Blog Post: How to get the positioning from the positioning statement
Search “positioning statement” and you’ll find all manner of formats. The most common go more or less like this:
For (the specific target audience), (brand X) is the (competitive frame) that delivers (core benefit) because (reason to believe).
It’s a helpful discipline as it forces the marketer to distill their brand’s most compelling, most differentiating reasons-for-being down to one sentence, albeit a complex one. Let’s look at three real-world deconstructions:
- To PC users considering new equipment, Mac is the PC that’s more reliable and easier to use because only Macs are built with fully integrated soft ware and hard ware. (30 words)
- To men with erectile dysfunction plus high blood pressure and/or high cholesterol, Levitra is the ED medicine proven effective among men with co-morbidities. (26 words))
- To people who rent cars but don’t like the hassle, ZipCar car service is the more convenient way to drive because its cars are available by the hour, by the day, in the neighborhood. (32 words))
Ok, now that we’ve written positioning statements—never easy, and we’ll discuss “how to” in a future next post—the issue becomes getting the positioning out of the positioning statement. Here’s the point: these sentences run about 30 words—too many for most consumers to easily remember. Where then to focus: on the target, benefit, or reason-to-believe (RTB)? It can’t be all three…
- ZipCar focuses on its RTB. All the car rental services claim “more convenience,” but ZipCar proves it, uniquely and convincingly. (See how at:
- Levitra focuses on its target. With no benefit or RTB advantage, this brand competes by talking specifically--and for the moment, exclusively--to a limited segment of the ED population. (See how at:
- On the other hand, MAC focuses squarely on its benefit: If you can deliver a superior benefit like easier/more reliable, get out of the way. (See how at:
Final comments: Discrete positioning is critical to any business success, and using a positioning format discipline can be helpful, but another step in necessary. Which part of the positioning statement should your communications focus on? Answer: the one that’s most differentiating.
