MKT.2:1 - Problem frame

Use this pattern when people cannot tell what a proposed product or service will do for them, why it is worth considering against their actual alternatives, or what obtaining its result requires. It also applies before an offer exists: a useful capability must be turned into an understandable, supportable proposal for a particular customer situation.

The result is a proposed offer with a clear recipient, contribution, conditions, consideration and grounds for comparison, together with what its test established and left open. Positioning is the context that helps the intended customer interpret that offer. A headline, pricing page or sales conversation can express it; none is the offer’s complete content by itself.

The intended reader understands the product or service and can obtain customer evidence and a competent supply answer. Start from a qualified situation through MKT.1 or an equally sufficient existing account. When a suitable understood offer already exists, use it. When the customer problem is still unknown, investigate that question before polishing an assumed answer.