06 Jun 09 Tyranny of the Market and the Power of Positioning

Jack trout and Al Ries are the names behind arguably the most powerful marketing concept of all time, positioning. Positioning, since the beginning, has become the uniting force behind all the marketing and related activities undertaken by any company to promote its brand or brands. Defined in the simplest of terms, positioning is the battle of mindshare. Positioning refers to the place that a brand has occupied in the mind of its target audience vis-à-vis competition.

As the definition suggest, positioning can only be done in reference to other brands present in the market. If there is no other brand in the market you are serving, you do not need to position your brand. If you are the only player in the market then the entire market is yours, but as soon as the second player enters the market, you need to convey your buyer about the benefits, the brand attributes, brand  personality, brand standing in the market, and the value your brand deliver. You needed to differentiate your brand because you do not want to confuse your customer. If you fail to differentiate, your customers will not buy from you. You need to give your customers the reason to buy as no one likes to do business with a me-too company.

There are many ways to position a brand in the market, and which strategy you will choose depends not only on the nature of the brand but it also depends upon the nature of the competitors as well as the available slot in the mind of the consumer.

The concept of positioning is as applicable for the online products as it is for a product sold in your local supermarket. Both are vying for the customer’s attention, which is getting scarcer. In the today’s world of hyper-competition, just positioning your brand on any attribute will not fetch much result. To get a substantial result, you need to power-position your brand. You need to explore and express the connect between your brand and the customer’s mindset. This can only be done if you are aware of the customer’s changing need. While saying so, I assumed you already have a thorough understanding of your brand. If this is not true then your work should begin with understanding your brand, and finding the community that is more likely to swear by it. If you have a really good product then finding this key will not be difficult, but if you are just another brand in the category, I will suggest changing the business or building a key differentiation in your brand.

Consumers are hyper-active these days. If social bookmarking and social networking have made it easier for you to reach your customer then these services also minimized the distance between two customers. You should keep this in mind, while attempting any trick on your customers. It could mark the end for your brand.

Tags: Al Ries, Attribute, Brand Personality, Brand Strategy, Express, Jack Trout, Market Positioning, Market Strategy, Marketing Activities, Marketing Concept, Marketing Positioning, Mindset, Names, Nature, Power Position, Reason, Supermarket, Target Audience, Trout, Tyranny