Where to Play
Maximizing Our Reach By Defining The Association Playing Field
Summary
“The innovator’s challenge is to focus and be agile.”
Marc Gruber and Sharon Tal
I’m a huge proponent of Roger Martin's Playing to Win strategy framework. It has changed the way I think about leadership, culture, and innovation. It has pushed me to re-think my approach to planning, how I manage, and allocate resources.
A subset of Playing to Win is ‘where to play’. Where to play is our playing field; it outlines where we compete and who and how we serve, what we offer and how we deliver value.
Developing and committing to a strategy is required of all associations. Where to play is just one component of this commitment, but it’s a key one. It helps us determine where to focus our efforts so we can effectively anticipate and serve our communities.
The Product Community is a product development learning community designed specifically for associations.
The Importance of Where to Play
“Where to play attacks head-on one of the most difficult questions any aspiring entrepreneur must answer: which target market should I serve?”
John Mullins
It may seem counterintuitive, but all associations have multiple markets. Yes, we serve members, but members are highly diverse and with different needs.
We also serve partners (corporate, foundation, nonprofit, etc.) and non-members or prospective members.
Many associations or membership-focused organizations equate market with membership. This is problematic for four key reasons:
Membership is finite. A built-in advantage to most associations is that they operate within a fairly defined, niche market. The playing field can be easy to define, but is often finite and taken for granted. Possible solution – define the market through more than just the membership by using a tool like the market opportunity navigator.
People don’t always want to join. People may be interested in what we do, but don’t want to join (either because benefits aren’t up to snuff or the pay-to-play fee isn’t worth the money). Possible solution – Design and test a value proposition that doesn’t include membership to see if there is a viable way of drawing new people or new markets.
We offer benefits, not solve problems. Our association is in benefit mode, not value creation mode. Emphasizing value ensures we understand, empathize with, and solve the problems of our members (with instinct and fidelity). Possible solution – Shift the association value proposition away from benefits and discounts and more toward community building and impact.
We serve other stakeholders. Quite simply, membership is just one way to engage in an association. Yes, most associations rely on non-dues revenue (events, learning, etc.), but we can think more creatively about ways to engage non-members and corporate partners. Possible solution – Consider programming through the lens of a tiered subscription model.
Where to play is an association’s playing field; it outlines where we serve geographically and via a particular set of customer segments, offerings, channels, and stages of production. Where to play involves identifying the specific markets or areas of focus that we will target. This means determining the professional disciplines or industries we aim to serve.
By defining our offerings, we can allocate resources effectively and create a strong value proposition. This graphic lays out the fundamentals of where to play. Note the emphasis on differentiation and our ability to win.
Here are additional questions to help define our where to play:
What existing categories, territories, markets, etc. will we invest in to achieve our vision?
What adjacent (or new) categories, territories, customers, partners, markets, etc. should we prioritize and explore?
How will we sequence investments across existing and new opportunities?
How will we reach members?
The descriptions of each where to play element are here:
Geographies. This involves deciding where we will operate and/or serve our membership. It can specific city, region, or countries.
Customer Segments. We can serve diverse constituents, professions, or industries.
Offerings. This refers to the services or products we provides our community. For example, networking events, training programs, advocacy, or industry reports.
Channels. This involves how we deliver our offerings. It could be through events, online platforms, publications, etc.
Stages of Production. This relates to the processes involved in delivering our offerings. It could include things like research, planning, execution, or evaluation.
By considering these areas, we can make strategic decisions about where and how to compete in the market, ensuring we focus our resources on the most promising opportunities.
An important warning. Make sure to define where to play in the context of the entire playing to win strategy framework as it functions as integrative set of choices that works best as a system.
Though all five choices in the playing to win framework work together, two serve as the heart of the strategy: where to play and how to win. I cover the entire framework in my article Playing to Win: A Guide to Strategic Advantage for Associations and Nonprofits.
Practical Application
“You don’t need more time. You need more focus.”
Kevin Kelly
Let’s look at a practical example to see how where to play works for a fictitious state-based library association. It’s important to remember to: make focused choices that are coherent and integrative and to ensure we have the right capabilities to succeed.
Geographies. Our association serves a US-centric market focused on creative and capital cities and university towns largely in second (300,000 to 1m) and third tier (under 300k) regions.
Customer Segments. Within this market, we target state or government related libraries (often found at universities or capital cities). These libraries have a shared purpose yet face pressure to invest in advocacy, deepen impact, widen reach, or diversify revenue.
Offerings. Our association solves member pain points by serving as a partner and offering professional development and guided learning programs. We also offer mentorship programs, advocacy training, and events. We utilize flexible program frameworks to drive trust, build connection, and achieve durable outcomes like impact, reach, revenue, or thriving community.
Channels. Emphasizing connection and engagement, we emphasize the following channels: in-person, rich virtual, hybrid, and via collaborative partnership. We utilize content marketing to engage in thought leadership that is:
Personal, empathic, connective
Highly available through remote engagement
Facilitative dialogue / community building
Idea-centric
Stage of production. We excel at building relationships and delivering best-in-class outcomes that require superior execution. We will now move fully into advocacy and community impact that require us to play more deeply in strategy and learning and training programs. This will require we engage members in new ways.
Focused Choices Lead to Vibrant Growth
“When an organization lacks a clear strategic direction, it compensates by doing more — more projects, more initiatives, more everything. This leads to overload, where resources are stretched thin and teams are overwhelmed. The organization becomes a ship lost at sea, caught in a storm of its own making, where the effort is high, but impact is minimal.”
Alex Nesbitt
Being all things to all people is a dangerous recipe for any organization. It leaves us treading water without a north star or compass to help guide our journey to excellence.
Good strategy requires we: (1) make focused and coherent choices, (2) ensure these choices operate together as an integrative set so we can (3) make a shared and disciplined commitment to successful execution and superior performance.
Of the five major strategic choices from the playing to win strategy framework, where to play motivates us to identify and document our customers, the value we offer them, and how it’s delivered.
It helps us stay strategically-focused and allows us to say no to things that don’t fit the direction. Only then will we be ready to take on the future in a way that deepens our shared purpose and serves member’s needs.
Remember, product-led growth fuels connection. Join the product community and flip your destiny.
About the Author
James Young is founder and chief learning officer of the product community®. Jim is an engaging trainer and leading thinker in the worlds of associations, learning communities, and product development. Prior to starting the product community®, Jim served as Chief Learning Officer at both the American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of College and University Planning. Please contact me for a conversation: james@productcommunity.us.