Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know
about the Marketing Canvas Method.
These are the questions I hear most often — from marketing leaders before a workshop, from readers of the book, and from teams running the method for the first time. If your question isn't here, the book covers it in detail.
What is the Marketing Canvas Method?
The Marketing Canvas Method (MCM) is a structured system to diagnose, prioritise, and strengthen your marketing strategy. It gives you a common language and a repeatable process — so decisions are based on evidence, not gut feel or internal politics.
At its core, the MCM maps your strategy across 24 scored dimensions organised into 6 meta-categories: Customers, Brand, Value Proposition, Journey, Conversation, and Metrics. Your scores identify which dimensions are accelerating your growth and which are acting as brakes.
The output is not a slide deck. It is a clear strategic priority list tied to your specific archetype and revenue goal.
Explore the method →What are the 6 steps of the MCM?
The MCM follows a bottom-up sequence — you never start with financial targets and reverse-engineer your strategy. Each step builds on the previous one:
- Step 0 — Lead Segment: Define exactly who you are serving and what job they are hiring you for.
- Step 1 — Strategic Context: Map your market position, competitive landscape, and growth curve (M3) and competitive decision point (M4).
- Step 2 — Revenue Ambition: Set a realistic, mathematically grounded revenue goal for the next cycle.
- Step 3 — Vital Audit: Score your 24 dimensions on a −3 to +3 scale. Identify your Vital 8 — the eight dimensions that determine whether your archetype succeeds or fails.
- Step 4 — Strategic Action Engine: Turn your scores into a prioritised action plan. Fix the brakes first. Then accelerate.
- Step 5 — Strategic Cycle Roadmap: Sequence your actions into a realistic delivery calendar with clear owners and milestones.
What are the 9 strategic archetypes?
Your archetype is determined by three inputs: your Lead Segment's job-to-be-done, your growth curve (M3), and where your customer makes their competitive purchase decision (M4). It is never assigned top-down from financial goals.
The 9 archetypes are:
- A1 — Disruptive Newcomer: Enter and challenge an established market (ex: Tesla, Canva, Odoo)
- A2 — Efficiency Machine: Win on cost and operational discipline (ex: Ryanair, Aldi)
- A3 — Brand Evangelist: Build deep emotional loyalty (ex: Harley-Davidson, Patagonia)
- A4 — Stagnant Leader: Defend a strong position under competitive or structural pressure (ex: Peloton, Sage)
- A5 — Pivot Pioneer: Reinvent the business model before it becomes obsolete (ex: LEGO, Fujifilm)
- A6 — Value Harvester: Extract maximum value from a mature or declining position (ex: Nokia PC division, IBM)
- A7 — Scale-Up Guardian: Grow fast without losing what made you valuable (ex: Airbnb, Spotify)
- A8 — Niche Expert: Own a precise segment with unmatched depth (ex: Hermès, Wolters Kluwer)
- A9 — Category Creator: Define a new market before competition arrives (ex: Nespresso, Salesforce)
What are the 24 dimensions?
The 24 dimensions are the building blocks of your marketing strategy. Each dimension is a specific aspect of how you attract, serve, and retain your lead segment. Each is scored on a −3 to +3 scale — no zero permitted.
They are grouped into 6 meta-categories:
- Customers (100): Job To Be Done · Aspirations · Pains & Gains · Engagement
- Brand (200): Purpose · Positioning · Values · Visual Identity
- Value Proposition (300): Features · Emotions · Pricing · Proof
- Journey (400): Moments · Experience · Channels · Magic
- Conversation (500): Listening · Content & Stories · Media Strategy · Influencers
- Metrics (600): User Acquisition · ARPU · User Lifetime · Budget
Your archetype determines which 8 of these 24 dimensions are your Vital 8 — the ones where your score has the most strategic consequence.
See all 24 dimensions →Who is the Marketing Canvas Method for?
The MCM is built for decision-makers who need to move from debate to direction. In practice, that means:
- Founders and CEOs of SMEs facing a growth inflection or strategic shift
- CMOs and marketing directors who need to align their team around shared priorities
- Strategy consultants and facilitators running client workshops
- Business school students and professors who want a practical, scoreable framework
The method works at any company size. It is more impactful in smaller organisations because the trade-offs are more direct and resources are tighter.
Take the free assessment →Where do I start?
Start with the free Quick Assessment. It takes 10–15 minutes, covers all 24 dimensions with a single scored statement each, and gives you an immediate read of where your strategy is strong and where it is failing.
If you want to go deeper immediately, the book walks you through all 6 steps with real case studies and a complete worked example (Green Clean). If you prefer a structured format for team use, the card deck gives you a physical workshop tool built around the same 24 dimensions.
Start the free assessment →What is the book and what will I get from it?
Marketing Strategy, Programmed is the complete written guide to the MCM. It covers all 6 steps, all 24 dimensions, all 9 archetypes, and includes 20 real-company case studies (from Nespresso to Ryanair to LEGO) that show how each archetype plays out in practice.
It is written for practitioners, not academics. No jargon. No filler. Each chapter produces a concrete output you can use immediately.
Available as a paperback and eBook from Amazon. €25.
Get the book →What is the card deck and how does it differ from the book?
The MCM Card Deck is a physical workshop tool — 24 dimension cards plus archetype and scoring reference cards. It is designed for team sessions, not solo reading.
Use the deck when you want to run a live strategic alignment session: each card prompts a scored conversation on one dimension. The deck forces the discussion out of abstractions and into a number on the table.
The book and the deck are complementary. The book teaches the method. The deck runs it. €50.
See the card deck →Is there a free version of the MCM?
