Up to 100% flake free* – Why strong propositions pair claims with proof

I first became aware of claims, and their importance, as a young designer working for a global consumer goods company. I was at their HQ and was introduced to a couple of bright young things who delivered a talk on how they came up with claims, and, vitally, got them approved.

Now I see claims everywhere – like the anti-dandruff one in the title of this article. What does the ‘up to’ even mean?! (It’s usually in a much smaller point size, or said very quickly when spoken out loud). Is it 1% of flakes? Or 50%? Of course, the technique is to focus our attention on the 100%.

And where does the asterisk lead us?

I digress…

The importance of claims really hit home a few years later when I was leading another packaging project for another huge consumer brand. This time for a so-called ‘functional’ food: a daily drink formulated to reduce blood pressure.

We completed a months-long project – from consumer insight work right through to CAD files for production – before finding out the project had been canned. The reason? Our client couldn’t get their claim cleared.

Of course, agencies and consultancies don’t have regulatory departments clearing what they say on their websites. But prospective clients are still examining the claims they make and deciding whether or not to believe them.

Nowadays, perhaps unsurprisingly, most of my clients who lead agencies and consultancies ask for my help in developing new business. At least, that perennial challenge tends to be what prompts their call.

If your message isn’t landing, there’s no point shouting it louder.

It’s understandable that the instinctive response is often to do more: more networking, more outreach, more marketing. But if your message isn’t landing, there’s no point shouting it louder.

In almost every case, this involves taking a few steps back. In other words, we start by working on positioning and proposition.

At its simplest, positioning means clearly explaining WHAT you do – and WHO you do it for. It answers the first question everyone asks:

“What do you do?”

Your proposition, or value proposition, should be a compelling explanation of the benefits, or value, you bring. The clue’s in the name. Its aim is to answer the next, killer client question:

“So why should I hire you?”

To answer this question, you need to make a claim. Sometimes several.

In one sense, making a claim is the easy part: we can say whatever we like about ourselves.

In another, it can be surprisingly difficult. Most established agencies do several things well, for several kinds of client. Reducing that complexity to simple, compelling claims can feel uncomfortable – particularly if it feels like you’re leaving something out.

But whichever claims you choose, they’re only any good if you can substantiate them with evidence. So we need what I call ‘proof points’.

Take my own positioning and proposition as a simple example.

What I do and who for:

I advise creative agency and consultancy leaders.

My value proposition, or claim:

I’ll help you grow.

One of my proof points:

I grew my own international design consultancy to 100 people, then sold it.

That doesn’t, of course, prove that I can make every agency grow. But it provides relevant evidence that I’ve faced many of the same challenges myself and successfully built a substantial creative business.

Notice that I’m not overtly trying to differentiate myself here either. I think that’s better achieved through your point of view. Read more about that here.

Proof points

The most obvious proof points are past projects, neatly wrapped up into case studies. As I’ve written previously, these should be outcome-based, clearly demonstrating the project’s success – in the client’s terms.

Other common proof points are client testimonials and positive reviews. I have mixed feelings about design awards, but there’s no doubt that they can help attract and reassure prospective clients.

It’s worth remembering that different proof points prove different things.

A client saying you were brilliant to work with is good evidence of the quality of your service.

An award gives you external recognition, usually from your peers.

Well-known previous client logos demonstrate that respected organisations trusted you enough to hire you.

But none of those necessarily proves that your work produced a particular commercial or behavioural outcome. That requires different evidence.

And, to be fair, proving the impact of creative work isn’t always straightforward. Our work is usually one factor among many. It might contribute to a successful launch or a period of growth, but it would be a brave agency that claimed to have caused the whole result.

There’s nothing wrong with demonstrating contribution rather than claiming causation. The important thing is that the evidence genuinely supports the claim you’re making.

There are less obvious proof points too.

If you’re claiming expertise in a particular discipline, it can help to put a name and face to it. Being able to introduce the person leading that service can give the claim some useful extra weight – particularly when you can demonstrate their experience, credentials and track record.

If you’re claiming sector or category expertise and have people who’ve worked for known names in that category – perhaps in-house – then say so. Some people are reticent about referring to companies they’ve worked for previously. But if that experience genuinely strengthens your credibility in the category, there’s no reason to hide it.

Two sides of the same coin

The key is to closely relate your claims to your proof points. Like a call and response – or two sides of the same coin.

This might seem obvious, but the two are very often not considered hand-in-hand. I regularly see agencies decide what they’d like to claim first, then go looking for evidence to support it afterwards. Sometimes they find it, often they don’t – or it’s a bit thin.

I think that’s the wrong way to approach it. Claims and proof points should be developed together. One should influence the other.

For example, let’s take a few very common, but generic and often weak, claims agencies make.

Firstly:

“We’re consumer-centric.”

OK, but do you back that up? What are the concrete measures of consumer centricity?

Client testimonials probably won’t cut it. Sure, you’ve pleased them, but did your work truly resonate with the end user? If so, how do you know?

Perhaps you need evidence directly from the horse’s mouth: research results, behavioural data, consumer feedback or a measurable market response.

Another common claim is:

“We work end-to-end.”

That may well be true – a small agency may be able to manage an end-to-end process. But if you’re a company of only three people, prospective clients may reasonably wonder how.

So show them. Perhaps you have a solid network of tried and tested, trusted partners and a particularly strong process for managing them.

Those things turn a broad claim into something much more credible.

And then there’s the old favourite:

“We’re strategic.”

Few agencies or consultancies want to position themselves as merely executional, so this one appears everywhere. But what does ‘strategic’ actually mean in your case?

Do clients involve you before the brief has been written? Have you helped them decide what problem to solve, rather than simply solving the problem they brought you? Can you point to occasions when your recommendation changed a client’s direction?

Can clients testify to the quality of your thinking, not just the quality of the creative output?

The word itself proves nothing. Your evidence gives it meaning.

The point isn’t that ‘consumer-centric’, ‘end-to-end’ or ‘strategic’ are necessarily bad claims. It’s that the bigger – or more common – the claim is, the more convincing and specific the evidence needs to be.

Top down and bottom up

When coming up with claims and proof points, it’s easy to assume they come in that order, first asking:

“What are we good at?”

Followed by:

“How do we demonstrate it?”

This might be the purer, more strategic ‘top down’ approach. But it can also help to flip it around and think more tactically – ‘bottom up’. Particularly if you’re a relatively young business.

In this case, start by looking at what you’ve done. Things you can actually point to.

Where have you created particularly strong results?

What do your best clients consistently value?

What expertise or experience do you possess that others might struggle to replicate?

Then think about whether those things support the claims you’d like to make.

They might not. But they might reveal something more useful: a compelling claim you hadn’t previously thought to make.

Sometimes your strongest evidence can show you what you have a credible right to own.

Make the claim. Then prove it.

Don’t be afraid to make claims. Many of us are a little introverted, or modest. Some creative businesses can be particularly uncomfortable talking confidently about themselves. But prospective clients need a reason to choose you.

So make your claims clear, compelling and ambitious enough to matter. Then impose a high burden of proof on yourself.

Make sure you can substantiate those claims with proof points, and treat the two as a directly related pair.

Finally, put your proof points in close proximity to your claims – back them up obviously and immediately.

The strongest claim isn’t necessarily the biggest thing you can say about yourself. Sometimes it’s the most valuable thing you can credibly prove.

Then – and only then – will your claims have a chance of being believed.

What’s the agency claim you see most often that’s rarely backed up?

* Visible flakes from 2ft distance, with regular use.

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