Capitolo 1
The Battle for the Mind: How Perception Trumps Reality
In 1972, a small orange booklet began circulating among advertising professionals, introducing a revolutionary concept called "positioning." Written by Al Ries and Jack Trout, this unassuming publication would transform marketing forever. While traditional advertising focused on product features or brand image, positioning addressed a more fundamental challenge: how to get heard in our overcommunicated society. The concept proved so powerful that over 150,000 copies of their booklet were distributed, and the authors gave more than 1,000 speeches across 21 countries. What made positioning different was its focus not on what you do to a product, but what you do to the mind of the prospect. This deceptively simple idea-that perception matters more than reality-would become the cornerstone of modern marketing strategy and influence everything from politics to personal branding.
Capitolo 2
The Overcommunicated Society: Why Most Messages Fail
We've become the world's first overcommunicated society. The average American is bombarded with $376 worth of advertising annually-compared to just $16.87 in the rest of the world. This million-dollar advertising campaign translates to less than half a cent of messaging per person spread across an entire year. Advertising isn't a sledgehammer; it's a light fog that envelops prospects.
Our minds, overwhelmed by this communication volume, have developed sophisticated defense mechanisms. We screen and reject most information, particularly anything contradicting what we already believe. The mind, as it turns out, is not infinitely expandable. It's more like a dripping sponge that can only absorb new information by displacing what's already there.
This explains why millions have been wasted trying to change minds with advertising. Once made up, minds resist change fiercely. The fundamental problem isn't that we're failing to communicate-it's that we're communicating too much. While we've created technological systems capable of increasing communication volume tenfold, we've developed no equivalent capacity expansion for the human mind.
Our only defense against this information overload is mental oversimplification. We categorize, we filter, we simplify. The media themselves act not as transmission systems but as filters, with only a tiny fraction of original content ever reaching the receiver. The most effective approach in this environment is the oversimplified message. As in architecture, less is more in communication-you must sharpen your message to cut through the noise, eliminating ambiguities and simplifying repeatedly to make a lasting impression.
The solution to your communication problem lies not in your product or even in your own mind, but in the prospect's mind. Since so little of your message will get through anyway, focus on the receiving end rather than the sending side. As John Lindsay once observed about politics: "The perception is the reality." This applies equally to advertising, business, and life itself.
Capitolo 3
Getting Into the Mind: The Power of Being First
The easiest way into a person's mind is to be first. You can recall Charles Lindbergh as the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic, but who was the second? You know Neil Armstrong was first on the moon, but who followed him? Mount Everest is the highest mountain, but what's the second highest? And you certainly remember your first love.
The first brand to occupy a position in the mind-Kodak in photography, Kleenex in tissue, Xerox in copiers-is nearly impossible to dislodge. Like imprinting in newborn animals that instantly recognize their mother, human minds form powerful first attachments. In love and business, success often comes from getting there first and giving people no reason to switch.
If someone else got into your prospect's mind first, you face a much harder challenge. Second place is essentially nowhere. We all know the Bible is the best-selling book ever published, but who can name the second? New York is America's largest cargo port, but who knows Hampton Roads, Virginia is second? In mental contests, unlike physical ones, the first person, product, or politician to enter the mind has the overwhelming advantage.
The advertising industry learned this lesson the hard way. Despite money and talent, many marketing programs fail-DuPont's Corfam, Gablinger's beer, Vote toothpaste. Supermarket shelves overflow with "half-successful" me-too brands whose manufacturers cling to hope for a brilliant campaign. But in today's noisy marketplace, traditional advertising approaches simply don't work.
In the 1950s, advertising thrived in the "product era," when a better mousetrap and promotion money were all you needed. Advertisers focused on product features and customer benefits, seeking Rosser Reeves' "Unique Selling Proposition." But advancing technology made establishing a USP increasingly difficult. The era ended with an avalanche of me-too products.
Next came the "image era," when companies discovered reputation was more important than specific product features. David Ogilvy, the era's architect, famously said, "Every advertisement is a long-term investment in the image of a brand," proving his point with campaigns for Hathaway shirts and Rolls-Royce. But as every company pursued reputation-building, the noise level became overwhelming.
Today, we've entered the "positioning era," where creativity alone no longer guarantees success. To succeed in our overcommunicated society, a company must create a position in the prospect's mind that considers not just its own strengths and weaknesses, but competitors' as well. Strategy is now king. Being first to get into the prospect's mind matters more than inventing or discovering something-IBM didn't invent the computer, but was first to build a computer position in the public mind.
