" We wanted what was best...": Awkward positioning
“Positioning” has become a buzzword. Unfortunately, not all marketing workers understand its real meaning; they often confuse it with “specialization,” and very few know how to use it effectively.
And if you use it ineptly, you can only cause significant damage to the corporate image of your company.
For example, the marketing director of one of the leading Russian IT firms told me that their company “positions itself as a manufacturer of integrated solutions.” Integrated solutions are good, but this in no way differentiates your company from other companies that produce or are planning to produce integrated solutions. In a tactical sense, such clumsy positioning evokes sympathy. In the strategic sense - deterioration of the corporate image with the inevitable subsequent loss of potential clients.
It’s even worse to use even more general words like “we are the best”, “we have the highest quality”, which are not supported by facts. Nobody believes such statements for a long time, and consequently, trust in a company that uses such slogans in its advertising is falling.
Rulesurgent positioning
Positioning is not how you describe yourself, but how you place (position) yourself in the mind of your potential buyer relative to other competitors.
And people now see several thousand advertisements a day, and in this chaos, creating a vivid image of your company in their heads is not easy.creative, and a research problem. To successfully create your own bright niche in the buyer’s head, you must first understand which companies have already created their niches in this head and then in one short phrase:
Deposition your competitors
Create your own unique and attractive image.
Express the strategic aspirations of a customer-focused firm.
Moreover, if you are aimed not at the immediate, but at the strategic success of your company, this slogan should be absolute truth, expressing your strategic aspirations in the field of creating increased customer value.
History of success Avis
One of the most successful in the history of world business, in my opinion, is the positioning slogan "We try harder" (" We try harder"), created by the companyAvis in 1963 and is still successfully used by her. The company is engaged in car rental, and ranks second in this market in the world.. The company occupies the first place in the global car rental market Hertz , which is well known to everyone. Thus, Avis just three words:
Depositions its main competitor (they say, “the market leader has reached the top, has calmed down and is not really trying to improve its services”).
Convinces the buyer that the company’s services are better than the services of the leader (“yes, we are No. 2, but we want to become No. 1 and therefore we try much harder for you)
Inspires its employees for the continuous improvement of the company's services (these words have become not just a slogan, but part of the corporate culture and a guideline for making business decisions).
Adjust for the wind
Just as in archery, in order to hit the target, you need to adjust for the wind, so in communication: understand where the wind is blowing in the head of your interlocutor, and make the appropriate adjustment in your message if you want it to hit the target.
To successfully position your offer, you must understand what information about competing offers is already in your prospect's brain, and create a niche in his brain for your offer, clearly defining its position in relation to competitors.
What is your image in the market? Why did you decide this yourself, or did the market suggest it? Are you leading, leading the market, or following trends? Not all solutions are created equal.
To bookmarks
Anton Zhelyabin, co-founder and executive director of Informalno
Let's talk about brand positioning
To put it simply, a brand needs positioning in order to define for itself and explain to the buyer what exactly the company does and how it differs from its competitors.
Positioning is a matter of decision. That is, the organization must determine, based on the information it has, what makes sense to produce and how to present itself. Where can I get reliable information for such a decision?
There are two options: from within the company and from outside. This results in two different types of positioning: introverted And extroverted. Let's take a closer look at them.
Introverted Brand Positioning
Slogan:“We are professionals, we know better.”
Questions, to which positioning responds: “What can we offer the market? Why are we valuable and unique? What are we great at?”
Strategy market presence: it’s good to do what we do best.
Purpose Such a company will determine its uniqueness and search for its consumer.
This way, either large market leaders, monopolists and state corporations, or small entrepreneurs and artisans can position themselves in the market. Wherein development and improvement of the proposal is not at all excluded; it is guided by the idea of one’s own shortcomings and areas of growth. Where are the imperfections of my product or service? What can I do better? What opportunities do new technologies open up for me? We found the answers - we are developing.
Positioning source for such a company - its own uniqueness. What role do the clients we work for play? They bring us money. And this is not a unique role, so the target audience can be changeable and is determined depending on the capabilities (or interests) of our production. Communication with the client, accordingly, is also secondary (even tertiary), since it depends on what (first of all) and to whom (secondarily) we offer.
Criticism of the approach lies on the surface: he is not unreasonably accused of being autistic and isolated from the world of consumers. Such a business has a chance to remain in the role of an unrecognized artist, “writing on the table.” But such a business does not bring joy (money). Such companies achieve success if they fall into a need intuitively (almost by accident), or if they manage to create a new need among customers - for their product.
Extroverted brand positioning
Slogan:"The customer is always right."
Questions, to which positioning responds: “What do consumers need? What is in demand? What is being sold/bought?
Strategy market presence: compete for the consumer.
Purpose such a company will research the needs of its target audience and build its positioning in accordance with it and the market.
