Positioning: A powerful marketing concept that authors and publishers can use
A few years ago, I picked up
Positioning
, by Al Ries (with Jack Trout). It's a quick read, and an old book (it was written in the 1980s, and based on a series of articles for Advertising Age that date from the early '70s) but it was recommended by Lean Startup practitioner Ash Maurya, author of Running Lean. When I began writing books, I used some of the ideas in Positioning to position this Dropbox guide as well as a second guide that explains how to use Google Drive. But it wasn't just the technical topics that appealed to people -- I actually created a series of guidebooks that can be read in 30 minutes. I learned from customers that this "positioning" is very compelling. It's worth digging into the concept to learn how it can be applied elsewhere, while keeping in mind that there are some limitations.
Positioning starts with several compelling premises. First, we are constantly bombarded with marketing messages. "We have become the world's first overcommunicated society," Ries writes. "Each year, we send more and receive less." As a result of the huge volume of marketing messages, advertising is like a "very light fog that envelops your prospects." Note this was written long before the advent of the World Wide Web and mobile phones!Beyond the challenge of getting noticed, is the issue of convincing people to believe in the messaging. According to Ries, this is where many companies make a big mistake -- trying to change audiences' minds that their products are better than the market leaders.
"Were the average consumer rational instead of emotional, there would be no need for advertising," Ries says. The reasoning here: Customers would gravitate toward better-quality products, regardless of who produced them or how they were marketed. Of course, that's not what happens -- people tend to gravitate toward the familiar brands and products at the "top of the ladder" for each product category. And knocking the market leader off that ladder with claims about quality is nearly impossible.
Therefore, according to Ries, it makes sense to work with what customers already know. Strategy should be built from the perspective of ...
Read the rest of the entry
Positioning starts with several compelling premises. First, we are constantly bombarded with marketing messages. "We have become the world's first overcommunicated society," Ries writes. "Each year, we send more and receive less." As a result of the huge volume of marketing messages, advertising is like a "very light fog that envelops your prospects." Note this was written long before the advent of the World Wide Web and mobile phones!Beyond the challenge of getting noticed, is the issue of convincing people to believe in the messaging. According to Ries, this is where many companies make a big mistake -- trying to change audiences' minds that their products are better than the market leaders.
"Were the average consumer rational instead of emotional, there would be no need for advertising," Ries says. The reasoning here: Customers would gravitate toward better-quality products, regardless of who produced them or how they were marketed. Of course, that's not what happens -- people tend to gravitate toward the familiar brands and products at the "top of the ladder" for each product category. And knocking the market leader off that ladder with claims about quality is nearly impossible.
Therefore, according to Ries, it makes sense to work with what customers already know. Strategy should be built from the perspective of ...
Read the rest of the entry
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