What seven concepts are critical to brand positioning?
1. Perception (their’s, not your’s)
2. Differentiation
3. Competition
4. Specialization
5. Simplicity
6. Leadership
7. Reality
To sell concepts, products and services, marketers have to understand how the mind works:
1. The mind is a limited container.
2. The mind creates “product ladders” for each category (cars, toothpaste, accounting services, hamburgers, etc.) There is always a top rung and a bottom rung in each category.
3. The mind can only remember seven items in a high interest category. Most people remember only two or three items in a category.
4. On the product ladder, Positions One and Position Two typically account for more than 60 per cent of the sales in that category. In other words, Positions Three, Four and Subsequent are not profitable.
5. The mind hates complexity. To the mind, complexity equals confusion. People don’t have time to figure out confusion.
6. The best way to enter the mind is to OVER-SIMPLIFY the message.
7. The most powerful positioning is to reduce your message to one simple and easily understood word.
8. Minds are insecure. Most people buy what others buy: this is the “herd mentality.”
9. Minds don’t change—easily.
The Blake Project Can Help: The Brand Positioning Workshop
Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education