Yes — two free entry points:
- The Quick Assessment at laurentbouty.com/quick-assessment: a scored 24-dimension diagnostic that identifies your likely archetype and surfaces your top strategic priorities. Free, no registration required.
- The marketingcanvas.net reference site: the canonical open-access documentation for the MCM — all 24 dimensions, all 9 archetypes, and the full 6-step methodology explained in detail.
How long does it take to complete the MCM?
It depends on the depth you need:
- Quick Assessment: 10–15 minutes. Gives you a directional read immediately.
- Solo deep-dive using the book: 2–4 hours across a focused working session.
- Team workshop using the card deck or facilitated session: half-day to full day for Steps 0–3.
- Full strategic cycle (Steps 0–5 with implementation roadmap): 2–4 workshops over 2–3 weeks.
The principle across all formats: progress over perfection. A scored conversation that surfaces your real priorities in one afternoon is worth more than a polished strategy document that took six weeks.
Is the MCM only for marketing teams?
No — and this is deliberate. The MCM is designed for mixed teams. The scoring system creates a shared language between marketing, sales, operations, and finance that a slide deck never does.
When a finance director and a CMO score the same dimension independently and compare results, the gap between their scores is often more valuable than either score alone. It surfaces misalignment that has been costing execution quality for months.
The most impactful MCM sessions involve 4–8 people from different functions, not a marketing team talking to itself.
Talk to us about a workshop →What does a facilitated MCM workshop look like?
A standard facilitated workshop runs a half-day to full day and covers Steps 0–3: defining the Lead Segment, mapping the strategic context, setting the revenue ambition, and scoring the 24 dimensions to identify the Vital 8.
By end of day, your team will have:
- An agreed Lead Segment definition with a clear JTBD
- A confirmed strategic archetype (A1–A9)
- A scored map of all 24 dimensions
- A prioritised Vital 8 action list with explicit brakes and accelerators identified
Steps 4–5 (Action Engine and Roadmap) can follow in a second session or be completed internally using the workshop materials.
Enquire about facilitation →Can the MCM be used repeatedly, not just once?
Yes — and it should be. The MCM is designed as a living diagnostic, not a one-off exercise.
Run it at the start of each strategic cycle (typically annually or semi-annually). Re-score your dimensions after a major change — a new product launch, a market entry, a shift in competitive dynamics. Compare your scores over time to track whether your actions are moving the numbers.
Strategic maturity comes from iteration. The first pass shows you where you are. The second pass shows you whether you moved.
Does the MCM work for small organisations?
Yes — often more effectively than for large ones. In small organisations, every strategic choice has a direct resource consequence. The MCM forces the explicit trade-offs that small teams need most: what to fix first, what to defer, and what to stop doing entirely.
The method scales from a solo founder running a quick self-assessment to a 200-person SME running a cross-functional workshop. The scoring system and the archetype logic work the same way regardless of size.
How is the MCM different from a SWOT or a Business Model Canvas?
Three concrete differences:
- It produces numbers, not lists. A SWOT gives you four quadrants of opinions. The MCM gives you 24 scores on a defined scale. Scores force precision. Lists allow everyone to agree without actually agreeing.
- It tells you what to do first. The Business Model Canvas maps your model — it does not tell you which part to fix first. The MCM's Vital 8 logic identifies your highest-leverage actions based on your specific archetype and revenue goal.
- It is anchored to a Lead Segment, not the whole market. The MCM starts with a specific customer with a specific job-to-be-done. Every score, every action is evaluated through that lens — not in the abstract.
Does the MCM require a lot of data?
No — but it requires honesty.
The MCM uses a −3 to +3 Likert scale. You do not need perfect data to score a dimension. You need to make an honest judgment based on what you know, what you observe, and what you can verify.
Where data is missing, the method asks you to state the assumption explicitly rather than skip the question. An acknowledged assumption is a hypothesis you can test. An ignored question is a blind spot you can't see.
The key constraint is not data volume — it is avoiding the temptation to score yourself higher than the evidence warrants.
Is the MCM prescriptive? Does it tell me what to do?
The MCM is directional, not prescriptive. It does not tell you which agency to hire or which campaign to run. It tells you which dimensions are limiting your strategy and what class of action is required to fix them.
The Vital 8 framework is explicit about targets: Fatal Brakes must reach ≥+2. Primary Accelerators must reach ≥+2. Secondary dimensions must reach ≥+1. Whether you hit those scores through product changes, pricing moves, or communication shifts is your call — the MCM shows you the destination, not the route.
This is intentional. The method supports thinking quality, not template imitation.
Has the MCM been validated? Is there evidence it works?
The MCM is a practitioner-built method, tested in real organisations and taught at Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. The book includes 20 case studies — from Nespresso to LEGO to Ryanair — that validate the archetype logic against companies whose strategies are publicly documented.
The framework draws on established academic foundations: Clayton Christensen's Jobs-to-Be-Done theory, Alexander Osterwalder's Value Proposition Canvas, Simon Sinek's Purpose model, and Gerald Zaltman's research on emotion in purchasing decisions — among others.
It is not a peer-reviewed academic instrument. It is a structured decision-making tool built to produce better strategic conversations and clearer priorities than the alternatives most teams currently use.
Read the evidence in the book →Does the MCM integrate sustainability?
Yes — embedded, not bolted on. Several dimensions explicitly assess long-term viability: Purpose (210) scores whether your brand's reason for being is genuinely held or decorative. Values (230) scores whether your stated principles shape actual decisions. Pricing (330) scores whether your model is sustainable relative to the value you deliver.
The MCM does not treat sustainability as a separate track or a compliance checkbox. It treats long-term strategic coherence as a scoring criterion — because short-term optimisation at long-term cost shows up as a pattern in your scores before it shows up in your results.