Capitolo 4
Mental Ladders: How Consumers Organize Brands
The human mind works like a computer memory bank but with a crucial difference-it rejects information that doesn't match its current state. It filters out everything else, accepting only what confirms existing beliefs. This explains why Democrats and Republicans can read the same article but extract entirely different facts. Wine tasters judge the same wine differently depending on the label. This is why advertising works-it heightens expectations, creating the illusion that products will perform miracles.
Harvard psychologist Dr. George A. Miller found we can't handle more than seven units at a time-which explains seven-digit phone numbers and the Seven Wonders of the World. Most people can't name more than seven brands in a category, and for low-interest products, often just one or two. With product proliferation (cigarettes increasing from 17 to 175 brands, Detroit selling 290 car models), people simplify to cope with complexity, ranking products and brands on mental ladders.
These mental ladders represent how we organize brands in our minds, with each step representing a brand and each ladder a product category. To increase market share, a competitor must either dislodge the brand above (nearly impossible) or relate to the established position. New product categories need to be positioned against existing ones-like "horseless" carriages, "lead-free" gasoline, and "sugar-free" soda-because the mind has no room for what's new unless it relates to the old.
The competitor's position is often as important as your own. Avis's classic "We're only No. 2 in rent-a-cars, so why go with us? We try harder" campaign exemplifies establishing the "against" position. After 13 years of losses, Avis admitted being No. 2 and started making money-$1.2 million the first year, $2.6 million the second, $5 million the third. Their success came not from trying harder but from relating themselves to Hertz on the mental ladder.
Another positioning strategy is joining someone else's ladder. 7-Up brilliantly positioned itself as the "uncola," creating an alternative to cola drinks that dominated the market. Similarly, WLKW radio positioned itself as "the unrock station" and became number one in Providence. Finding a unique position means looking inside the prospect's mind, not inside yourself or the product. You won't find an "uncola" idea in a 7-Up can-it exists in the cola drinker's head.
Successful positioning requires consistency, yet companies often fall into the "Forgot What Made Them Successful" trap. After being sold to ITT, Avis abandoned its successful No. 2 position and ran ads saying "Avis is going to be No. 1"-advertising aspirations rather than reality. Despite numerous campaigns since, "Avis is only No. 2" remains their most memorable concept-one they unwisely abandoned.
Capitolo 5
Strategies for Leaders: Defending Your Position
The first brand into the brain typically gets twice the long-term market share of the #2 brand and four times that of the #3 brand. These relationships prove difficult to change. Leaders dominate their categories: Hertz outsells Avis, GM outsells Ford, Goodyear outsells Firestone. Many marketing experts overlook the enormous advantages of being first, attributing success to "marketing acumen" rather than first-mover advantage.
When market leaders attempt to enter categories where they aren't first, they typically become also-rans. Despite Coca-Cola's size advantage over Dr Pepper, their Mr. Pibb remains a poor second. IBM's copiers couldn't dent Xerox's market share despite IBM's vast resources. Kodak failed to cream Polaroid in instant cameras as predicted. The leader enjoys numerous advantages-consumers tend to repurchase the same brand, stores stock leading brands, and top companies attract better employees.
Categories where two leading brands run neck-and-neck are inherently unstable. Eventually, one brand will gain the upper hand and establish a dominant 5-to-3 or 2-to-1 ratio. Consumers prefer clear pecking orders-Hertz and Avis, Harvard and Yale, McDonald's and Burger King. The Ford-Chevrolet battle of 1925-1930 ended when Chevrolet took the lead in 1931, maintaining it for decades with few exceptions. The critical time for extra effort is when leadership is still undecided.
Leaders are like 800-pound gorillas-they can do anything they want in the short term. For companies like GM and P&G, the concerns aren't about this year or next, but what happens 5-10 years from now. Leaders should use their short-term flexibility to ensure long-term stability.
Leaders shouldn't waste advertising on stating the obvious with "We're No. 1" campaigns. Better to enhance the entire product category in prospects' minds, as IBM does by selling the value of all computers. "We're No. 1" messaging creates psychological problems-either prospects already know you're #1 and wonder why you're insecure, or they don't know, raising questions about how you've defined leadership.
