Positioning targets mental real estate.

It is the marketing technique that enables you to establish your product or brand in the mind of your public.

To do that, you have to find a niche, a place – an opening  in which to bolt down your brand.

When done correctly, sales soar like a new iPhone release.

Positioning enables one to make something that is unfamiliar familiar by tying it to something already in the mind of your public.

The soldiers of A company narrowly escaped meeting the same fate as Custer at the Little Big Horn.

She looks like a young Elizabeth Taylor.

The new Ford Mustang is faster than a Corvette.

He dances like Mikhail Baryshnikov.

These are simple examples, but you get the idea. The unfamiliar item is made instantly familiar by tying it to something already in the mind of the recipient.

You have probably done this yourself – or seen it done. Whether they call it that or not, politicians use positioning as second nature.

He’s a Reagan Republican, a Kennedy Democrat.

Dick Cheney is a fascist. Global Warming is a religion.

These are all “off the top,” common examples. But the average person today is drowning in a tsunami of marketing messages and one has to be clever as a fox to get a message into the mind of the prospect.

Adding to these marketing challenges is the fact that recent surveys show the demographics of an audience effect their response to a positioning concept.

When high-income consumers (those with household income of $75K or more) were surveyed about top luxury brands, the age of the respondents affected the outcome of specific brand association.

Chart courtesy of www.marketingcharts.com

While there is clear crossover amongst the age groups of some brands, important differences are revealed.

For example, neither Millennials or Gen Xers list Cadillac in their top ten choices. One presumes the marketing people at Cadillac know this, which is likely why they have created ads like this one. (Trying to position with the younger demographic, they create an ad that is devoid of emotion and creates no “want” for the product.)

Rolex makes all three lists as does Rolls Royce, Coach, Mercedes Benz and Chanel.

Gucci is the number one luxury brand for Millennials, but non-existent for Gen Xers .

All of which is vital information for the Marketing Directors of these world-class brands. It shows where they are strong and where they are weak and where to focus their marketing budgets.

But if you’re brand doesn’t have the positioning power of Mercedes or Rolex, you have a positioning problem: with the modern marketing assault on the American consumer, how do you create a place in the mind of your public for your brand?

We use a sophisticated survey technique. You can see how it is done here: http://www.ontargetresearch.com/.

Results?

“The positioning that grew out of your research was nothing short of stellar. We now have a strategically researched, laser-like position that will dramatically assist us in rolling out our new brand.”
                             ~ JLD, President

Your work to help us get into the minds of our customers and prospects really pinpointed – with precision – what our brand should represent. And the rest fell in place from there….  I look forward to continuing to work with On Target as we build our company.”                            
                                           ~ MD – Executive Vice President

Need a position for your product or service or the brand itself?
Contact us using the information below. We will work with you to achieve the results you want at a price you can afford.

Best,
Bruce