This is how the majority of market participants, who make up the unremarkable “gray” mass, position themselves. “What are your competitive advantages? How are you different from your competitors? - we ask such a company. And we will hear in response: “We do the same thing as they do, but cheaper, better, faster...” We will set such a company a development task. Source ideas (as well as for positioning) is the client. We find out his needs, adjust the range, and produce a new product. Happiness belongs to those who succeed in this, ahead of their competitors.
Criticism This way of looking for positioning for your company means that uniqueness is lost. The clients in the market are more or less the same, and based on them, you won’t get different companies. The company loses or does not find itself. Instead, we get into the thick of things, because that’s where something is happening, and we begin to “push with elbows,” making our own lives more difficult.
Which is correct?
Introverted and extroverted are two polar ways of looking for your place. The truth, as usual, is in the middle.
Apple innovates in gadgets by anticipating (and shaping) needs. And their superpower is that they figure out exactly what consumers need before the consumer even knows it. And they hit right on target. And at the same time, they limit the user’s ability to make changes to the devices: “We know best what is best for you.”
Facebook was the first of its kind and evolved in response to the desire to be connected, creating a market need for a social network. Have American students ever thought that they were missing out on the ability to share photos, posts, and messages online? The question is rhetorical. Zuckerberg's team managed to combine its unique capabilities, the resources of the global information network and the emerging need of people to expand the scale of communication. e ten.
There are two types of fashion designers. Some study market trends, look at what people are wearing now, and form their lineup for the current season. Others determine what will be fashionable next summer - they become trendsetters. Those advanced, progressive ideas that consumers are ready for take root.
So, for the powerful positioning that great companies boast, you need to: a) know the customer and b) know yourself. There are a lot of technologies and marketing research of all kinds of consumer markets and competitors. There are much fewer technologies for self-determination. Because some people don’t think about it yet, while others, monopolists, are used to not thinking about clients.
Strictly speaking, of the domestic technologies, now only the Brand Box team Informally allows you to build a brand communication strategy and positioning as part of it at a strategic session.
And you?
What is your company's positioning strategy?
What do you focus on as a professional?
Today I came across a mistake that many coaches, trainers, consultants make - people who, in one way or another, provide psychological assistance to others.
ERROR IN POSITIONING
When a person becomes acquainted with a technique or method that he falls in love with, he begins to sell, first of all, the method. I know people who market themselves as an expert or facilitator on Byron Katie's The Work method. I know a lot of people who specialize in some narrow area of coaching.
That's why I tell my clients, “Please never position yourself as an expert on any method. Promote yourself as a brand. You should be known by your first and last name and by what happens as a result of your interactions with people. How and why this happens is something people are not really interested in.”
If you position yourself as an expert in a certain specific method, then you automatically begin to compete with all other representatives of that method. You will be chosen not by your first and last name, but like potatoes at the market - by price.
PROMOTION OF NOT A METHOD, BUT A BRAND
People don't care whether you use the Work Method, the Sedona Method, coaching approaches, or anything else. What people are really interested in is the result they will get.
If you want to promote yourself as a truly successful expert, as a professional, forget about all the methods that you know. Just write on your website what methods you know, what teachers you study with, but your transformation promise should definitely not contain a method. Describe what will happen to the person when he interacts with you, but do not indicate how you will do it.
When we market ourselves as an expert in a method, we sell ourselves like potatoes. When we market ourselves as a brand that promises a certain transformation in some way or with a whole set of tools, we are selling ourselves as an individual.
Do you want to sell more and have a good income? Be unique! After all, brands, if you work on them, are always expensive!
Career for introverts. How to gain authority and get a well-deserved promotion Nancy Enkovits
Positioning yourself as a valuable specialist
Shoya Zichy, author (with Anne Bidow) of Career Match, offers advice on increasing your popularity. “Join community organizations, donate your time, and take on unusual projects in your company. Look for projects where you can work with people from other departments, and generously share your experience. Whenever possible, write texts for the company and industry magazines. You will become known not as a charming person, but as a specialist who offers valuable services,” Zichy emphasizes the advantages of this method.
As an example, Zichy cites the former director of a large company, a very reserved introvert. This leader knew that he still needed to somehow express himself, but he was not one of those who could endlessly prattle on at receptions. Being an art specialist, he joined the board of directors of a large museum. “All these people volunteer on boards for a reason,” Zichy said. “Their goal is to communicate with the experts who will sit next to each other at the council table.” Community service will allow you to regularly interact with others who share your interests for a year or longer. You will have many opportunities to establish deep and lasting relationships with your colleagues. There's nothing better for an introvert.
Attracting senior mentors
Baruch College has an organization called Executives on Campus. She invites company executives and practitioners to campus to advise, train and supervise students. Thanks to this, students come into contact with their colleagues from other industries. It is impossible to count how many people have already built a career or changed jobs thanks to connections made in this organization.
Dr. Kathleen Waldron, President of Baruch College
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