Positioning Scan example report

1. Summary

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Band 11 to 15: partial commercial communication

Yokozuna Labs is a well credentialed bioanalytical lab that describes itself from the inside out. The evidence of quality is visible. The reason a small biotech should choose Yokozuna over a large CRO is not.

2. Scores

3. Observations per element

Each element is scored on five fixed observation points, against fixed anchors from 1 to 5. Only what a buyer can see counts.

Proposition clarity 2

• Homepage hero. “Precision science. Trusted results.” No target audience, no service category, no client outcome. The subline adds the category: “Bioanalytical and stability testing for pharma and biotech.”
• Service pages. Each page opens with the method: “Our LC-MS/MS platform supports regulated bioanalysis across small molecules and peptides.” The client problem the method solves is not named.
• Tagline, meta description, LinkedIn. Meta description: “Yokozuna Labs, contract laboratory in Leiden.” LinkedIn tagline: “Bioanalysis | Stability | GLP.” On compressed surfaces the proposition shrinks to a list of services.
• About page. Opens with the founding year and the move to a new building in 2019. The proposition does not get clearer with more space.
• Consistency. Website, LinkedIn and the sales deck all describe the lab by its methods. Consistent, and consistently generic.

The category and sectors are clear. Who the work is for and what they get from it are missing. That matches anchor 2.

Customer focus 1

• Subject of the sentence. On the homepage, 14 of 16 sentences start with “We” or “Our”.
• Cases. None on the website, in the deck or on LinkedIn.
• Outcome language. None found. Process language throughout: “we validate”, “we analyse”, “we report”.
• Testimonials. None.
• Calls to action. “Contact us” and “Request a quote” on every page.

Communication is entirely process-driven. No client outcome is visible anywhere. That matches anchor 1.

Pricing power 2

• Value argument. None found. The services page states “competitive pricing” without further explanation.
• Specific outcomes. The only number tied to a result is the ten-day turnaround on the stability page.
• Comparison logic. No comparison with large CROs or with doing the work in-house.
• Premium signals. GLP compliance, ISO/IEC 17025 and senior scientists are present. They are listed as credentials and never connected to the price.
• Cost of not acting. Absent. A delayed bioanalysis report can push back an IND filing, and the site never says so.

Quality is implied and never translated into a reason to pay for it. That matches anchor 2.

Differentiation 3

• Specific claim. The stability page states: “Standard stability reports within ten working days.” That is a claim a large CRO cannot easily make.
• Prominence. The claim is on one service page. The homepage and the deck do not mention it.
• Specificity. Concrete and measurable.
• Evidence. Stated once without a client example.
• Consistency. LinkedIn emphasises “personal service”, the deck emphasises “state-of-the-art equipment”, the website emphasises “precision”.

A real differentiator is visible, but it is neither prominent nor repeated. That matches anchor 3.

Credibility 4

• Named cases. None with client outcomes.
• Third-party signals. GLP compliance and ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation are on the homepage, with certificate numbers.
• Named experts. Six scientists with photo, background and publications on the team page.
• Track record. “More than 1,200 studies since 2009” on the about page.
• Verifiable specificity. Methods, matrices and guidelines are named precisely, including ICH Q1A and the EMA guideline on bioanalytical method validation.

A sceptical buyer can verify the key claims before the first call. Named cases with measurable results are the step to a 5. That matches anchor 4.

4. What the communication undersells

In the kick-off, the CEO described three things a buyer cannot find anywhere:

• Most clients are biotechs with fewer than 50 employees, preparing their first clinical study.
• Yokozuna validates a bioanalytical method in about three weeks. The CEO estimates that clients previously waited two months or more at larger CROs.
• Clients stay because a senior scientist answers the phone when a run fails. In the CEO’s words, clients describe their problem before they found Yokozuna as: “Our timeline depended on a lab that didn’t answer emails.”

The strongest reason to choose Yokozuna is speed and access for small biotechs under timeline pressure. The website does not say this once.

5. Starting point

Rewrite the homepage hero around the client and the timeline. Proposition clarity and customer focus score lowest, and both start in the same place. Once the hero names who Yokozuna serves and what changes for them, the ten-day and three-week claims have a home, and pricing power follows.

6. Rewritten example: homepage hero

The rewrite names the client, the outcome and the reason to choose Yokozuna, using the client’s own words from the kick-off.

7. Brief for whoever does the work next

• Audience. Biotechs with fewer than 50 employees preparing a first clinical study. Decision makers: CSO, head of CMC, project lead.
• Core message. Yokozuna keeps your clinical timeline on schedule through fast method validation and direct access to senior scientists.
• Proof to bring forward. Three-week method validation, ten-day stability reports, GLP and ISO/IEC 17025, six named scientists, 1,200 studies since 2009.
• Missing. Two or three client cases with a before, the work and a measurable result. Ask two existing clients for permission.
• Pages first. Homepage hero, the bioanalysis service page, the LinkedIn tagline and slide 2 of the sales deck.
• Leave as is. The team page and the credentials block on the homepage.

8. Agenda for the one-hour management session

1. The scores and what they are based on (15 min)
2. What the communication undersells: the three points from the kick-off (10 min)
3. The starting point and the rewritten hero (15 min)
4. Who does the work: own marketer, agency or Jesse (10 min)
5. First step and date (10 min)