Which Has The Better Business Position - You or Your Competition?

Positioning has changed the way the advertising game is being played today.  “We’re the third largest-selling coffee in America,” say the Sanka radio commercials.  The third largest?  Whatever happened to those good old advertising words like “first” and “best” and “finest”?  Well, the good old advertising days are gone forever and so are the words.  Today you find comparatives, not superlatives.   

“Avis is only No. 2 in rent-a-cars, so why go with us?  We try harder.” 

“Seven-Up:  the uncola.”

Along Madison Avenue, these are called positioning slogans.  And the advertising people who write them spend their time and research money looking for positions, or holes, in the marketplace.  But positioning has stirred up interest well beyond Madison Avenue.  With good reason.  Anyone can use positioning strategy to get ahead in the game of life.  And look at it this way:  If you don’t understand and use the principles, your competitors undoubtedly will.

Positioning is a marketing strategy book, written by well-respected authors Al Ries and Jack Trout.  The point of the book is to demonstrate that since our society is so inundated with hundreds of thousands of products on a daily basis, the point is not merely to make changes to our product so that it will beat the competition’s product.  The best strategy is to “position” your particular product so that it effectively remains in the mind of your prospective client/customer.  

There may be 10 other companies on your block that are offering the same product or service as you are, so what is your unique niche that will cause consumers to stop and choose YOU above the rest?  

The chapters deal with the specifics of Positioning, with the authors having done over 1,000 talks on the subject to more than 21 countries to those involved in marketing groups, including:

1. What Positioning Is All About
2. The Assault on the Mind
3. Getting Into the Mind
4. Those Little Ladders in Your Head
5. You Can’t Get There from Here
6. Positioning of a Leader
7. Positioning of a Follower
8. Repositioning the Competition
9. The Power of the Name
10. The No-Name Trap
11. The Free-Ride Trap
12. The Line-Extension Trap
13. When Line Extension Can Work
14. Positioning a Company: Xerox
15. Positioning a Country: Belgium
16. Positioning an Island: Jamaica
17. Positioning a Product: Milk Duds
18. Positioning a Service: Mailgram
19. Positioning a Long Island Bank
20. Positioning a New Jersey Bank
21. Positioning a ski resort: Stowe
22. Positioning the Catholic Church
23. Positioning Yourself and Your Career
24. Positioning Your Business
25. Playing the Positioning Game

The business of marketing has changed in many ways over the years; especially in light of the technology we see today that wasn’t even in existence 10 years ago.  Whether you've been in the business for years or you are a beginner in the world of marketing, it is well worth your time to pick up this invaluable read.

Your position in your industry matters - what advice can you share about your own strategies of standing out among the competition that has brought significant results?

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