Tweet

Positioning Basics

Written by: Rebel Brown

Article Overview: There is no one-size-fits-all approach to strategy and positioning. Anyone who says there's a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn't get it. Strategic positioning is more art than science. And each and every client is a new canvas. Great positioning is as unique as every situation. You have to be flexible, nimble. My ‘methodology' is more a way of thinking about things. I don't really have a checklist or set of step-by-step instructions.

Positioning Basics



People often ask me for a written version of my process. They assume I have a paint-by-numbers approach to creating the strategies, positioning and stories that are part and parcel of my consulting business.

They couldn't be more wrong. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to strategy and positioning. Anyone who says there's a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn't get it. Strategic positioning is more art than science. And each and every client is a new canvas.

Great positioning is as unique as every situation. You have to be flexible, nimble. My ‘methodology' is more a way of thinking about things. I don't really have a checklist or set of step-by-step instructions.

Positioning is best thought of as a matrix of elements that can be combined in various way to create a relevant and compelling story for the situation at hand. The key is to be concise with compelling core positioning statements (3-5 maximum) and then support those statements with wide and varied evidence that can be applied based on their specific relevancy. The core statements serve to keep your story consistent, while the diverse evidence let's you demonstrate your value in diverse ways.

Once you develop the right matrix, you can weave a story that is compelling at every level - and support it with the right threads of evidence to make your point. Just be sure your evidence threads are primarily around customer stories and anecdotes - which in my experience are the best way to bring the stories to life.

In my own practice, I weave the fabric of your story around 3 key story lines or layers of messages. All other story threads (e.g., evidence) must enhance these three fundamental positioning statements. I give different story lines and/or evidence threads priority depending on the client situation (e.g. turnaround, start around, start up) and the project purpose (e.g., product or company launch, M&A strategy, fund raising, go to market strategy). Then there's my own gut feel, which in the end is usually the deciding factor. Thirty years of experience gives one's intuition a lot of fodder (along with the grey hair).

So what are my 3 story lines, or layers I mention above?

Your Company: Including who are you today and how your customers perceive you, your core expertise and value (often skill-based versus IP-driven), your successes in customers, your ‘legacy' that can be applied going forward. I also make sure messaging in this area subtly addresses issues like negative customer perceptions, a fading image, a changing focus into new markets where you may not be known. Your Solutions: As you're thinking through solution positioning, focus on the ‘So What?' value your solutions bring to customers. Solution messaging should make a clean concise statement of your solutions' business value. Then prove that value with evidence, preferably in the form of customer stories. Solutions include products and services, as well as expertise.

Your Market: As part of positioning your company and its solutions, you also have to tell the story of the market. Be thoughtful as you build the case for why your company and its solution are needed, and the value they bring. Demonstrating an understanding of the current market, as well as a vision for the future, is critical in positioning your company as an expert that customers can trust.

For each area - create a single strong statement of your leadership (OK, sometimes you can have two). Then collect every morsel of evidence you can to support those statements. From there, create a top level story with the 3 messages - and then evidence that story with the anecdotes and numbers and facts you have (customer-centric) that are most relevant depending on the situation.

In all areas I rely on the qualitative information (the art) as much or more than I do the quantitative information (the science).

Above all, you have to learn to follow your gut, your instincts - and those instincts need to be founded in a customer-centric perspective.

Related Articles
  Develop Your Positioning Statements
  Executive Level Positioning
  Your Personal Positioning Statement
  What Are The Basics You Need To Do Brilliantly?
  3 Key Reasons A Business Needs To Keep Books

Article Tags: amp, anecdotes, canvas, client situation, consulting business, core statements, customer stories, different story, fabric, launch, matrix, methodology, paint by numbers, priority, project purpose, relevancy, strategy fund, thinking about things, threads of evidence, turnaround



Related Forum Posts
Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
Book: Secrets of Six Figure Women - Secrets of Six Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to up your earning and change your life Barbara Stanny, 2002 Jacket: Maybe you've noticed - a subtle trend is gathering steam. Quietly and steadily, the number of women making six figures or more is increasing, and it continues to rise at a rate faster than for men. From entrepreneurs to corporate executives, from white collar executives to free lancers and part timers, women are forging careers with considerable financial success. Through extensive research and hundreds of interviews, including dialogs with more than 150 high earners whose annual incomes range from $100,000 to 7 million, Stanny discovered that ...they all had certain traits in common: 1) a profit motive 2) Audacity 3) REslience 4) Encouragement 5) Self-awareness 6) Non-attachment 7) Financial knowhow She amplifies on these in the book itself. Table of Contents Intro: Welcome to the era of the six-figure woman 1. The Queen in the Countinghouse 2. The Lowdown on low earners 3. Raising the bar 4. Strategy 1: The Declaration of Intention 5. Strategy 2: Letting go of the ledge 6. Strategy 3: Get in the Game 7. Strategy 4: Speak Up 8. Strategy 5: The Stretch 9. Strategy 6: Seek Support 10. Strategy 7: Obey the rules of money 11. Claiming our power Appendces: Resources and websites Tips for getting out of dent Investing Basics: Wealthbuilding 101


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How To Be Happy at Work? Acknowledge Yourself

African Technology Development

Web Design in 30 Minutes - Can this be Right?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.