There are few tools in the marketing toolkit more misunderstood than the messaging house.

For the uninitiated, it is a framework that helps ensure a company is sharing consistent messaging across different channels. It is an initiative often driven by the marketing team but the output is something that should be embraced and adopted by the entire company because every employee is a representative of the brand.

Alpha Agency consultant Lizzie Hughes describes creating a messaging house as “gathering together both the tangible and the intangible aspects of a company and putting it down in writing”.

While that might seem relatively simple, there is a true art to crafting a messaging house.

There are a number of ways one can be laid out, but every version tends to include a roof and pillars (usually three). Some messaging houses may add a foundation or basement.

You can see the Alpha Agency approach in the image below.

How to build a messaging house

As a brand specialist, Lizzie has worked on countless messaging houses. “It’s not an easy thing for people to do in-house. As an outside party, we don’t approach it with any fixed ideas. We try and speak with people from different teams because they can have such different views and opinions of the business.

“It’s like being a detective,” she says.

When it comes to drawing together all of the feedback and using the above framework to build the messaging house, Lizzie describes Alpha Agency’s role as “writing it as if the brand had a voice”.

Playbacks can be interesting, however, as some stakeholders can be quite fixed in their views and might not appreciate that other people’s perceptions don’t fully align with their own.

“We have had some strong feedback in the past,” Lizzie admits. “Sometimes people have to hear things they’ve either not heard before or don’t like hearing or even disagree with. It can be a bit of a culture wake up call.

“Any specific wording they don’t like in the messaging house can be changed. But the foundational elements we uncover as part of our process aren’t really up for debate. They reflect what we were told by the team.”

Importantly, it’s all backed up by evidence.

“A company might have been innovative in the past, but if they haven’t brought anything genuinely new to market in recent years there is no evidence to support that claim,” Lizzie adds.

“Some people do have a bit of a kneejerk reaction, but we find they tend to come round after sitting with the messaging house for a little while. It can be a journey for people to reframe how they think about the company they work for.”

How to use a messaging house

Herein lies the rub. The hurdle that a lot of marketing teams stumble over. What to actually do with a messaging house.

It is not intended for external consumption and should be thought of in the same way as a style guide or tone of voice guide.

“It has to be a core part of your brand toolkit,” Lizzie says. “It should be read by everyone internally - not just the marketing team, but everyone from the CEO down. It needs to be fully accessible because it should impact every single piece of content. It should inspire your visual identity as well.”

She adds: “Everything should relate back to the messaging house because it neatly outlines who you are as a business in a way that is tangible. You can maximise your brand strength by making sure that everything your company produces is based around those interconnected pillars.”

At its heart, a messaging house creates consistency and ensures that your target audience, and even prospective hires, have a single sense of your company and what it does.

“It’s no good if someone goes and looks at your LinkedIn page and then reads something completely different on your website,” Lizzie adds.

No five-year warranty

Messaging houses are not snapshots frozen in time. “They need to be aspirational, but attainable,” Lizzie says. “It’s not about making false promises, it must be authentic.”

For example, a company that has long emphasised its heritage cannot suddenly pivot and declare itself to be cutting edge and tech-enabled.

Messaging houses also do not come with a use-by date or a five-year warranty.

“There is no set timeframe to renew or refresh your messaging house,” Lizzie says. “When the messaging feels that it is no longer fit for purpose, where there is a mismatch between what’s on the page versus what the client actually gets, that’s the time to reassess.”

If you are interested in finding out more about how Alpha Agency can help you draw out your company’s key points of difference and craft your messaging house, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.