Value Propositions and Messaging for Forth Ports

Forth Ports is one of the UK’s largest port operators, with a network of ports across Scotland and the South East of England. Its operations support customers across a wide range of industries, from logistics and automotive to construction, energy and defence.

I was commissioned by the marketing agency, ALTAR to support Forth Ports with a major positioning and messaging project. The work involved developing an overarching proposition for the Group, supported by individual value propositions for several of its key markets.

The objective was to create a stronger foundation for how Forth Ports communicates its value, bringing together the scale of the Group, its capabilities and its market experience within a consistent messaging framework.

Defining the overarching proposition

Forth Ports is a large and diverse organisation, with different ports, operations and areas of expertise contributing to the wider Group. One of the central challenges was identifying the strongest common themes across the business and establishing how these could be expressed through a clear overarching proposition.

Working with existing research, internal materials and input from the Forth Ports team, I reviewed how the organisation described itself and identified the ideas with the greatest relevance across its markets.

From this work, I developed the value proposition and supporting messaging, providing a central narrative that could connect the different parts of the business.

Developing market value propositions

The next stage involved applying the positioning at market level. I developed dedicated value propositions for several priority markets, including Unitised & Logistics, Automotive, Defence, Decommissioning, Construction and Offshore Wind.

Each proposition had to reflect the priorities and requirements of its audience, drawing out the parts of Forth Ports’ offer with the greatest relevance to that market.

This allowed the messaging to become more focused at market level without losing its connection to the wider positioning of the Group.

Turning business strengths into customer value

A significant part of the project involved moving from internal knowledge of Forth Ports’ assets, infrastructure and operational capabilities to messaging that explains their commercial relevance.

I worked through extensive source material to identify the strongest points of differentiation, supporting evidence and customer benefits across the organisation.

The resulting messaging connects Forth Ports’ capabilities with the outcomes they support for customers, providing teams with a clearer way to articulate why those capabilities matter.

Creating a consistent messaging framework

With multiple markets and a broad range of services represented, the propositions needed to work individually and collectively.

I developed the messaging within a consistent structure, giving each market sufficient space to communicate its particular strengths while retaining a clear connection with the Group positioning.

The framework was developed primarily as an internal strategic resource, giving Forth Ports a shared foundation for communicating its proposition across the business. The messaging can subsequently inform external communications, including marketing, sales materials and digital content.

Outcome

The project provided Forth Ports with an overarching proposition supported by a suite of market-specific value propositions and messaging.

Together, these give the organisation a more consistent framework for communicating its value across different audiences and areas of the business.

The work provides an internal messaging foundation that can support future communications and help Forth Ports articulate its positioning consistently across different channels.

Please get in touch to see examples of this work.