Positioning (Trout Ries)

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Creating the perception of a product / brand /company identity. Explanation of Positioning of Trout & Ries. ('69). Explanation of Reverse, Breakaway, Stealth Positioning by Moon. ('05)


  

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What is Positioning. Description

Positioning is a marketing method for creating the perception of a product, brand, or company identity. Starting from 1969, two young marketing guys, Jack Trout and Al Ries, wrote, spoke and disseminated to the advertising and PR world about a new concept in communications which they called positioning. The term was actually first mentioned in a paper by Jack Trout: Positioning is a game people play in today's me-too market place, Industrial Marketing, Vol.54, No. 6, June 1969, pp.51-55. Their 1981 book about Positioning: "The Battle for Your Mind" became a bestseller. Until then, advertising agencies had primarily been basing their media campaigns on internally conceived benefits of the client's product.
 

According to Trout and Ries, "positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect. That is, you position (place) the product in the mind of the potential buyer". Since that time in marketing, positioning is the technique in which marketers try to create an image or identity for a product, brand, or company in the perception of the target market. What matters is how potential buyers see the product. It is expressed relative to the position of competitors. Typical positioning tools include graphical perception mapping, market surveys, and certain statistical techniques.
 

Competitive Edge and Positioning

A successful positioning strategy is usually based on a sustainable competitive advantage of a company. Positioning can be based on several things, including:

  • Product features

  • Benefits, needs, or solutions

  • Use categories

  • Usage occasions

  • Placing and comparing it relative to another product

  • Dissociation of the product class

Three bases of positioning can be distinguished

  1. Functional (solve problems, provide benefits to customers)
  2. Symbolic (self-image enhancement, ego identification, belongingness and social meaningfulness, affective fulfillment)
  3. Experiential (provide sensory stimulation; provide cognitive stimulation)

Steps in Product Positioning. Process

  • Identify competing products

  • Identify the attributes, also called dimensions, that define the product 'space'

  • Collect information from a sample of customers about their perceptions of each product on the relevant attributes

  • Determine the share of mind of each product

  • Determine the current location of each product in the product space

  • Determine the target market's preferred combination of attributes. These are called: an ideal vector.

  • Examine the fit between: the positions of competing products, the position of your product and the position of the ideal vector

  • Select the optimum position

Three Positioning Strategies by Youngme Moon

In an HBR article of May 2005, Youngme Moon introduced three variations of Positioning that can be used to break free from Product Life Cycle thinking. Companies can change how consumers perceive them. By Positioning or often Repositioning their products in unexpected ways. Three positioning strategies that marketers use to cause a mental shift at consumers are Reverse, Breakaway, Stealth Positioning:

  1. Reverse Positioning. This method removes "sacred" product attributes. Simultaneously new attributes are added that would typically be found only in a highly augmented product. For example IKEA is not delivering to your home the products which you have bought, and it offers no sales consultancy. But IKEA added: children drop-off, cafe, toys). Recommended for: Services companies.

  2. Breakaway Positioning. This method associates the product with a radically different category. By manipulating the cues of consumers of how they perceive and categorize a product, a firm can change how consumers frame a product. (ex. Swatch > no longer in category Swiss Watches, but in Fashion Accessories). Recommended for Packaged Goods companies.

  3. Stealth Positioning. This variant gradually interests consumers for a new offering, by hiding the product's true nature. For example Sony's AIBO robot was positioned as a lovable pet. This shifted consumer's attention away from its major limitations as a household aide. It apparently even turned elderly people into early technology adopters. Recommended for: Technology companies.

Book: Jack Trout and Al Ries - Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind -

 

Positioning Special Interest Group


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Positioning Forum

Recent User Comments
Manoj Sahay - India Reposition or Relaunch? "I would like to know if repositioning is a good strategy or should we change the brand and re-launch the product? As Al Ries and Jack Trout have mentioned the most wasteful expense that a company could do is to try to change the mind of the prospect; it is almost impossible to ctrl alt del any information from a human mind."    2
Doucoure - Mali Be the First "I would like to know the meaning of this phrase: "...if you can't be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in"."    1
Sidd - India Positioning of Products / brands / companies "This site is really useful and awesome for any reference regarding Product and Brand Management! :)"    1
 - India Example of Poor Product positioning "Is there an example of confused positioning? What have been the market consequences to that?"    -1
Ries and Trout - USA 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing "Another well-known publication by Ries and Trout is the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (1994): #1 It is better to be first than it is to be better. #2 If you can't be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in. #3 It is better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace. #4 Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions. #5 The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind. #6 Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect's mind. #7 The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder. #8 In the long run, every market becomes a two horse race. #9 If you are shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader. #10 Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories. #11 Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time."    -2
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Positioning Education & Events


 

Compare with Positioning:  Marketing Mix  |  Extended Marketing Mix (7-Ps)  |  Product/Market Grid  |  Co-Creation  |  Porter Competitive Advantage  |  BCG Matrix  |  Product Life Cycle  |  McKinsey Matrix  |  Innovation Adoption Curve  |  Profit Pools  |  Four Trajectories of Industry Change  |  Disruptive Innovation  |  Framing

 

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Copyright 2009 12manage - The Executive Fast Track. V10.4 - Last updated: 11/7/2009. All names tm by their owners.

