ALSTOM GRID Technical Institute Rusty Rae, Alstom Grid Technical Institute MARCOM What is it all about?

Do you have support from leadership? Presentation title - 01/01/ P 2

MARCOM If your organization has a MARCOM person or department: Beg, buy, borrow, steal: Presentation title - 01/01/ P 3 Get them involved as early as possible! If they are not available, here is the Cliff’s Notes version of MARCOM

MARCOM Approved, Nov. 1, 2011 MARCOM: Targeted interaction with your people Uses one or more media Reaches a specific audience Impacts its behavior by informing, persuading, and reminding

Purpose Speak with one voice Help your messages rise above the din Resonate with target audience Achieve better results Presentation title - 01/01/ P 5

Study first, then you decide Who is the target audience? Presentation title - 01/01/ P 6 Age Gender Job category Habits Communication style

The Plan Objectives What do you want to happen as a result of your marcom activities? What customer behaviors do you hope to inspire? Develop Value Proposition Messages What do you want customers to know? Vehicles Which communication vehicles best convey your messages? Budget and schedule How much do these vehicles cost to develop? What is your budget? When should the vehicles be released? Presentation title - 01/01/ P 7

Develop a value proposition for your HPI program A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered by your HPI program. It’s the primary reason that members of your organization should get involved with the HPI program Explains how the HPI program will make your constituents’ life better (relevancy), Delivers specific benefits (quantified value), Tells why they should buy in instead of remain complacent (unique differentiation). Presentation title - 01/01/ P 8

What the value proposition is NOT It’s not a slogan or a catch phrase: “ Craftsman tools. Because we’re worth it.” It’s not a positioning statement “America’s #1 Bandage Brand. Heals the wound fast, heals the hurt faster.” Presentation title - 01/01/ P 9

What makes a good value proposition: Clarity! It’s easy to understand. It communicates results a your team will get from buying into HPI program It says how it’s different or better than the current way of doing business It avoids hype(avoid superlatives - best) and hyper jargonese (‘value-added interactions’). It can be read and understood in about 5 seconds. Presentation title - 01/01/ P 10

Communications considerations Websites: Intranet, extranet, other corporate sites Corporate knowledge repositories: anywhere you share corporate knowledge (Wikis, SharePoint, etc) s: Reach out to your stakeholders to share information and encourage them to engage. Staff/dept. meetings: Meet with your stakeholders during their regularly schedule meetings to provide updates on the planning process. Brown Bags: Schedule regular events to share info on HPI; great opportunity for other team members to speak on the topic Presentation title - 01/01/ P 11

Communications considerations (page 2) Listservs/Twitter/Facebook: – Leverage social media tools du jour of your organization Posters: post around office/ campus to raise awareness and build excitement Corporate Newsletter: leverage as appropriate to raise awareness; message can and should come from corporate leadership Presentation title - 01/01/ P 12

The end of the beginning Presentation title - 01/01/ P 13