Positioning as by Al Ries

1. Those Little Ladders In Your
Head
Like the memory bank of computer , the mind has
slots.
But with a difference , computer accepts all things
but our mind does not
It rejects information which it can not “compute” , it
accepts only that new information that matches
current state of mind .

2. You See What You Expect To See
 Ask two people of opposite persuasion , say, a
democrat and a republican , to read article on a
controversial subject . Then ask each one if the
article changed their mind
 You’ll find that republican gets out of the article
facts to support one view point and democrat gets
out of the article facts to support one view point ,
but ,opposite in nature .

3. You Taste What You Want To
Taste.
 Blind test testing of champagne have often ranked
California brand above French one . But with label
on ,this is difficult to happen
 One prime objective of all advertising is to
heighten expectations. To create the illusion that
the product and service will perform the miracle
you expect.

4. An Inadequate Container
 Humans reject information which does not match
their prior knowledge or expectation.
 According to Harvard psychologist Dr. George A.
Miller, the average human mind can not deal with
more than 7 digits at a time like 7 wonder of
world, seven days etc.
 If asked to name brands of any category, no one
can name more than 7 and that too if its their
interest category.

5.  To cope with complexity , people have learned to
simplify everything.
 People can often remember positioning concepts
better than names. This ranking of people , object
and brand is not only a convenient method of
organizing things , but also a absolute necessity to
keep from being over-whelmed by the
complexities of life.

6. The Product Ladder
 To cope with product explosion , people have
learned to rank products and brands in the minds.
 On each step of a ladder is a brand and each
different ladder represent a different category.
 A competitor who wants to increase share of the
business must either dislodge the brand above or
somehow relate its brand to the other company’s
position.

7.  Many companies advertise as if competitor's
position did not exit.
 Advertise their product in vacuum and get
disappointed when their message fails.
 Moving up the mind can be extremely difficult.
 Advertiser must carry a new ladder, it’s often
better to tell the prospect what the product is not,
rather than what it is.

8. The “Against” Position
Today competitor’s position is as important as your
own position.
“Avis is only no.2 in rent-a-car, so why go with us? We
try harder.”
Hertz
People assumed they try harder.
Avis was successful, as it related Avis
itself to Hertz. National

9. The “Against” Position
 Time magazine followed the same lead.
 Frustrated with competition they adopted
“We try damned Harder.”
 Later, found the word offensive and the accounts
executive was fired.
 If the company is not the first then must occupy
second position.

10. The “Uncola” Position
 Conventional Logic – find your concept inside yourself
or your product.
 Not true, must look inside prospect’s mind.
 7-Up positioned itself as the uncola drink & sales
increased drastically.
 Mc Cormick Comm. acquired WLKW and positioned it
as the unrock radio station & became no.1.

11. The F.W.M.T.S Trap
“Forgot what made them successful”
 After being sold to ITT, Avis adopted,
“Avis is going to be No.1”
 No frequent increase in revenues and campaign was
waste.
 7-Up also fell in the trap and adopted
“America’s is turning 7-Up”
 Sales fell and now Sprite has 50% market share.