Positioning Is Not Just About Differentiation
Most business owners know “positioning” as a way to differentiate themselves from their competition, and that’s partially true, but there is more to positioning.
The real purpose of positioning is to make the unfamiliar familiar within a second or two AND differentiate you from your competition, and it is all done at the same time.
That is what makes positioning so powerful. You only have a second or two to catch a customer’s attention. Positioning is the tool you use to get their attention.
Let’s take the example of honey. There are several types of honey, from locally produced honey, to honey made from different types flowers, to the generic mass-produced honey. If someone is selling a 100% natural locally-produced honey that’s derived from the nectar of a particular type of flower, then his label would display the flower in question, show a couple of honeycomb to communicate the 100% natural and display the symbol or flag of his region. That image would instantly communicate his positioning.
The business owner could go as far as displaying a jar that is less sophisticated than the ones you see in supermarkets just to further push the concept of locally made honey.
Let’s take another example of an automobile repair shop. While people are familiar with mechanics, they may not be familiar with a particular car repair shop. If a car repair shop knows that his customers look for a clean shop with well-mannered mechanics, then he could position his shop as such. He could accomplish that with a large photo of his shop looking sparkling clean and his team well groomed and smiling. Then he could add a title to his poster that further pushes the positioning.
There are several ways to communicate your positioning which I will mention in this article.
When Should You Use Positioning?
You should have a positioning for your business and each of your products and services.
How Positioning Is Accomplished
Positioning is best done by associating your business, product or service to something that is familiar to your customers and which has the qualities that your customers seek in you.
Let’s take our honey store example. If your customers are looking for honey made from the nectar of locally grown Sunflowers, then add this to the label. Your customer will instantly associate your honey to that flower.
If they’re looking for 100% natural and locally grown, then your jar and label should all communicate that instantly with the right image and the right jar.
If you are a marketing company with a service that will accelerate or speed the growth of your client’s business, then try to associate your service to a cheetah – The fastest animal on earth.
Positioning Yourself Above, Below or Against?
You can position yourself above, below or against something. Let’s take Avis the car rental company. Several years ago, they positioned themselves as “We’re the No. 2 Rental company and that’s why we’ll work extra hard for you”. This is not word for word, but you get the idea.
They positioned themselves BELOW their main competitor at the time, which was Hertz. Avis’ positioning position them as the underdog and communicated an extra benefit to the client: “They’ll work extra hard to please the client”. That positioning worked like gangbusters. Sales were up and they were on their way to become the number 1 rental company, until they got cocky and began to advertise that they were going number one. They violated their positioning and sales went back down.
You can position your business as the anti-pollution and sell renewable energy solutions. You would position yourself as agaist pollution.
An internet service provider, which provide high-speed internet connection that’s faster than regular cable, can position their product above regular cable connection.
Finding the Right Position
Identifying the right positioning for your business, product an services is the tricky thing. Most business owners come up with an idea and assume it’s the right idea – and often get it wrong.
There is a process you can follow to identify the right positioning for each of your products and services as well as for your business.
The first step is to discover the main qualities or criteria that your customers look for in a business, product or service like yours.
Step 2 is about identifying a “thing” that is familiar to your customers and that posses the criteria or qualities sought by your customers. A thing could be an object, a person, an animal, a concept, an area, etc.
if “softness” is the main quality, then find a thing that is familiar to your customers and which represents softness. By associating your product or service to that thing, you’ll create instant familiarity in the mind of your prospects.
A great example is the Charmin Ultra Soft Toilet Paper. You have the bear sitting on a fluffy cloud. I’m assuming the bear symbolizes strength and the clouds symbolize softness. So it’s soft and it’s strong enough that it won’t break in your hands while you clean yourself – always a good thing. An older example was the downy toilet papers. They showed a fluffy kitten and the name was “KittenSoft”.
You find the right positioning using positioning surveys. The first surveys would be to ask your customers and prospects what qualities or criteria they look for when searching for your business, products and services.
Once you’ve identified the qualities they look for, you’d do a second survey and ask: What “thing”, either people, animal, objects, etc., first comes to mind when I say: “the main quality”.
Use their answers to craft a powerful positioning that will instantly communicate the qualities of your products sought by your prospects.
When to Use Positioning in Your Marketing
Once you have the right positioning, then all of your marketing should be based on it. You only have a second or two to grab your prospect’s attention an that is especially true on the Internet. So use your positioning on ALL your marketing campaigns to crab their attention. Only after you have their attention can you then deliver your powerful marketing message.