Coca-Cola's classic "The real thing" campaign exemplifies effective leader strategy. The essential ingredient in securing leadership is getting into the mind first; keeping that position requires reinforcing the original concept. Leaders should position themselves as the standard by which others are judged, making competitors mere imitations.
Leaders often become overconfident and dismiss competitors' innovations. Instead, they should "cover all bets" by adopting promising new developments. GM's $50 million investment in Wankel engine rights wasn't wasted money but cheap insurance protecting their $84 billion business. Most leaders should cover competitive moves by introducing separate brands rather than extending existing ones. Procter & Gamble's approach isn't truly a multibrand strategy but a single-position strategy-each brand uniquely positioned in the prospect's mind.
Capitolo 6
Strategies for Followers: Finding Your Creneau
What works for leaders doesn't necessarily work for followers. When a follower copies a leader, it's not covering but merely a me-too response. Most products fail because companies focus on being "better" rather than being "first." The me-too approach wastes time improving products when speed is essential.
The French expression "Cherchez le creneau" ("Look for the hole") summarizes the follower's strategy. This requires thinking in reverse-going against the grain when everyone else moves in one direction. It contradicts the American "bigger and better" philosophy and "positive thinking" mindset, but finding a position hole often means thinking contrary to conventional wisdom.
While Detroit automakers focused on longer, lower cars, Volkswagen succeeded with the short, fat, ugly Beetle. Rather than minimizing weaknesses, VW's "Think small" headline brilliantly stated its position while challenging the assumption that bigger is better. The effectiveness depended on finding an open position in prospects' minds.
Michelob exemplifies finding an untapped market for premium-priced domestic beer. High-price positions are opening in many categories as consumers appreciate quality products designed to last-from $50,000 Mercedes cars to $1500 S.T. Dupont lighters. Brands like Joy perfume ("the costliest in the world") and Piaget watches build their message on high price.
The low-price position often works well for new product categories like facsimile equipment where customers feel they're taking a chance. The strongest marketing approach combines all three price strategies, as Anheuser-Busch does with Michelob (high), Budweiser (standard), and Busch (low).
Sex provides effective positioning opportunities-Marlboro established the first masculine cigarette position, climbing from fifth to first in sales over a decade. Virginia Slims carved out market share with femininity. Paradoxically, Revlon's Charlie became the world's best-selling perfume by using a masculine name in a feminine category.
A common mistake is filling a hole in the factory rather than in the mind. Ford's Edsel exemplifies internal positioning to fill a gap between Ford/Mercury and Lincoln, rather than addressing a position in consumers' minds. Some marketers reject positioning because they believe it limits sales. They want to be all things to all people. While this approach worked decades ago with fewer brands and less advertising, today's competitive environment demands taking a position.
Capitolo 7
Repositioning the Competition: Creating Your Own Space
When you can't find a creneau in today's overcrowded marketplace, you must create one by repositioning competitors. With 12,000 different products in supermarkets-more than a college graduate's 8,000-word vocabulary-you must blast your way into the mind by moving an old idea out first.
To move a new idea into the mind, you must first move an old one out. Like Columbus proving the world wasn't flat, you must overturn existing concepts before selling new ones. Never fear conflict-it can build reputation overnight. People like to watch bubbles burst, as demonstrated by Sam Ervin, Richard Nixon, and Ralph Nader, who all gained fame through confrontation.
Tylenol brilliantly repositioned aspirin with ads warning "For the millions who should not take aspirin" before mentioning their own product. By highlighting aspirin's potential to irritate stomachs, trigger allergies, and cause bleeding, Tylenol became the #1 analgesic, ahead of established brands like Anacin, Bayer, Bufferin, and Excedrin.
Effective repositioning changes the prospect's mind about competitors, not your product. Royal Doulton's ad "The china of Stoke-on-Trent, England vs. Lenox. The china of Pomona, New Jersey" exposed Lenox's American origins despite its English-sounding name. This single ad gained Royal Doulton 6 percent market share.
Stolichnaya's campaign exposed American vodkas with Russian-sounding names: "Samovar: Made in Schenley, Pennsylvania. Smirnoff: Made in Hartford, Connecticut." This strategy worked because consumers rarely read labels to discover origins, and the Russian-sounding names implied foreign heritage.
