Leading Brands Are Positioned

The weather forecast for the old, traditional ways of advertising is gloomy at best. And nowhere was this more clearly demonstrated than in the recent Atlanta study conduced by Daniel Starch & Staff.

According to Starch, about 25% of those noting a television commercial attributed it to the competition. With virtually no exceptions, high scoring commercials were the brand leaders in their category.

The also-rans didn't fare nearly as well. A David Janssen Excedrin commercial was associated with Anacin twice as often as Excedrin. A Pristeen commercial helped F.D.S., the brand leader, more than it did Pristeen.

This shattering turn of events is certainly "positioning" at work in our over-communicated society. It appears that unless an advertisement is based on a unique idea or position, the message is often put in the mental slot reserved for the leader in the product category.

Clutter is surely part of the reason for the rise of "misidentification." But another, even more important factor is that times have changed. Today, you cannot advertise your product in splendid isolation. Unless your advertising positions your product in relationship to its competition, your advertising is doomed to failure.

I wrote this in 1972 with my former partner Jack Trout. What has changed? Only the names.

Sponsored By: The Brand Positioning Workshop

Comments

[Marcus Osborne]

I'm not really sure if you are arguing for or against positioning! Probably my fault as it has been a long day!

I think you are arguing for positioning, but only if you position your product in relation to your competition. If I am right, then I disagree, vehemently.

Positioning has no place in today's customer economy. At best, it may be of relevance to mass markets but few of us work in mass markets.

Branding today is about identifying segments and communicating and engaging with those segments via relevant channels and with messages that resonate specifically with those segments or niche markets.

At the heart of that relationship must be operational excellence.

I wrote about the death of positioning here:

http://brandconsultantasia.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/is-it-time-to-put-positioning-to-bed/

But Larry Light said it best when he was at McDonalds, “Bringing our brand up to date means that we have to abandon marketing practices & principles that are out of date. So we reject the outmoded view of the positionistas, declaring an end to the out-of-date, simplistic concept of brand positioning; that marketing lock-box that locks brands into uni-dimensional, uni-segment, monotone marketing. Instead we are adopting an up-to-date, multi-segment, multi-dimensional marketing approach.”

[Luis G de la Fuente]

Trends come and go, brands come and go, but human psychology and desires are always the same. That´s because many of your theories will be valid still for many years to come.

Thank you for sharing and publishing your thoughts. I read your books some years ago, and certainly nothing has changed.

[Derrick Daye]

Marcus, thanks for your thoughts. (Same to you Luis) Marcus, I appreciate alternative views. Even the wrong ones. You my friend, are wrong. You know what has changed since this concept emerged? More noise and more competition. What hasn't changed is the human condition. The mind is still struggling with over-communication. Positioning is all about the mind and owning a singular concept in the mind. Positioning requires focus in everything you do as a marketer to own that concept.

I would not quote Larry Light. In fact, you may be the only one who shares his view. It's no secret that my colleague Jack Trout and Larry do not agree on positioning either. Reason being is Larry doesn't understand the concept. Jack makes the positioning argument versus you and Larry below. Much better than I do I might add.

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2008/05/is-brand-positi.html

Marcus - there is a reason you are in the minority on this. Maybe it's just a misunderstanding of the positioning concept?

Best,

Derrick

[Martin Dimitrov]

I’m near the end of my MS in Marketing and for a first time I realize that there are people questioning the positioning concept. Either there are very few of them as Derrick suggested or I’m doing a bad job staying abreast with what’s new in marketing. I read Marcus’ arguments against it and also Jack Trout’s post from May this year. I disagree with Marcus for most of his points are plain wrong and for precisely the arguments Jack states. However, I was surprised to see how easily Jack dismisses Larry Light’s competency. This is the second time his overconfidence raises a warning flag in my head. The first time was the use of “immutable” in the title of “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” – People who have no doubts are not very credible in my book. I’ll try to educate myself more on the alleged cons of positioning.

