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On Differentiation and Positioning: Every Company Wants To Be A Peacock in The Land Of Penguins But Few Companies Know How To Do It Right
Part II

By Nadji Tehrani,
Chairman and Founder, Technology Marketing Corp.

Influencing the mind

In his book, The New Positioning; The Latest on the World’s #1 Business Strategy, Jack Trout defines “positioning” as follows: We have always defined positioning, not as what you do to the product, but what you do to the mind.

Trout further believes the ultimate marketing battleground is in the mind, and the better you understand how the mind works, the better you will understand how positioning works.

Positioning must be adjusted to the rapidly changing market Conditions

In today’s ultra-fast-moving and rapidly changing environment, one can practically assume that market conditions also change month to month, maybe even day to day, as opposed to 25 years ago when things changed more slowly. Consequently, one must always remain 100 percent focused on the marketplace as well as on the validity of positioning vis-a-vis the current conditions of the marketplace. It would be a disaster if one were to lose sight of adjusting positioning to reflect the changing marketplace requirements. The next important item is when companies fail to change their positioning, they lose market share and lose considerable revenue. In fact, such companies may not even survive when markets change so rapidly.

What, then, is the proper course of action?

As I have stated in many of these Publisher’s Outlooks, in all cases, one must remain extremely flexible and change as rapidly as the marketplace changes. This process is called repositioning, which is crucial to the survival of any successful and progressive organization. Trout’s book spends considerable time explaining this process.

How to cope with information explosion

In today’s extremely complex, information-jammed world, we are exposed to thousands of advertisements, promotions of various kinds and, in short, are inundated with information explosion. It has been said that in the last 30 years, more information has been produced than in the previous 5,000 years. The emergence of the Internet has added ultrasonic speed to the growth of information available. Therefore, to make your products and services stand out in the marketplace, you must do a superb job of positioning, differentiation, marketing and advertising.

You don’t want to be a penguin, you want to position yourself as a peacock

Take a look at the picture to the right. What stands out? Obviously, the peacock. What sets it apart? The magnificent colorful feathers and its artistic design versus the bland black-and-white feathers of the penguin. If you were to buy one of them, which one would you buy, the peacock or the penguin? Those who would buy the penguin would need to see a psychiatrist. The bottom line is the peacock is different from the rest of the crowd; it stands above the rest with magnificent and attractive colors in the bland land of the penguins. If you truly want success in your positioning or the position of your company or product, you don’t want to be a me-too or a penguin. You want to be unique and position yourself as such. In short, you want to position yourself as a peacock in the land of penguins. That is how you gain market share, penetrate the minds of the buyers and become a leader.

The First Law of Positioning

The first law of positioning states that it is better to be first than to be better: I will prove it to you in less than one minute. Who was the first man who flew over the Atlantic? Obviously, Charles Lindbergh. Who was the second person to fly over the Atlantic? Answer: nobody knows and nobody cares about number 2. What was the name of the horse who won the Triple Crown in 1973 and broke practically all racetrack speed records? The answer: Secretariat. What was the name of the horse that always came in the number 2 position right behind Secretariat in all three races? The answer, no one remembers and no one cares about number 2. Only horse racing fans, such as myself, would remember the name of the second-place horse, Sham. The bottom line: the first law is true and if you really want to be a market leader, you must position yourself as such every minute, every hour, every day, every month, 365 days a year and 24/7.

The Second Law of Positioning

If you are unable to be first in your field, then find a niche in which you can be number 1. I think you can find a way of justifying the validity of this law also by looking at the first law.

Finally, don't forget repositioning as the markets continue to change.

As always, I welcome your valued comments.

Sincerely,
Nadji Tehrani
TMC Founder, Chairman and Executive Group Publisher
ntehrani@tmcnet.com

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