Small Business Blog from Atlantic Canada

I am "CA" Atreya (PMP, MBA), the author of this blog. I help businesses in Atlantic Canada achieve their BHAG successfully. You may subscribe to this blog using a feed reader (RSS).

When I am retained to implement marketing in an organization, I usually begin by asking what their positioning statement is. And more often than not, with small and medium businesses I get something like this: “We know our market position. Our customers perceive us as providing quality solutions for their needs.” It is very easy to mix up the market position and positioning statement. A look at their communications program will indicate if they have a positioning statement.

In my other articles, I have stressed the importance of direction. Positioning statement lends direction to your marketing programs. Your positioning statement results in your market position. A market position is about how your customers perceive you. Your market position is determined by a number of factors: your product or service, quality of your product or service, after-sales customer service, value the customer perceives, marketing, etc. Your market position is a function of how the external-facing units of your organization interact with the customer. You do not position yourself - your market does; your customers do; your prospects do. They do this based on their experiences after dealing with you or after seeing your message in a marketing medium.

A positioning statement on the other hand, is a statement of how you wish to be perceived. It is internal to your organization. Your communications tactics depends on your positioning statement. Your positioning statement is the message you want to deliver to your market. This statement is the key to effective communication programs. It gives a direction without which you will be sending mixed messages

A well defined positioning statement answers several questions. It defines the business you are in; it defines your (very important) customers; it identifies your competition; it identifies your differentiation factor - what differentiates you from your competition; and it defines your value proposition - what value does your product or service offer your customers.

Now you see why a positioning statement is important. Your positioning statement will give you a direction on what you want to tell your market - consistently. The bottom-line is: Marketing is a mind game. What you are doing is manipulating (or rather trying to) your market’s mind - either reinforcing their perception of you or challenging their perception and asking them to develop a new one. Your customer’s perceptions is their reality. Your product may be the best that’s out there - but if your customers do not perceive your product as such, you have a problem. Remember, the customer’s perception is their reality.

You may also remember the KIS principle - “Keep it Simple”. Follow this golden rule when formulating your positioning statement. In today’s world, a consumer is bombarded with messages in every media - television, magazines, news, Internet, radio to name a few. So how is your message going to get across in this age of information overload? By keeping it simple. A simple concise, targeted message stands a greater chance of being retained than an ambiguous one. Can you define your positioning in one word? Okay - two words? Think of successful brands - FedEx, Microsoft, Nike, Pepsi, Coke, Toyota. What do you think are their positioning words? For FedEx, its “overnight delivery”. They own it. See all their communications- you can’t miss it. Pepi said “cool” and “youth”. Look at their communication. They consistently deliver this message. Take your at your favorite brand - in any industry. Then look at their message. Isn’t their message consistent? You know they have a positioning statement.

You really need to be ruthless and focused when developing your positioning statement. Most likely you will need the help of an external agency. You need to have an outside view of your organization. Your positioning statement must work for every aspect of marketing - from sales calls to magazine ads to trade shows to your website. It should be a compelling statement that states on major benefit. It must be unique, believable, important and usable. You also need to uncover support statements. These are key messages that you want to tell your market.
Once you get your positioning statement you need to get the word out. Repeat it over and over again in all your communications - websites, brochures, advertisements, sales presentations, customer interactions. At least, now you can communicate in one voice.

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