[Burak Babacan]

Well, this is quite surprising for me to hear that "positioning" is not needed anymore. What is a multi-segment, multi-dimensional approach actually? It sounds to me a different positioning approach for each segment targeted. I think what makes people confused is that positioning is all about differentiation. When there is a tendency to be the cost leader etc. being different sounds like a fancy. Why should I bother myself for a difference which makes sense in the mind of the customer when it is so easy to reduce my price?

However, at the end of the day you are stripped off your value and reduced to being a commodity. No one notices your brand only your price tag. This is anti-branding. Positioning is all about being different. That's why you need a brand to remind people that you are the one who has got a difference. All I can say about anti-positioning people is good luck on the way to becoming a commodity.

[Marcus Osborne]

Derrick, many thanks for taking the time to respond to my comments.

In your response to me, you make the fundamental mistake that the majority of other marketers make – that the human condition hasn’t changed. Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that despite all that extra noise and clutter and, let’s face it, false promises on product capabilities and deliverables; despite the radical changes that have occurred in the way we lead our lives and so on, the tools and channels that we use to source information, the human condition is the same in 2009 as it was in 1969?

The world has been through unprecedented changes since Mr Trout published his first article on positioning. Yet advertising agencies and brand consultants continue to recommend positioning to clients, whatever their industry. I do agree that in its day, positioning could work, and I stress the word could, for large consumer-oriented firms but with maybe one or two exceptions, it is not the right way forward.

It is exactly because of the multiple sources of information available to the consumer, including from those that the consumer respects and, more importantly, believes and the subsequent over-communication of product controlled messages as mentioned by you, as well as the fact that there is an abundance of choice and channels, the consumer can now control the relationship the brand has with them and therefore define the brand.

Indeed, any attempt to ‘own a singular concept in the mind’, or as someone else put it, ‘find an empty space in the consumers mind and then park your brand there’ is basically an expensive exercise in naive manipulative futility.

[Derrick Daye]

Marcus,

Thanks again - I like the spirit of our conversation. I must say out of the gate though, if you are the engine for the anti-positioning movement surely you are also the caboose. Your argument just isn't going anywhere and I blame it on your misunderstanding of the positioning concept. Having said that, your viewpoint is still welcome here.

Let's begin with what marketing is. It's about perceptions not products. Absolutely everything begins and ends in the prospects mind. It is here where brands are built, exist and die. You’ve heard the term perception is reality? Well, yes it really is.

You mentioned the human condition has changed dramatically since 1969, making the concept of positioning obsolete (or almost). My stand on this as stated previously is the human condition has not changed. The mind isn't any better at processing large amounts of information now than it was 40 years ago. As a species we'll have to rely on evolution to help us make the adjustment. We'll also have to add some zeros to the number 40 and fast-forward thousands of years for that to happen. So no, the human condition has not changed as it relates to the mind and marketing.

Your focus seems to be on the external forces that impact the consumer - most of which is brought on by over-communication. Which is precisely the very reason the positioning concept continues be critical in brand management. In fact because of the rise in noise it’s even more relevant today.

Therefore as marketers we have to simplify. Communicate succinctly, in small, relevant doses to own that singular concept. We also have to focus and stand for something, resisting the pull to be everything to everyone. That is at the core of 'Positioning'. Once again it's about the mind - that's where the battlefield is.

Tell me Marcus, if positioning is dead what do you propose is the better way forward?

Looking forward to your response.

Derrick

[Brad VanAuken]

The bottom line: the concept of brand positioning is alive and well. Having said that, the question is how much differentiation should exist at the parent or organization brand level and how much should exist at the sub-brand or market segment level.

Marcus, you are right about going after segments with segment-relevant messages using segment-relevant vehicles, but the real question is, what are each of those messages for each of those segments and how do they relate to the overarching brand message? It all has to work together. So positioning is still very relevant, however it is more complex today. One has to position at an organization level and also (possibly) at a segment level. The balance of how much differentiation is created at each level is extremely important.

Brad