Deliverables

What is true for the product(s) and true for the brand that will grow the business?

For Cray products and services

• What is Cray’s product roadmap?
• How will you respond to the marketplace of the future?

Business

• How does Cray expect to growth its business?
• How are you positioning for the future?

Cray Brand

• What is Cray’s brand essence?
• How do Cray’s current and future offerings express your brand essence?

How will we motivate new customers?

Why do current Cray customers love Cray?

Why did Cray rejectors choose a competitive supercomputer?

How do we create appeal among high-performance-computing seeking enterprise segments across specific verticals? Including research among all, a subset, or clusters of the following, as appropriate:

• Energy (including Oil and Gas)
• Earth Sciences
• Financial Services
• Manufacturing (automotive)
• Healthcare and Life Sciences
• NOTE: We also recommend considering new segment(s) that index high for HPC e.g Digital Arts and Entertainment

How can Cray capitalize on horizontal movements in cybersecurity and big data?

What is the opportunity to up-sell current HPC workstation users?

Of course, the enterprise technology purchase process is distinct from other categories and far more complex in a variety of ways:

• Now more than ever, technology plays a pivotal and elevated role in overall corporate business strategy and competitive/operational advantage (and risk)… bringing added scrutiny to the process
• The dramatic proliferation of media touchpoints means influences and influencers are are not only more numerous but less predictable/controllable
• And — especially for high-end, large-scale technology implementations like HPC — the sales cycle is long, formal, and typically complex, involving a variable array of super-user advocates, as well as decision-researchers, decision-makers and decision-approvers. (Not to mention channel and industry influencers.)

These nuances will be accounted for in the research methods and samples we recommend.

How can Cray separate from the competition? How can we reframe the category in our favor?

How does our offering compare to the competition?

What are the market share data and trend lines? Where are there gaps? Why?

Who does Cray compete with inside and outside of the category?

• What are customers’ “frame of reference?” What is Cray’s “source of business?”

What is everyone else saying and doing?

• How is media being used creatively by our competitors?

Is there an opportunity that no one else has taken advantage of? How can Cray stake a unique claim to this?

How can Cray lead the conversation?

What is the future of supercomputing? Of Big Data? What’s the future of supercomputing + big data?

What is the future of cybersecurity?

Which brands and personalities are the loudest voices in these spaces?

How are new consumption models diluting the once-custom supercomputing market?

What are the assets and limitations of leading enterprise brands such as HP and Dell in the supercomputing space?

How is the term “supercomputing” being co-opted inside and outside the category and what are the implications of this for the true supercomputing companies?

Company Kickoff : Group meeting(s) at Cray with marketing and appropriate leadership to introduce and review details of the project.

Outputs :

• Clarity, buy-in, and engagement of the core team
• A detailed work schedule and an initial list of priority customers and prospects appropriate as research respondents

Secondary Research : Audit of existing Cray materials and research on the business, go-to-market activities to date, and the category. Review secondary and syndicated research sources to gain market share data, insight into  which players are moving into the space, how and why, and to identify trends in relevant areas, etc.

Outputs :

• Synthesis of Cray’s current state
• Develop hypothesis of where Cray might play, why, how, what’s most fruitful to pursue further

Timing : < 1 Week Combined 

Stakeholder Interviews : In-depth-Interviews (IDIs) with stakeholders internally and externally (for example, employees, industry analysts, partners, etc.) to capture perspectives on the market opportunity, Cray’s business, and the hurdles to overcome. (Efficiently gain knowledge while also reinforcing these stakeholders’ ownership of the process and consensus on the current state.)

Assumes some/limited Cray site visit(s) e.g. St Paul/Chippewa Falls and/or Pleasanton/San Jose, and Skype interviews with key staff in Europe, APAC.

Outputs :

• Connection with Cray’s priority stakeholders (initiate consensus-building process)
• Understanding of Cray product, brand and operational legacy and go-forward realities
• Reveal any areas of internal discord or reservation

Timing : 1 Week 

Following the Company and initial Category immersion, we will hold a work session with Cray’s marketing leadership team to:

• Present insights gained during research conducted so far
• Brainstorm and capture “What is Cray” (i.e. “brand equity”) statements
• Finalize list of target customers, prospects and, if possible, rejectors for qualitative research

Outputs:

• Agreement on Cray Brand Equity factors
• Plan for quantitative validation
• Formalize plan for qualitative research

Timing : 1-2 Days 

As noted earlier, the complex and multi-faceted nature of the enterprise technology market requires a unique research methodology.

