Brand positioning scored before the first workshop
SmokeLadder scores a brand’s positioning, value points, and differentiation against the competition. From a client you just signed, to the brand you work on every day, you can walk into the kickoff with a clear point of view.
Three moves to lay the strategic groundwork
Start every discussion with data and a direction.
Set the territory on day one, not week six
Value and differentiation are scored separately. So you know before the workshop whether nobody hears the brand, or everybody sounds like it.
Pressure-test a platform against the real category
Every value point carries the average for the brands actually competing. A point the whole field already scores an eight on is table stakes, not a platform.
Show the room the quadrant it’s standing in
The map plots the brand and its competitors on two axes. “We’re different” stops being a conversation and becomes a dot with neighbours.
A direction with the evidence already attached
Every brand is run against the others in their category. Within minutes you’ll have real outputs to use.
Against a category average of 45.8
Of 51 scored in Customer Support
How much it communicates
How far that separates it
Connecting businesses with their customers is Intercom's core value proposition, heavily emphasized throughout the site. They effectively communicate the importance and benefits of strong customer connections.
Risk reduction is not a primary focus. Intercom could improve by discussing how their platform helps mitigate risks around customer churn, data security, or compliance.
Read the breakdown, not the total
62.3 out of 100 and the 82nd percentile both sound like a brand in good shape. The split is the finding: 38.1 of 50 on value, 24.2 of 50 on differentiation. The problem is not volume. Turning up the volume is the brief you would have written from the total alone.
And it says so out loud
Intercom is largely indistinguishable from the average brand in this space, with little visible deviation in features or approaches from category norms.
Scores are a snapshot and move as brands change their sites. Open the full analysis for intercom.com (free account) →
“SmokeLadder gives marketing teams data-driven feedback on their positioning”
In a form you can put straight in the deck
Nothing here needs rebuilding before it goes in front of a client or an exec. The analysis is the deliverable, not the raw material for one.
Premium adds an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and anything else that speaks it — the same scores, with no export step at all.
One tool, four jobs your team deals with every day
Competitor and message audits on one scoring model
Category benchmarks, message inventories and competitor audits that would take weeks of manual scraping.
See the research workflow →Tell prospects something they don’t know about their brand
Analyze any prospect before the call and lead with their score, their rank, and the gaps nobody has spotted.
See the pitch workflow →Brand insights for content and copy that stands out
The space a brand can claim, what sets it apart, and how to shape those ideas into messaging.
See the content workflow →Know the position before the kickoff.
Any brand, any competitor. Free, no credit card.