1.5.1. FactoryFour began as a company called Fusiform in 2014. Long story short, Param was trying to manufacture prosthetic devices for kids in the Himalayas and it was really hard but he conceived a way to do it through better manufacturing management software so he met up with Alex and they created a prosthetic manufacturing software company called Fusiform. In 2017, they realized that every manufacturer suffers from the same fundamental problems Param did in the Himalayas, so in 2017 they created a parent company called FactoryFour that makes software for every manufacturer. The name comes from the concept of taking your Factory to “Industry 4.0”. It’s the fourth industrial revolution, where humans only use their knowledge in manufacturing instead of physical labour.
4.1.5.1.1. Extended Founder Story
5. Branding Strategy
5.1. What are our rules about how our brand should function?
5.1.1. Know who you're talking to
5.1.1.1. Managers and technicians want different things, we need to talk to the specific person we're talking to, not just the CEO
5.1.2. Listen Attentively & Compassionately. Genuinely care.
5.1.3. Put the manufacturer first
5.1.3.1. Talk like them
5.1.3.2. Dress like them when visiting them
5.1.3.3. Be aware and compassionate of who we're meeting with.
5.1.3.4. Know and read about manufacturing
5.1.3.5. Manufacturing is about family, so treat them like family
5.1.4. Don't be boring
5.1.4.1. How to get your ideas to spread | Seth Godin
5.1.4.2. Remember, We aren’t just competing with every other software company, we’re competing with people’s time in general. Why are we a priority? For example, we ended up just dropping the demo with Oracle partner network because even though they make it seem obvious to join from a strategic perspective through the benefits stated in their marketing, we had more important stuff to do the other day. When something you’re reading or watching is boring, or even just neutral and not that great, what do you generally do? You move onto something else. We can’t let that happen. Sure, if it’s boring but incredibly useful, someone is bound to keep reading, but most people, and thus our biggest revenue opportunities, will vanish.
5.1.5. Always Deliver
5.1.5.1. Do not overpromise
5.1.5.2. Know your limits
5.2. What is the goal of our brand?
5.2.1. To inspire our target audience to bring themselves to join our epic journey, before we even directly ask them to.
5.2.1.1. This basically means that our target audience should get so excited just from interacting with our marketing material or with us directly, that they tell us that they want our product without us having to ask them that. In an ideal world, customers are beating our doors down to get our product / to become part of our tribe.