  ● Christian (Netherlands) Definitions of Re-Launch and Re-Positioning "Dear Manoj, I believe changing the brand or a re-lauch could be a type of a re-positioning strategy. Based on your comments I can't determine the real problem you're facing with your product or service towards your customers. Therefore it is difficult to judge whether re-positioning would be necessary and if so, how this should be executed. For instance, if there is a demand problem within the category it is not enough to change the brand. Have you done research to the exact reasons why people don't buy (enough)?"
  ● Barbara Noureldin (United States) Repositioning Product "I need more detail in order to give any opinion on my part. I am an experienced marketing and product development person specializing in the inport food industry. "
  ● S K Bal Palekar (India) Reposition old brand or launch a new one? "This question is similar about an old house - whether to repair it or demolish and construct a new one? THERE IS NO GENERAL ANSWER but it depends on specifics. If (1) top of mind awareness is high and if (2) character of image strong; I would try and reposition the old brand provided the PROBLEM IS ONLY ON FEW ATTRIBUTES and which can be corrected. But if these conditions do not exist, I would go for a new brand. Hope this helps!"
  ● Sanjay (India) Product repositioning "Manoj, it is very case specific and unless we kow the exact situation prevalent it would be shortsighted to comment countermeasures"
  ●  (Netherlands) Marketing Solutions "Please determine your choice, have a look at: Successfull brand repositioning, Aspirational vs. achievable Strategies McKinsey Marketing Solutions Good luck, Jeroen Snijders"
  ● Anthony Belon (Malaysia) Trout & Ries - Radical Thought-Leaders. "Both men were radical thought- leaders in marketing for advocating that "positioning" was about "projecting" a product systematically and stretegically into the mind of customers."
  ● Kovit (Moonlight) Relaunch - Reposition "Relaunching should mean reintroducing products to the market, making customer aware of the product that is available. Redo again.
Repositioning should mean to find the strenght of product and re-differentiate the product in comparison to the competition in the market. Where is the best suit to the product in comparison to competitors and customers aspect."
  ● Homer Alcon (Philippines) Evaluate the Expected Returns "An evaluation of returns from the investments of both alternatives would be recommendable. Returns would be long and short term returns."
  ● MehaK (Vaswani) Factors to Decide for Repositioning or Continuation "How has the product/service positioned itself in the current market?
What are the target customers or market segment to which the product is designed for?
What are reasons for considering a repositoning strategy?
Is there a differential strategy or cost leadership strategy?
Is the product losing its market share?
These factors have to be considered before the strategy is planned."
  ● Dr. Uditha Liyanage (Sri Lanka) Re-positioning vs. Re-launch: 4 Combinations! "There are four possible combinations. You can both re-position and re-launch or do one and not the other, or not do both.
Re-positioning entails a change of the mental category or the frame of reference in which the brand is located in the consumer's mind.
A re-launch entails a change of the marketing-mix employed for the brand."
  ● Luis Mazatán (México) Re-launch Re-position "There may be many solutions for the same problem some easier, faster or more effective, the thing is that there are not enough information about your problem to give a recomendation. to take the decision to re position, re launch, or any combination must be done after a complete analisys of the case."
  ● K. Gopalakrishnan (India) Repositioning and Relaunch "Relaunch can include repositioning. Relaunch is much more than repositioning. Relaunch of a product can be even rebranding."
  ● Mathias Mkama (Tanzania) Re-position or Re-launch "I have gone through the reactions of many people. Yes, I agree with the reactions but doing reposition or re- launch is the only way to boost the products or brand and make it marketable for attracting customers and hence make it stay in the competitive market.
Sometimes too this can be applied tn managerial positions or at work to make employees increase the efforts beyond targets through means of motivation and team work of which makes employees feel part and parcel of the organisation or that business. So I urge managers of all kind to apply this strategy to achieve their goals."

  ● Johann (Germany) Create your own Category "It probably means every firm can be positioned as a leader if you make the market / niche small enough..."


  ● Ruchi Agarwal (India) Confused Positioning Example "An example of confused positioning is Bournvita. Sometimes it claims for nutrition and sometimes for height. The market consequences is that there is no fixed image in the mind of prospects."

  ● Ries and Trout (USA) 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing "#12 There is an irresistible pressure to extend the equity of the brand. #13 You have to give up something to get something. #14 For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute. #15 When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive. #16 In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results. #17 Unless you write your competitor's plans, you can't predict the future. #18 Success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure. #19 Failure is to be expected and accepted. #20 The situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press. #21 Successful programs are not built on fads, they're built on trends #22 Without adequate funding, an idea won't get off the ground."