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1-Page Summary of Positioning

Overview

Have you ever wondered how certain brands became so successful? For example, Apple or Coca-Cola. Or even Burger King after McDonald’s established itself as a fast food empire? In this book, the author will explain why marketing is important and how to create a successful brand. You’ll find out what positioning is and how to position your product in the market successfully. Then we’ll discuss some of the common traps that marketers fall into and ways to avoid them.

This book was originally published in 1982, and the author revised it in 2001. The following key points are from that version:

Big Idea #1: We’re so overwhelmed with information that our brains filter out most brands we encounter.

Due to the increase in media, we are constantly bombarded with information. This leads us to filter out most of the information that we encounter.

The reality is that we’re bombarded with so much information. For example, the US alone consumes 57% of the world’s advertising. In fact, there are so many ads in our society that people are exposed to over a thousand words on cereal boxes and other products before they even leave their homes. It’s no wonder then that we rank brands and products as if they were on a metaphorical ladder in our minds.

A brand with the most effective marketing strategy will be at the top of our list. We’ll want to buy only from them, and we won’t spend money on other brands.

Two brands that have been highly successful in taking our top spots are Android and iOS. They were so good at marketing that most of us are familiar with only these two operating systems. As a result, they make up almost the entire mobile operating system market together.

So, what can we take away from all this? Well, if you want to stand out in the crowd of other advertisers, your strategy needs to be unique. Otherwise customers will forget about your product.

Big Idea #2: Be the first fish in the pond!

If a product is the first in its category, it will be adopted by consumers. For example, Coca-Cola was promoted as the most successful soft drink and has stayed that way for decades. Our tendency is to remember what we see or hear first in a category while additional products are harder to recall.

For instance, Apple was the first computer to be aimed at higher income earners and has remained so. Even today it sells its products at a premium price point compared to other companies. Polaroid also reaped the benefits of being the first company in that market. Even when their product became outdated they were still able to sell it because they were pioneers in that industry.

Typically, the first brand to enter a market has an advantage over other brands. It can sell twice as much as the second brand and can introduce new products without competing against existing ones.

Coke was the first cola drink to be introduced so it has been around for a long time. The other brands, such as 7-Up and Dr Pepper, are always compared with Coke because they’re similar products. They’ll always have to fight against their predecessor which is Coca-Cola.

If you want to be memorable, it’s better to be the first one with a new idea.

Big Idea #3: To successfully position your product, you need a memorable, trendy marketing approach.

You have come up with a product, but how do you get people to remember it? The key is knowing your market and finding the right marketing angle. First of all, think about trends in the current market.

Marlboro, for example, branded itself as a manly product. This was effective at the time because that brand of masculinity resonated with people. However, Lorilland failed to achieve iconic status because it wasn’t catering to current trends in society.