When companies position their products or services, they are trying to create associations in the minds of their prospective customers. They typically initiate the positioning process by coming up with a great message or tagline—hoping that does the job.
Even if you don't purposely position your products, they are positioned anyway... because all products already have associations in customer's minds. The question is whether those associations are the ones you want people to have.
If you don't purposely position your product, your competition and your customers will do it for you. What's more, you won't like it—because your competitors have an incentive to make sure your position isn't very attractive. Your customers, meanwhile, will have no idea what your products stands for, so they'll come up with something on their own.
Positioning is strategic
There is some confusion about how a position is created. Many people think that a great message is your position, but it's not. A tagline, brand name, or logo are not a position either.
Also, choosing a position without first correctly segmenting the market and targeting a specific segment is just a message; it's not a position.
Positioning is not a tactic; it's a strategic process—the goal of which is to create benefit associations in the minds of your prospective customers. The position should tell them why you can provide those benefits better than your competitors—now and in the future.
The reason you start with positioning is the same reason you start with a foundation for your house: You need an underpinning that can hold up the house of your dreams.
Just like the foundation of a house, positioning statements aren't beautiful, but they provide something to build on.
Craft a positioning statement based on benefits
In your positioning statement, you must first include exactly what customers want and, second, ensure you can provide that better than your competitors, now and in the future. Much like the foundation for your house, it has to stand strong in all situations, even those that change over time.
Your competitors should not be able to override your positioning statement with their own messages. You should be prepared to do what it takes to defend your position over time, and you should have the competencies to do so.
Because positioning is part of a marketing strategy, a good position also takes into account how to purposely migrate your position over time. That's important because positioning happens in people's minds: It's a perception they have, the way they see the world. Unlike preferences (things they care about), which are usually slow to change, perceptions can change much more quickly. Which is why you need to consider the future, not just the present.
The foundation of a positioning statement starts with customer benefits. Benefits relate to basic human needs, goals, and desires. When you start with those benefits, you become customer-focused and obsessed with providing what your customers want.
