How To Strategically Position Yourself In An Overcrowded Marketplace
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Strategic Positioning & Branding on November 29, 2007 , trackbackI’m back from a short break. And in this post I thought of sharing something that my clients often ask me about: How did I manage to help them multiply their profits exponentially, usually with minimal expenses (even though I literally did it in front of them). They want me to EXPLAIN my strategies to them.
One of my ’secret’ power tools I regularly use is the creation and development of a solid positioning. When you’ve created a strong positioning for your self/products/services, it’s like having a spotlight shine on you on the stage. All eyes are on you. Sure there may be other supporting cast members in the background with various degree of visibility. But when you do it right, you can be the lead act on the center of the stage.
The problem is…
Creating a positioning is a strategic move. It requires thinking and planning. However, most businesses are focused on marketing activities such as advertising, distribution of flyers/brochures, telemarketing, etc; which are tactical activities. They often neglect to really think about the message (the strategic positioning) that those marketing materials contain. It doesn’t help that most tips and advice found on the Internet are focused on tactical activities. “Do this… do that…” etc.
This explains the proliferation of the ‘me-tooism’ in the marketplace. Everyone is trying to be like somebody else (their competitors, their mentors, their idols, etc). I know many gurus/mentors encourage the concept of modelling, which is to emulate the business/person you want to be like. Heck, I am personally pro modelling.
BUT… while modelling is an excellent method to improve, it’s a very bad strategy for marketing. If you are using this strategy you’ll just be ‘another one of them’. Just think about it. Which famous brand is well-known because they are like another business? Yep! A trick question.
Well-known brands are well-known because they are ‘different from’ not the ’same as’! And yet, most businesses adopt the ‘fight fire with fire’ strategy to compete in the marketplace. For example, if their competitor introduces a new product/service, they will react by launching something similar. This is a ridiculous strategy! You fight fire with water, not fire!
Fighting fire with water means that instead of trying to do the same thing you do something different or unexpected. Carve out your own positioning and create your own niche. It is also a useful strategy to ’steal their thunder’.
Let’s say you are in the beauty industry. If a competitor launches an oil-based anti-wrinkle product, instead of launching something similar, you can introduce a water-based one. And you then explain why water works better and (subtly) explain why other base ingredients (such as oil) is not as effective. Go the opposite direction.
This way you are seen as a leader and an innovator, not a follower.
Here’s a real marketplace example. There are hundreds of toothpaste brands. However there are only a few that have managed to create a solid positioning. You will notice that all of them have differentiated themselves from each other (even though in reality they are competing in the same market).
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Colgate Total: Complete 12 hour protection
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Crest: Fight cavaties
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Close-Up: Freshening Xperience (Freshens your breath. Their positioning is about getting people close together. They even have kissing tips on their website! That is congruency.)
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Ultrabrite: Whitens your teeth
As you can see, they each positioned themselves differently, solving different problems even though essentially at the core, they all help to clean and protect your teeth. Each of them have created their own spotlight so the target market can find them easily. Have you created yours? Or are you just ‘another one of them’?
Hi Sant,
If you have a good positioning and someone copies you and you lost some degree of the positioning, do you create a new positioning? How do you go about that? Thanks.
Raymond
Thanks for your question Raymond. The point about creating and solidifying your positioning is to stand out and get noticed by the market place.
The second part of that is to consistently hammer in that positioning. Once the positioning is established, others who are trying to copy will always look like a copycat. And historically (and psychologically), people don’t like to buy from the copycat.
However, a business is dynamic and about growing. If you keep growing, it’ll be tough for copycats to catch up.
hi sant,
I just wanted to ask you that in business of estate egency how i will be able to determine the buying motives of my customers?
Thanks.
Ahmed Ali
Hi Ahmed,
Most of the time you can ask them outright. “Are you buying for investments or buying to live in it?” There are also many ways to ask the question subtly. However, I think it is fine to just ask outright. Tell them “When I know your needs, I will be able to serve you better.”
Unless you have other specific details about this, I think this is not a serious prob. Cheers