We’ve developed a “Customer Task Force” approach to gain the truest understanding of the roles and dynamics of this space. We approach it as a B2B ethnography to unpack the complex relationships involved in the purchase of a.) a very expensive and potentially platform-changing system, with b.) a hyper-extended sales cycle, and c.) a review and purchase process involving diverse decision recommenders, makers, and influencers. We thus refer to the often-informal review and decision committee inside companies as their “task force”.

This approach recognizes that a Brand Strategy that effectively drives business will inherently be tailored at the executional level according to job title and vertical market, yet also shape individual efforts in such a way that they accrue to a singular Cray brand.

Therefore, we use a combination of one-on-one interviews plus Task Force group sessions to uncover needs and pain points, sales barriers, and other eco-system dynamics for the targets as individuals and as a Task Force.

Qualitative Research Methodology : We will structure each company session in two parts: the first being in-depth interviews (IDIs) with individual members of the company team, followed by a 1-hour task force-wide discussion. We propose conducting this research among three specific segments of customers, 3 each for a total of 9 accounts/customers (but many more individuals):

• 3 Current customer accounts (Including 5-8 individual staff interviews per, followed by a Task Force session for each account)
• 3 Vertical segment prospects (Including 5-8 individual staff interviews per, followed by a Task Force session for each prospect company)
• 3 Competitive users (Including 5-8 individual staff interviews per company, followed by a Task Force session for each group)

Outputs:

• Decision-maker and influencer persona’s, over-arching and specific customer needs, Cray and competitive perceptions, category drivers, hopes and expectations
  Adjustments or additions to the Brand Equity statement drafts, for use in subsequent quantitative study

Timing : 3-4 Weeks

A final discussion guide will be developed and reviewed with Cray in advance of this research. But, below are examples of key discussion areas we will explore:

Cray Customer Interviews

• Why Cray, what’s unique about Cray?
• What has Cray made possible for you?
• What does supercomputing mean, make possible for you? (Explore supercomputing + big data)
• How does this fit with Cray reputation and assets?

Vertical Segment Prospect Interviews

• What would get you to consider Cray?
• How would Cray help you realize what’s currently not possible for you?
• What would this mean for your company? For you (both rationally and emotionally)?
• How does this fit with Cray’s reputation and assets?

Rejectors or Competitive Customer Interviews

• Why X brand? What’s unique about them?
• What has X brand made possible for you?
• What does supercomputing mean and make possible for you? (Explore supercomputing + big data)
• What does the future of supercomputing look like? (Explore supercomputing + big data)
• What company(s) are best poised to make the shift? Why? What about Cray?
• How would these innovations help you achieve your business goals?
• How does this fit with your current perception of Cray?

Once the qualitative is nearing completion, we also recommend executing an online quantitative Brand Equity study to validate what we perceive to be Cray’s Brand Equity factors. These will be fielded among the same 3 audience segments as the Task Force qualitative:

• Current Cray customers
• Cray prospects across key verticals
• Cray rejectors (competitor loyalists)

Outputs:

• Quantitative validation of Cray’s Brand Equity attributes*

Timing : 2-3 weeks (including debrief on findings)

* Note: given the specialized nature of your target, this will likely not be a large enough sample to be statistically stable, but it will be quantitative in nature and solid in provide directional findings.

Following the internal immersion and qualitative research, the One Degree team will collect and synthesize our findings. (We will not wait on the quantitative study data as that will be factored in at the next stage.)

During Synthesis, we will build enterprise Customer Sales Cycle(s) diagrams. These maps will identify customer trigger and pain points, opportunities for persuasion/influence, as well as decision-maker/influencer roles and experiences. These customer lifecycle details will influence the full communications messaging plan Cray has described in later activation and amplification workflows. But, near term, will reveal the richest veins of opportunity — whether by vertical market, business process, or industry dynamic (e.g. cyber-security.)

Outputs:

• Customer sales cycle maps with sales triggers, threats and opportunities (Maps will be built for verticals with significant differences)
• Final 4Cs Exploration Report

Timing : 1 Week

We will begin Phase II with a full report back to the core marketing leadership team (and other audiences, as appropriate) on the findings of the 4Cs investigation.

