Choosing how to talk about a new smart home security device

The question

A new smart home security device was close to market, and the brand wanted to know which positioning would make it compelling to the people most likely to buy it.

The story had to work for people who already lived with the brand’s app and for people meeting the brand for the first time. The work started from a set of messaging territories, each a different way of describing the same product.

Our approach

We met both audiences in online groups, with homeowners who were seriously considering a product like this.

Each group began with why people were looking at products like this, and how one would fit into their home. Every territory was then heard against people’s own situations.

The territories rotated, so no story had the advantage of always going first. Alternative versions put the person using the product at the center of the story, so the brand could see which way of telling it people understood and wanted, and why.

What the team came away with

Product and marketing leaders had evidence from both audiences on how each territory was understood, in people’s own words.

With it came a positioning recommendation, covering the story to lead with and the features to support it.