Positioning - AL Ries Flashcards
Positioning definition
Positioning establishes a product or idea in a person’s mind.
“Cherchez le creneau.”
find the creneau (French for hole) in the consumer’s mind and fill it with your product.
Losing battle
Competing against a brand that’s already established in a consumer’s mind is a losing battle.
Positioning strategy
Positioning helps you build a strategy based on your competition’s weaknesses.
Best approach to over communicated society
In an over-communicated society, the best approach is an over-simplified message.
What is a waste of time?
“Millions of dollars have been wasted trying to change minds with advertising. Once a mind is made up, it’s almost impossible to change it.”
How to be a brand leader?
You get to be the leader by being the first brand into the brain
How to find the creneau
- If everyone is making something big, make it small: Remember the original Volkswagen Beetle.
- If everyone is making something affordable, fill the premium-priced creneau: Joy perfume, Michelob beer, the BMW. High price is effective not only for luxury items, but for mundane ones, as well: Remember the introduction of Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popping Corn
Repositioning the Competition
When you can’t find a creneau you are effectively moving your idea or product in by first moving the old idea or product out. Once an old idea is overturned, selling the new idea is very simple, since people will usually search for a new idea to fill the void.
How does society cope with deluge of messages?
To cope with the deluge of messages that society produces, people rank information in their minds. Before you can position your product, service or anything else, you must first know where it is on the mental ladder of the person (or people) you are trying to influence
Reinforcing your position
This approach commands a special place in the consumer’s mind as the original - like one’s first love - that automatically turns all competitors into poor pretenders. Coca-Cola did this brilliantly by literally accusing competitors of being imitations of “the real thing,”
Position theory vs conventional wisdom
Position theory says you have to start with what the prospective consumer is already willing to give you, and build on that. If prospective consumers have only one positive thing to say about what you have to offer, create your strategy around that one thing. In effect, that’s the creneau that you fill in the consumer’s mind already, so you can win by positioning yourself as the best in that particular area.
