POSITIONING REVISITED

In 1972, Trout and Ries heralded the coming of a new era of marketing strategy, the “Era of Positioning”.  They maintained that:

Positioning has its roots in the packaged goods field where the concept was called product positioning.  It literally meant the product’s form, package size and price as compared to competition… today we are entering an era that recognizes both the importance of the product and the importance of the company image, but more than anything else, stresses the need to create a position in the prospect’s mind.¹

Marketers will quickly recognize the early concept of product positioning as nothing more than the established practice of product differentiation.  Referenced in the above statement, however, are two additional positioning concepts, both external in nature: “company (image) positioning” and “positioning within the prospect’s mind.”  Trout and Ries proceed to introduce a third concept, “master plan positioning,” which is internal in nature.  This particular positioning concept involves the firm’s strategy of positioning a given product within the framework of its overall product line.  It is a plan to manufacture a separate product to serve each of several particular consumer needs, such as one toothpaste for cavity prevention and another for sex appeal.  Again, however, most marketers may view such “ master plan positioning” as nothing more than differentiating each of several brands for a different market segment.