Think you understand positioning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most marketers are living in a fantasy world when it comes to positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They’re clinging to outdated ideas that are costing their companies millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s shatter some illusions, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Myth #1: “Positioning is about being unique.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wake up, people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today’s oversaturated market, true uniqueness is as rare as a unicorn riding a dinosaur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’re not special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither is your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deal with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Real positioning isn’t about being unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s about being relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s about solving problems your customers care about, not the ones you think they should care about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember New Coke?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thought so. A “unique” taste nobody wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Myth #2: “Once you choose your positioning, stick to it no matter what.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’ve just described the fastest way to become irrelevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Markets change.
Customers change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re not changing your positioning, you’re dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kodak stuck to its positioning as a film company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How’d that work out for them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flexibility isn’t just important – it’s survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Myth #3: “Positioning is all about your product’s features.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you believe this, you might as well flush your marketing budget down the toilet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
News flash: Your customers don’t give a damn about your features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They care about their problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple didn’t position the iPod as “5GB of mp3 storage.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They positioned it as “1000 songs in your pocket.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notice the difference?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Myth #4: “Good positioning will make everyone love you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a hard truth: If your positioning doesn’t piss some people off, it’s probably not strong enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strong positioning polarizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It attracts your ideal customers and repels the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trying to appeal to everyone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations, you now appeal to no one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Myth #5: “Positioning is the marketing team’s job.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re nodding along to this, you’re part of the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Effective positioning is everyone’s job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It should inform every decision, from product development to customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When your entire company doesn’t live and breathe your positioning, you’re just paying lip service to an idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s time for a reality check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is your positioning actually working, or are you just comfortable with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are you solving real problems, or just patting yourself on the back for your “unique value proposition”?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s time to get uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Challenge your assumptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talk to your customers – really talk to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Find out what they actually care about, not what you want them to care about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your positioning isn’t a tattoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s not permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If it’s not working, change it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The market doesn’t care about your feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn’t care how long you’ve had your current positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It only cares about value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, are you ready to leave the fairy tale behind and start dealing with reality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your move, marketers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Think you understand positioning? Think again. Most marketers are living in a fantasy world when it comes to positioning. They’re clinging to outdated ideas that are costing their companies millions. Let’s shatter some illusions, shall we? Myth #1: “Positioning is about being unique.” Wake up, people. In today’s oversaturated market, true uniqueness is as rare […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ybyb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1950,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949\/revisions\/1950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulsyng.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}