How Native Current’s brand positioning is driving product strategy
FOUNDER
Adam Cockell, Founder & CEO of Native Current, is a social entrepreneur focused on correcting gaps in opportunity and equity in the workplace.
COMPANY
Native Current empowers sourcers and recruiters to creatively expand talent search to meet the demands of modern businesses.
FMP RESOURCES
Brand Positioning Questionnaire Template, Brand Communication Guide Template, Office Hours in Slack & 1:1 Strategy Session.
DELIVERABLE
Native Current’s Brand Communication Guide is now used to inform product strategy & messaging.
Adam Cockell is on a mission to improve diversity at work through his Chrome extension, Native Current, which empowers sourcers and recruiters to creatively expand talent search to meet the demands of modern businesses. After some initial adoption, he’s using The Founder’s Marketing Playbook to clarify his vision and accelerate his go-to-market strategy.
“The brand positioning template is gold. I’m basing all of my decisions on that now.”
Building Native Current to improve diversity at work
Adam originally set out to improve inclusion in companies, by enhancing the way managers developed current employees but was having trouble finding product market fit. After building several apps at once, just to see if any of them would catch on, his Chrome extension, Native Current, slowly but surely started gaining users.
How Native Current works
Native Current is a Chrome extension that empowers sourcers and recruiters to creatively expand their talent search to meet the demands of modern businesses in an inclusive way. It uses natural language processing and other tech to find relevant candidates that might be overlooked using conventional search methods.
Search suggestions: Build better, more creative and comprehensive searches with boolean strategy suggestions while you type.
Role-based search insights: Go beyond title-based searches with custom data-driven recommendations that uncover overlooked talent.
Team strategy library: Keep your team's general and diversity sourcing strategies in one place for quick application on any sourcing platform.
Search templates: Confidently x-ray social sites like Quora, Twitter, and LinkedIn with quick-start search templates.
Defining the product vision & go-to-market strategy
With traction it became clear that this was where Adam should spend his time, but diversity was, as he had been thinking about it, purely cosmetic, and Adam wanted to create lasting change in the workforce. With a burgeoning business on his hands, Adam knew he needed some guidance. That’s when he was introduced to The Founder’s Marketing Playbook and he started with Sprint #1: Brand Positioning That Tells a Great Story.
“FMP’s brand positioning guide has radically changed the way I think about product strategy. It really helped me think holistically about my brand and how I could communicate what I want to do in the world through my product.”
Adam was energized by the new perspective and spent a solid week going through the playbook sprint and getting his thoughts in order. Once he completed the exercises, he had his new direction. “I’ve shifted my entire product from a 'give me candidates solution' to a 'let’s change behavior in hiring solution'.”
FMP Templates
Adam’s Brand Questionnaire
Brand Positioning Questionnaire Template
Adam started with the FMP Brand Positioning sprint. After reading through the best practices, watching the video and seeing real world examples, he downloaded the FMP Brand Positioning Questionnaire to fill out.
He shared his progress in Slack office hours to ask questions and get quick feedback. Once he felt he had it in a good place, he scheduled his 1:1 strategy session with FMP founders Ashley Wilson and Raechel Lambert.
Native Current’s Brand Communication Guide
Brand Communication Guide Template
After working through his ideas in our 1:1 consulting session and office hours, Adam created his Brand Communication Guide to clearly communicate his vision and the value his product offers. This can now be used in landing page copy, pitch decks, and for press. He says: “the brand positioning template is gold. I’m basing all of my decisions on that now.”
Getting quick feedback in FMP office hours
A snippet from Adam’s office hours in Slack
Adam found the office hours on Slack to be a great resource. “What’s cool about the office hours is that as I progress and I have new things I’m working on I can share them and get feedback. I have a community.”
Since his background is primarily in engineering, having access to marketing experts has been invaluable. “The FMP team was able to quickly pick up what I’m trying to do.” By going to those with expertise not only does Adam get another perspective, it also helps save time, which is as valuable as any resource for a founder.
FMP 1:1 strategy session
Once Adam worked through the playbook best practices and templates and got quick questions answered in office hours, it was time to dive in with a 1:1 strategy session. That’s when Raechel and Ashley helped him identify and communicate his true mission and how Native Current achieves it.
Adam’s consulting session in Zoom
“I walked away from my consulting session knowing that I had a strong mission and vision but was failing to communicate that through my messaging. FMP gave me the tools I needed to express my thoughts to the world.”
Growing the Native Current product & brand
Though Adam is still early in his journey, he’s focused on what he’s building and knows where he’s headed. He started with a simple product improve diversity at work, and with the help of The Founder’s Marketing Playbook, he’s growing it into something more.
“I would absolutely recommend FMP to others. I feel like more people need to be doing this. Having a great idea is the first step, but to truly go to the next level you need to invest in refining your vision and turn it into something more concrete.”
If you’re ready to take the next step in developing your business, like Adam was, consider signing up for The Founder’s Marketing Playbook.
