Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Positioning: The battle for your mind

By Al Ries and Jack Trout

The book says that people usually can only remember the top three things in any given category. If we try to name as many brands as you can, you will be able to name only very few brands. If you are not in that mind space of the audience then you are not a good enough brand.

There are two major ideas that are discussed at length in the book.

One, the brand that gets in the mind of the consumer first wins. The crux of the idea is that you cannot make in-roads in an existing market by attacking the market leader. Due to its power, the market leader will beat you every time. Instead, the authors argue that you have to position your product or company or person in the mind of the consumer, in relation to the market leader. And forcing your idealized position on the mind of the consumer won't work, so your position often starts with the existing public perception of your product or service or idea. The example used a lot of times throughout the book is Avis. Avis was not going to convince the public that they were the number 1 auto rental agency. Everyone knew that Hertz was #1. Hence the campaign: "Avis is only No. 2 in rent-a-cars, so why go with us? We try harder." This throws a lot of light on how knowing your position in the market and playing accordingly to win the customer’s mind works.

Secondly, line extension is bad. A company that has a strong foothold in a product/service category is better off staying and improving operations in that category than to stray into another totally different category.  Companies should stick to what their original purpose is. By spreading themselves too thin and extending their product lines, they can confuse the consumers and deplete their brand value. However, since the book has been published, much has changed in the world of marketing. There have been cases where businesses have defied the line extension rule that the authors spell out, and managed to succeed.

The book presents the concept of positioning, and the associated challenges and opportunities. What sets this book apart is the plethora of examples that are provided from a variety of industries (both services and products) that illustrate both how position can and should be used, and how it shouldn't be.

Positioning is an organized system for finding a window in the mind. It is based on the concept that communication can only take place at the right time and under the right circumstance. Leaders should use their short-term flexibility to assure themselves of a stable long-term future. As a matter of fact, the marketing leader is usually the one who moves the ladder into the mind with his or her brand nailed to the one and only rung. This is the classic mistake made by the leader. The illusion that the power of the product is derived from the power of the organization. It's just the reverse. The power of the organization is derived from the power of the product, the position that the product owns in the prospect's mind. But today in the product arena and in the political arena, you have to have a position. There are too many competitors out there. You can't win by not making enemies, by being everything to everybody. To win in today's competitive environment, you have to go out and make friends, carve out a specific niche in the market. Even if you lose a few doing so. With a good name your positioning job is going to be a lot easier. A name is a rubber band. It will stretch, but not beyond a certain point. Furthermore, the more you stretch a name, the weaker it becomes. The lesson here is that a successful positioning program requires a major long-term commitment by the people in charge. The solution to a positioning problem is usually found in the prospect's mind, not in the product.