BEFORE BRANDING
Practical Reasons for Putting Positioning First
By Paul J. Welsh
The marketing world’s obsession with branding for the last decade has been thorough and overwhelming. The trouble is, before branding strategies are worth anything, the company or product must first be defined by the position they hope to own in the marketplace. They need to find their slot in the customer’s consciousness and subconscious.
As my friend, Karl Yehle, and I conduct our workshops on positioning, it’s painfully obvious that most companies can’t tell you what their position is. Or, what they want it to be. Even those that think they know may find out that their customers don’t see them in the same way. And maybe their prospects would buy from them if they had a clear understanding of where their company fit in relation to the competition.
It’s time to focus on the world “Before Branding.”
Cognitive Dissonance
Psychologists understand why positioning is important. Cognitive psychologists will tell you that humans can’t hold two conflicting beliefs at the same time. If you believe the Beatles were the best rock combo ever then your mind won’t let you believe the Rolling Stones are. By the same token, if you believe WalMart has the best prices of any grocery store, then another grocery store can’t have them. Once your business or product is slotted in the consumer’s mind it is extremely difficult for a competitor to bump you out of that position.
Word Association
We begin most of our workshops with a quiz that is based on word association. In our airline quiz, we list five airlines and ask everyone to write one or two words that describe their view of each airline.
Almost all of the respondents describe Southwest Airlines with the words “efficient”, “cheap”, or “fun.” These are consistent with the messages the airline is advertising and how they are attempting to position their company.
Midwest Airlines appears to have the “quality” position top of mind. With most respondents, the words “comfort”, “4-wide seating”, and “fresh cookies” are consistently mentioned. Most of us wouldn’t think of “fresh cookies” as a position but it clearly and symbolically reflects how people view the special treatment and quality they associate with Midwest airlines.
With Delta, the frequent words people associate with them are “regional” or “Atlanta.” When you purport to be a national airline and the public identifies you with a region of the country, you are not achieving the position you desire.
The most frequent words associated with U.S. Air are “troubled” and “bankrupt.” Now there’s a position you can build your branding around. If you don’t define your brand, others will.
Consistent Message
When a company or product is not doing much to define their position we find that there is little consistency in the words people associate with them. A lot of different answers suggest weak positioning. And that makes brand building difficult at best.
What one or two words would your customers and prospects use to describe your business or product?
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Practical Reasons for Putting Positioning First
By Paul J. Welsh
The marketing world’s obsession with branding for the last decade has been thorough and overwhelming. The trouble is, before branding strategies are worth anything, the company or product must first be defined by the position they hope to own in the marketplace. They need to find their slot in the customer’s consciousness and subconscious.
As my friend, Karl Yehle, and I conduct our workshops on positioning, it’s painfully obvious that most companies can’t tell you what their position is. Or, what they want it to be. Even those that think they know may find out that their customers don’t see them in the same way. And maybe their prospects would buy from them if they had a clear understanding of where their company fit in relation to the competition.
It’s time to focus on the world “Before Branding.”
Cognitive Dissonance
Psychologists understand why positioning is important. Cognitive psychologists will tell you that humans can’t hold two conflicting beliefs at the same time. If you believe the Beatles were the best rock combo ever then your mind won’t let you believe the Rolling Stones are. By the same token, if you believe WalMart has the best prices of any grocery store, then another grocery store can’t have them. Once your business or product is slotted in the consumer’s mind it is extremely difficult for a competitor to bump you out of that position.
Word Association
We begin most of our workshops with a quiz that is based on word association. In our airline quiz, we list five airlines and ask everyone to write one or two words that describe their view of each airline.
Almost all of the respondents describe Southwest Airlines with the words “efficient”, “cheap”, or “fun.” These are consistent with the messages the airline is advertising and how they are attempting to position their company.
Midwest Airlines appears to have the “quality” position top of mind. With most respondents, the words “comfort”, “4-wide seating”, and “fresh cookies” are consistently mentioned. Most of us wouldn’t think of “fresh cookies” as a position but it clearly and symbolically reflects how people view the special treatment and quality they associate with Midwest airlines.
With Delta, the frequent words people associate with them are “regional” or “Atlanta.” When you purport to be a national airline and the public identifies you with a region of the country, you are not achieving the position you desire.
The most frequent words associated with U.S. Air are “troubled” and “bankrupt.” Now there’s a position you can build your branding around. If you don’t define your brand, others will.
Consistent Message
When a company or product is not doing much to define their position we find that there is little consistency in the words people associate with them. A lot of different answers suggest weak positioning. And that makes brand building difficult at best.
What one or two words would your customers and prospects use to describe your business or product?
