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The
next question that needs to be addressed is how the client’s products,
services or brand(s) are to be “positioned” in the mind of the target
market. Positioning has to do with how the target market perceives and identifies with the brand. In the mind of the target audience, perception equals reality. Of course to succeed in the highly competitive marketing arena, the perception should also BE reality.
If a company positions itself as offering the highest quality product,
it darn well better offer the highest quality product. If it positions
itself as offering the lowest prices it needs to do just that. Abraham
Lincoln was obviously thinking of modern advertising when he said, “You
can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of
the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.”
Positioning is all about how the target market perceives the brand
with respect to its competition -- and how the brand will BENEFIT the
target consumer.
There are numerous ways a brand can be positioned… but it ALWAYS should
be positioned in competitive terms… not some weak, pathetic,
half-hearted claim… but a strong, sustainable and real competitive
advantage.
I’ll give one classic example of positioning and let you take it
from there. If the soft drink market is saturated with cola drinks, you
might want to offer something a bit different -- enter 7-Up® and its
world-famous positioning slogan… “the Uncola®.” (A successful brand even without peanuts or a moonpie.)
Ok, you win… here is another one. If
your beer market research indicates that the market has little
perceived difference between brands, develop a low-calorie beer along
with a cool positioning slogan like, “Lite Beer from Miller®.
Everything you always wanted in a beer. And less!” And
the most famous of all... Bernback's "Think Small" advertising headline
for the 1959 VW® Bug -- created long before the term "Positioning" was
"coined" by Ries & Trout in 1969. [This ad is the number one ad of all time according to Advertising Age Magazine.] These famous advertising slogans are ALL ABOUT POSITIONING. If
you are not “stuck on stupid,” you should be able to see how, in these
examples, all creative aspects work together in communicating the
positioning statement to a specific target audience (note the composition of the visual in the VW ad for example). Now, I’ll let you take it from here…
…uh, except to say that when you create art you are in fact,
creating an image in the mind of the audience. Like it or not, you are
“positioning” the subject of your work in their mind. That is your job. So… since you are in effect doing this anyway, why not be smart and give it more than just a fleeting thought?
True… generally a successful brand will already have a competitive
position… so more often than not, the creative director’s job is to communicate
that position. It is a primary role of the marketing communications
process. Therefore, the "Positioning Statement" has a well-deserved and
honorable place in our journey to creative excellence. Ok, at long last
I will finally let you take it from here…