I was really drawn to the Mad Lib Elevator Pitch exercise that Andy walked through in Lesson 4: Rethink the Problem. This exercise seems truly invaluable and I began to wonder about how existing companies might have employed this technique to articulate the unique benefits and competitive advantages of specific products.

 

Specifically, I considered how Amazon might have completed this exercise to nail down a value proposition for the Kindle e-reader.

 

I used Andy’s template...

TEMPLATE: For [TARGET CUSTOMER], who [CUSTOMER NEED], [PRODUCT NAME] is a [MARKET CATEGORY] that [ONE KEY BENEFIT]. Unlike [COMPETITION], the product [UNIQUE DIFFERENTIATOR].

 

... and then walked through the exercise for the Kindle. 

For readers who are looking to read on the go, the Kindle is an electronic reading device that can house no shortage of books at once. Unlike the physical book, the Kindle is essentially a portable library.

 

I can see how this exercise can be extremely clarifying and I'm excited to find opportunities to employ this technique in my own day-to-day life!