{"id":51376,"date":"2021-10-15T12:52:59","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T16:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=51376"},"modified":"2021-10-18T17:54:56","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T21:54:56","slug":"al-ries-and-jack-trout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/al-ries-and-jack-trout\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Ries and Jack Trout: How to Prepare for Positioning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to marketing experts Al Ries and Jack Trout, how should you get started with a competitive marketing<\/a> strategy? What should you consider before you position your product?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Positioning<\/em>, Al Ries and Jack Trout lay out a competitive marketing strategy<\/a> to position your product, your brand, or yourself in a crowded marketplace. They urge you to consider three things before you execute your strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading for marketing insights from Al Ries and Jack Trout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Al Ries and Jack Trout on Positioning Preliminaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Al Ries and Jack Trout, before you implement a competitive marketing strategy and effectively position your product, you must think through three areas: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. You must understand your current position. <\/li>
  2. You must identify a desired position that you could realistically occupy. <\/li>
  3. You must select a name that\u2019s compatible with your desired position. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Let\u2019s consider each of these in turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Understand Your Current Position<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    How do your prospective customers view your business? Who are your competitors, and how do they compare in your prospective customers\u2019 view? Ries and Trout warn that people outside your company usually don\u2019t view your company or product the way you do. They advise spending money on surveys or other research, if necessary, to answer these questions decisively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (Shortform note: When discussing positioning, marketing consultant Geoffrey Moore puts particular emphasis on identifying your competitors<\/a> because customers position your product mostly based on how it compares to alternatives. He draws a distinction between \u201cmarket alternatives,\u201d which are other products that compete directly with your product in the same market, though potentially using different technology, and \u201cproduct alternatives,\u201d which apply the same technology in a different market context. Moore argues that both types play important roles in positioning.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Identify Your Desired Position<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Al Ries and Jack Trout assert that, in addition to a clear idea of the position you currently have, you need a clear and realistic idea of the position you want<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ideally, you\u2019ll want to position your product as a market leader, because leading the market<\/a> has significant advantages: Brand loyalty drives greater demand for your product<\/a>, both from customers themselves and from distributors, it\u2019s easier to attract good employees, and your stock prices tend to be higher, making it easier to raise capital. These advantages tend to make success self-perpetuating for leading products or companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (Shortform note: Geoffrey Moore corroborates these assertions, arguing that the psychographics (the combination of psychology and demographics that influences a person\u2019s buying habits) of mainstream customers lead them to position one company or product as the market leader in any given venue, and then maintain the leader in that position. Specifically, mainstream customers tend to evaluate products based on the reputation of the product<\/a> and the company that makes it, rather than their own technical evaluation of the product. This reputation factor is what makes displacing a market leader nearly impossible, even when your product is technically better.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The authors argue that with these advantages, market leaders become entrenched, so that if a competitor tries to supplant them simply by making a better product, they\u2019re almost never successful. Instead, Ries and Trout recommend that to become a market leader, you become the first<\/em> to occupy the leading position in your chosen market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To do so, find (or create) a niche in which you can be the first to make a credible claim of market leadership. Ries and Trout warn that this often involves sacrificing your product\u2019s appeal to the general market in order to appeal directly to a target niche where you can be the first to claim the leadership position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Appeal of Niche Markets<\/strong>

    Other marketing experts offer advice on targeting a niche that expands Al Ries and Jack Trout\u2019s recommendations:

    According to Geoffrey Moore, selecting a niche<\/a> that is small enough for your product to dominate is crucial because it has an amplifying effect on marketing: The smaller and more close-knit the niche, the faster word spreads, and the easier it is to establish your position there.

    Regis McKenna identifies four \u201cgolden rules\u201d of positioning, one of which is to     target a specific niche with the best product in that niche<\/a>. He notes that to become the market leader, people must perceive your product as being the best, so he recommends targeting only a specific industry or application where your product provides a clear advantage.

    The basic premise of     Blue Ocean Strategy<\/em> <\/a>is to find an uncontested market by introducing a product that provides some unique value<\/a> to your customers. In practice, this strongly resembles identifying an open niche, although the blue ocean approach typically involves creating a unique product<\/a> to appeal to a unique audience.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Find Your Niche<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Al Ries and Jack Trout offer a number of suggestions to help you find an open niche by adjusting different aspects of your product or advertising to stand out from the crowd:<\/p>\n\n\n\n