As I promised yesterday, as part of my ongoing Marketing 101 posts, I am going to tackle the concept of positioning. There has probably been enough written to fill a university libary on positioning. Al Ries invented the concept over 20 years ago, and it has become one of the most important issues in marketing today.
So, what is positioning? Well, it's about positioning your business, brand, service benefits relative to your competition in the consumer's mind. Think about Miller beer, in the 70s it was positioned as the beer that you consumed in the golden hour after work. A positioning statement is an internal document that you use to determine all aspects of your business. If something you plan to do isn't consistent with your positioning statement, you don't do it. It also helps you communicate with consumers. Your positioning statement guides what you say to consumers in advertising, PR, in every single communication you have with your customers.
A positioning statement is not something that you actually say to consumers. Miller beer didn't say "its the beer that you consume in the golden hour after work". Miller's advertising used a tag line. A tag line is a consumer friendly sound bite that communicates the positioning statement. In Miller's case it was "It's Miller Time".
Now, there are critics of the Al Ries vision of positioning. They believe that Ries' vision of positioning is a bit antiquated, ignoring some of the emotional elements of branding. Perhaps they are right. However, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Positioing still plays an important part of creating a great marketing campaign.
Here are my views on brand positioning:
1) Pick a distinctive positioning that fits with your company, is credible and is a meaningful benefit to your customers.
2) Make sure that none of your competition can say the same thing, either because you owned it first, or because your organization is unique. Make sure that there is a reason to believe.
3) Be consistent in your brand positioning. Make sure that everything in your organization reinforces that positioning, from print materials to advertising to customer service to your web site to the way your office looks.
4) As you learn more about your positioning, brand and marketing efforts, refine your positioning and try new ways to communicate your positioning.
5) Keep at it. It takes years to build a consistent positioning with consumers on a big budget. When you have a little budget, it takes consistency and creativity to get your message across.
For example, on of my clients, Sharen Realty GMAC Real Estate (yes, it is not a coincidence, it is the family business), has settled on a positioning that they are the real estate company that knows the geographic area better than anyone else. Why should a customer believe that? Because Sharen Realty has been in business for over 50 years, more than anyone else in the area. The third generation of the family is now part of the family business. It's also meaningful to our customer base, since Sharen Realty operates in a resort area, it's important to out of towners to have a realtor who knows the area. We've integrated the tag line "We Know Grand Bend" into the website domain name, into the site itself, into all of our advertising and promotions.
Creating a positioning is really very simple. The closer you are to your customers, the easier it gets. The tough part is having the discipline to execute it throughout your marketing plan, throughout your business operations, and sticking to it consistently.
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