Also, importantly, this debrief will be combined with a work session designed to encourage team participation in the process and, accordingly, buy-in to the implications of the evolving Brand Strategy. We do this through a workshop-style session drafting a Cray Business Model Canvas. As a team, we will build on the new messaging while also looking at how Cray might improve internal, partner, or other operational and go-to-market alignment that might otherwise impede growth. This due diligence ensures the brand elements have a solid foundation in the broader Cray business plan (and vice versa) and continues development of internal consensus.

Outputs:

• Business Model Canvas highlighting implications for the brand and relevant operational pivots

Timing : 1 Full Day

Next, we will be ready to articulate the Cray Brand Strategy. This step can be done with the core marketing team only, or the broader company leadership… the goal being to ensure top to bottom alignment. In our experience, this works well if we start by sharing an executive summary of the research findings and then lead a focused discussion on Cray’s Brand Essence, Core Purpose and Vision.

Outputs:

• High-level Brand Architecture
• Leadership validation

Timing : 1/2 Day

With a clear and approved high-level Brand Architecture, we will formalize the new Cray Brand Positioning statement. We use a variation on Geoff Moore’s classic value positioning rubric:
For ____________________________________ (target customer)
Who ___________________________________ (statement of need or opportunity)
Our ___________________________________ (product/service/name) is the ____________________________________ (category)
That _______________________________________________________ (statement of benefit).
Unlike ______________________________________________________ (competitive context)
We are the ___________________________________________________ (unique differentiation/evidence).

Outputs:

• Brand positioning statement
• Initial vertical market, technical/non-technical messaging matrix (helpful for testing our assumptions. These will not be final statements)
• “Creative brief” for developing executional ideas

Timing : 1 Week

While a Brand Architecture and Positioning are useful to the marketing team, they can be confusing to other audiences.

Thus, as Brand Strategy crystalizes, our creative folks will start working on ways to present the idea in a more tangible and readily understood form. For example, we may develop one or a combination of the following: an advertising “tagline,” a sample press release announcing a future Cray customer win, a mock up of the cover of Forbes magazine or CIO in 2018 featuring the latest Cray success, or a video anthem, etc.

The cost to produce this work can vary greatly depending on to whom and how we plan to expose the stimulus. (This recommendation assumes quantitative validation conducted online and, accordingly, requires that we design/produce creative objects that can be shared effectively in that medium.) We recommend determining the medium when we know much more about Cray and about the idea we are trying to communicate.

Outputs:

• Creative materials that can be shown internally and externally, in-person or online

Timing : 1-3 Weeks (depending on level of completion required)

Qualitative Validation : We have found that a relatively quick and qualitative review of the Brand Strategy and and associated creative designs pays big dividends. The central objective is to understand if the Brand Strategy is believable, significant and convincing. We will share a strategy line, positioning statement, and 2-3 creative concepts to respondents.

Thus, it’s important that the structure of this review is open-ended to uncover any “why’s” behind what we learn. Pending that feedback, we may want or need to tweak either the messaging or the execution one final time before quantitative review.

Outputs:

• Online panel completed by Cray employees and stakeholders
• Quick feedback and insights for course correction on messaging or design of the Brand Strategy

Timing : 1 Week

Quali/Quantitative Validation is the cute name for smart research that combines both the evidence sought by “quant” and the insight needed for making changes if indicated by the results (thus the “quali”). In other words, it will be a mainly quantitative study with several open-ended questions to allow respondents to add detail or explanations. For example: if they have checked an answer saying the new line or concepts do not seem credible coming from Cray, we can ask them “Why?” and provide space for a full response (vs. guessing at a limited number of possible answers.)

We propose this method, which can be more or less expansive again depending on Cray’s needs, as an online study that allows us to gather feedback from a larger pool of Cray stakeholders, employees, and as feasible, existing or potential customers.

Outputs:

• Quantitative validation of the Brand Strategy
• Qualitative feedback to understand what’s driving the responses

Timing : 1-2 Weeks

Once we have the final feedback, we will make remaining adjustments (potentially benefiting from another iteration of quant’ or qual’ feedback.)

The conclusion of this phase is by default the beginning of the next — Brand Activation and Amplification — as noted in the initial RFP. As our cases and client references will attest, we have a great deal of experience building out top-to-bottom communications plans, logo and brand standards guidelines, and all manner of go-to-market materials and templates. We would say that that’s when the fun starts … except that we truly enjoy the process covered here just as much.

Outputs:

• Final Cray Brand Strategy
• Initial blueprint for Brand Activation and Amplification

Timing : 1 Week