Positioning – the battle for your mind
Posted on May 21st, 2010 by Paul McArdle – No CommentsI first read this book about 10 years ago. Re-read recently it to refresh my memory of some of the core concepts expounded by the authors – as it is very topical for the company, where we are at presently, and with several important decisions to be made.
1) Binary Review
This one is a pretty easy read, with good insights (and many anecdotes).
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The Book |
What we thought |
 “Positioning – the battle for your mind” by Al Ries & Jack Trout |
Very topical for us |
| Full Disclosure – yes, that’s a tracked link to Amazon shown above. We buy quite a large number of books on a wide range of topics, all relevant to our business in some way. If you did happen to purchase the book from Amazon, they’d throw a few shekels our way, which would help us to buy (and hence publish reviews of) even more books. Hence, Karma would return the benefits to you… |
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2) What does “Positioning” mean?
Depending who you talk to, each person will have their own slightly different slant on the way “marketing” has evolved over the course of the past 60 years or so. There will be many commonalities, though the semantics will vary.
The authors provide the following frame of reference:
(a) The product age (1950s)
The authors state (p27) that:
“Back in the fifties, advertising was in the product era. In a lot of ways, these were the good old days when the ‘better mousetrap’ and some money to promote it were all you needed.”
In particular, the authors note that this was the era of the “Unique Selling Proposition” (USP).
(b) The image age (1960s)
The authors state (p28) that:
“The next phase was the image era. Successful companies count that reputation, or image, was more important in selling a product than any specific product feature.
The architect of the era was David Ogilvy” (whose book “Confessions of an Advertising Man” is one of several I am reading concurrently).
(c) The positioning age (1980s)
When this book was first published (1981), the authors noted:
“Today it has become obvious that advertising is entering a new era. An era where creativity is no longer the key to success.”
In the book, the authors cite an article they wrote in the November 1971 issue of “Industrial Marketing” magazine as the real catalyst for the age – though:
1) Here Al Ries cites an earlier article he wrote in 1969; and
2) It appears that others cite the earlier date.
From my point of view, I really don’t care what the date was.Background to understanding the positioning era is that it has arisen because of multiple explosions:
1) A rapid escalation of the number of products available for purchase; and
2) A rapid escalation in the volume (and “sophistication”) of the marketing communications being provided for all of these.As such, the authors state (p7) that:
“The only defence a person has in our over-communicated society is an over-simplified mind”
At its core, positioning is about simplification of message. The authors put it another way (p29):
“In the positioning era, its not enough to invest or discover something. It may not even be necessary. You must, however, be the first to get into the prospect’s mind”
In a similar vein, people like Jay Abraham have talked about this with titles such as the “Strategy of Pre-Eminence”.
Implicit in the book is that their are two facets to the positioning exercise:
1) The product has to be positioned as #1 (see below) within a given category;
2) The category has to be something that customers actually care about – or can be convinced to care about (what’s the point in being #1 in Antarctic refrigeration services?)
(d) What’s next?
Though it obviously could not have been the subject of this book (given it was first published in 1981) the commentariat has begun suggesting that the next age will be the “Distribution Age”.
Given the success of “Long Tail” businesses of Amazon and Google, there is certainly evidence that could be read (by some) to imply that this might be the case – however that’s not the topic of this post.
3) What Positioning means for us:
In my mind, having a clear positioning (for the company, or for a particular product) makes decision making easier:
1) Internally, it makes it much easier to determine what we should, or should not be focused on, each day (i.e. positioning is about defining “what’s core”, in the terminology of Geoffrey Moore).
2) Externally, it works the same way – if a potential customer is aligned with the positioning of a product (or a company) it makes a purchasing decision easier (the converse is also true, and is just as valuable, as it saves the customer’s time in completing a detailed assessment of your fit for their purpose if your positioning is not aligned with their needs).
4) Selected lessons from the authors
For our own future reference across various people in the company, I have chosen a few points to summarise. These may not be the most important lessons for you!
Lesson 1 = “Imprinting” is important
The authors note (p22) that imprinting:
“… is the term animal biologists use to describe the first encounter between a newborn animal and its natural mother”
In the book, the authors hold that this is a key determinant of the success of a particular product.
