Business 4.0
Why Positioning Is More Important Than Ever By: Andrea Belk Olson, MSC - CEO of Pragmadik
Andrea writes original articles across a spectrum of topics, providing unique insights to leadership, culture change, organizational engagement, behavioral insights, and communications.
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here was a great book published back in 2001 called "Positioning" by Al Ries and Jack Trout. It emphasized the importance and impact of companies taking a unique position in the market, albeit through now outdated examples. However, the principles of this idea have gotten lost over the years, and the time is ripe to bring the concept back. Now, positioning isn't lost at a product level, where product management teams are perpetually seeking new ways to differentiate their offering with new features. But positioning at a company-level is much less prevalent. Take, for example, financial institutions. Where there may be a small group of organizations that have a unique position in the market, most banks and credit unions share the same set of core messages. Trustworthy. Communityfocused. People-focused. Great rates.
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10    IMD  DECEMBER 2020
But positioning is the process of how to best communicate your organization's unique attributes to your target customers based on their needs and to counter competitive pressures. It's carefully crafted key messages and actions that build a distinct and differentiated brand. In short, effective positioning ensures that marketing messages help you clearly stand out, resonate with target consumers, and compel them to take action. If you're not standing out, you're not positioning. It's not an easy task, however, as many organizations lack the insight, drive, or capability to effectively position their company. In the spirit of making safe decisions, many organizations follow what they deem as "successful competitors", copying their key messages and offerings. Alternatively, some organizations get mired in their own internal perceptions and set their sights on emphasizing broad and generic differentiators, such as "customer-focused".
