14 Marketing Frameworks from Positioning Theory

Those who create products and ideas are usually creatives. The future economy is a creative one. So it should then follow that creative entrepreneurs will succeed, right? False.

The best product doesn’t win, unfortunately. Yet creative entrepreneurs and startups like to think that being successful in business is about creating the best product. It’s not. It’s about achieving mental real estate in the mind of the prospect. Humans can only retain 7 units of information in any particular category, and in positioning strategy this is called the Brand Ladder.

Your goal is to occupy valuable mental real estate, which isn’t done through your product, it’s done through positioning. Follow the below 14 Marketing Frameworks from Positioning Theory and you’ll avoid getting caught in a bear trap.

1. The name begins the positioning process. It must tell the prospect what the products momentum is. The name is the hook that hangs the brand on the product ladder in the prospects mind. In the position era, the single most important marketing decision you can take is what to name the product.
2. If you get into the mind first, any name is going to work.
3. If you didn’t get there first, disaster looms if you don’t select an appropriate name.
4. If a new product is going to be successful, it’s going to require a new ladder. New ladder, new name. It’s as simple as that.
5. One name can’t stand for two distinctly different products. [Think amazon.com categories]
6. Inside-out thinking its he biggest barrier to success. Outside-in thinking, from the prospects mind backwards, is the point of strongest leverage, and ultimately success.
7. Don’t introduce line-extensions and/or vastly different products under one brand. What you want to do is laser-focus on one niche to carve out the mental real-estate in the mind of the prospect. Broaden the base rather than jumping all over the place.
8. Avoid diversification. Don’t manufacture a wide-range of high-quality products. It’s not effective in advertising. Go narrow.
9. In fact, the two concepts of diversification & positioning are poles apart. Target your market with a sniper rifle, not a shotgun.
10. A company may be able to make more money by diversifying, but it should think twice about trying to build a position based on that concept.
11. Conventional marketing wisdom is not positioning thinking.
12. Positioning Theory says you must start with what the prospect is already willing to give you. Outside-in thinking.
13. The best positioning ideas are so simple & obvious that most people overlook them.
14. When you use a recognized authority to give your product credibility, you are tapping a fundamental aspect of human nature and behavior. There’s security in not having to trust your own judgement.

Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind is a book written by Al Ries and Jack Trout. This book defined a new approach to communication, and may have defined the new era of marketing called “Positioning”. This is a book is as much about marketing as it is human psychology.