Lesson 2 = First (or second) or out!
There are two key points made by the authors (chapter 4) in this respect:
1) Firstly, the authors note that each individual has “little ladders in your head” that are used to store relative rankings of things.
2) Secondly, “you see what you expect to see” – hence for the product ranked 1st in that ladder, the perception of what is seen will reinforce that positioning.
This is the power of incumbency – however it is important to realise that this is incumbency in the client’s mind, and maybe not in terms of (current) “facts”. The authors imply that perception turns into reality, as customers collectively act on their perceptions.
This approach culminated in the famous edict of Jack Welch that GE would be 1st or 2nd in any market category, or they would exit.
Lesson 2A = First is Best
The authors hold that this is a key determinant of the success of a particular product.
They do not state that it will guarantee success, but they do imply that it becomes infinitely harder if one is not first.
Lesson 2B = Second can Still Work
The authors cite the AVIS campaign (“We try harder”) as an example of where being #2 in a category can be a reasonable (if still not ideal) position to compete from.
A key in this proposition is that the #2 competitor can gain from contrasting (and hence attaching) themselves to the #1 company in that category. In the words of the authors (p45):
“Positioning has nothing to do with whether you mention a competitor or not. It has to do with considering competitive strengths and weaknesses before you launch a marketing campaign”
Lesson 2C = Create a new category, if Third (or below)
The underlying lesson in the book is that, if you can’t be the #1 (or, at a pinch, #2) in a category, create your own distinct category.
For instance, if you can’t be the first pilot to fly across the Atlantic (Charles Lindbergh), be the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic (Amelia Earhart). In this way, you will enhance your “stickiness” in the prospect’s mind.
Lesson 3 = Your position dictates your strategy
Should be obvious, really:
Lesson 3A = If you are a Leader
In the original text (1981), the authors strongly advocate that you should not feel the need to promote a “we’re #1” message – and state that doing so would just imply (to the customer) some sense of insecurity on your part.
In the updated notes (2001) the authors accept that such promotion might be necessary in a market of growing size – but state that it should be done with modesty.
“The real thing” by Coca-Cola is the classic case in point stated here.
Lesson 3A = If you are a Follower…
… don’t compete “head-to-head”
The authors devote a chapter (#5) to this. They term it “you can’t get there from here”.
In our limited (10 year) history to date, in a narrow vertical market, we have already made choices like this – not to compete head-to-head with the incumbent “number 1”.
A different variation (that of “repositioning the competition”) is dealt with in chapter 8.
Lesson 4 = House of Brands
Perhaps it is my own personal preference, but the authors seem to strongly support a principle (such in Proctor & Gamble) of employing a brand specific to each category of service (in their case, Ivory is soap, Tide is detergent, Cascade is dishwashing etc…).
Lesson 5 = Look for the hole in the client’s mind
The authors devote a chapter (#7) to this principle.
This has been the subject of many books (such as the vaunted “Blue Ocean Strategy”, which covered both positioning a product, but also actually developing & delivering it).
Lesson 6 = The power of a Name
The authors devote a chapter (#9) to this.
Given that we acknowledge our current company name is worse than poor, and needs changing, this chapter (in particular) will be worth several of us reading, to ensure the best input.
Certainly we will be hunting for a low-syllable name – and definitely no acronyms (the subject of chapter 10).
Lesson 7 = Don’t Line-Extend
Short-term gain but major long term pain (chapters 11, 12 and 13). Enough said!
p158 provides 5 useful pointers for when (according to the authors) it is ok to use a house brand:
1) Small volume
2) (Already) crowded field
3) Small-budget
4) Commodity, not breakthrough
5) Items sold by sales reps.
Lesson 8 = A company should stand for something
According to the authors (chapter 14), the company needs to be a leader in something:
1) Product leader
2) Business leader
3) Industry leader.Are we a product leader (because of NEM-Watch, ez2view and deSide, for instance) or are we an industry leader – or a bit of both?
Lesson 9 = Start with where you are
The first step in a positioning exercise is to understand where the prospect currently positions us – NOT where we want to be (that comes later).