Many copycat campaigns miss the essence of repositioning. Simply claiming "We're better than our competitors" is just comparative advertising, which lacks psychological credibility. Prospects naturally wonder, "If your brand is so good, how come it's not the leader?" Effective repositioning changes perceptions about competitors rather than using them as benchmarks.
Repositioning has been "legal" for decades. The FTC actually helped make it possible on television, prodding networks to allow comparative advertising. In 1972, they pushed ABC and CBS to permit commercials naming rival brands, and by 1974, the American Association of Advertising Agencies had reversed its previous policy discouraging comparative ads.
While some advertising veterans deplore these tactics as unethical, you can't have it both ways. "If you want culture and refinement, you produce operas. If you want to make money, you produce movies." Society naturally gravitates toward bad news and disparagement, so successful positioning requires playing by society's rules, not your own.
Capitolo 8
The Power of Names: Your Most Critical Marketing Decision
The name is the hook that hangs your brand on the product ladder in the prospect's mind. In the positioning era, naming your product is the single most important marketing decision you can make. Shakespeare was wrong-a rose by any other name would not smell as sweet, because people smell what they expect to smell.
Don't look to the past for guidance. Today's overcommunicated marketplace requires names that begin the positioning process by telling prospects the product's major benefit. Look for names like Head & Shoulders, Intensive Care, Close-Up, DieHard, and Shake 'n Bake. The best names are almost, but not quite, generic-descriptive enough to block competitors but not so descriptive they become generic terms.
The success of coined names like Coca-Cola, Kodak, and Xerox comes from being first in the mind with a new product. The first company into the mind becomes famous regardless of name. Only when you're first with an absolutely new product that millions will want can you afford a meaningless coined name. Otherwise, stick with common descriptive words.
Names significantly impact life outcomes. Research shows elementary school teachers gave compositions with popular names (David, Michael) a full letter grade higher than identical compositions with unpopular names (Hubert, Elmer). This extends to politics-presidential winners typically have "winner" names (Jimmy, Jerry, Richard) while "loser" names (Herbert, Alfred) rarely succeed.
A name's effectiveness depends on its appropriateness, not aesthetic quality. Eastern Airlines, despite being the "second largest passenger carrier in the free world," consistently ranked fourth among major carriers in passenger surveys. Its regional name puts it mentally in the same category as Piedmont and Ozark, not American and United. Despite aggressive marketing and a $70 million advertising budget, Eastern couldn't overcome its limiting name.
B.F. Goodrich faces a perpetual identity problem by having a name similar to its larger competitor Goodyear. Despite being first to market steel-belted radial tires in the U.S., most consumers credited Goodyear with the innovation. As they say in Akron, "Goodrich invents it. Firestone develops it. Goodyear sells it." The name similarity condemns Goodrich to forever trail its bigger competitor.
Companies often fall into the trap of using initials instead of full names, failing to understand how the mind processes information phonetically rather than visually. People naturally use phonetic shorthand when it creates efficiency-RCA instead of Radio Corporation of America (12 syllables to 3), GE for General Electric (6 to 2). But when there's no phonetic advantage, people won't use initials.
While customers think phonetically, companies think visually. Corporate executives often adopt initials internally for convenience, eventually believing everyone recognizes them. Politicians understand this principle-they use approachable names like Ted Kennedy and Jimmy Carter rather than E.M. Kennedy or J.E. Carter. Ironically, only after becoming famous could Roosevelt and Kennedy use FDR and JFK successfully.
Capitolo 9
The Line Extension Trap: How Companies Dilute Their Brands
Line extension has swept through marketing like Sherman through Georgia, driven by inside-out thinking: "We make Dial soap, so our customers will expect Dial deodorant." But this logic fails in practice. Dial dominates soap but barely registers in deodorants. Bayer's "nonaspirin pain reliever" captured only a tiny share of the acetaminophen market.
From the consumer's perspective, line extension destroys the brand's position in the mind. When Bayer means aspirin, it can't also mean nonaspirin. The strongest brands become generic substitutes ("Hand me the Dial"), but line extension educates consumers that these are merely brand names, not superior products. Each extension weakens the original position, as seen with Protein 21's market share plummeting from 13% to 2% after introducing multiple line extensions.
Scott dominated paper products but undermined itself with ScotTowels, ScotTissue, Scotties, Scotkins, and BabyScott. Despite large market share, Scott lacked mind share-"Scott" on a shopping list has no meaning, unlike specific brands like Charmin or Kleenex. Even Scott's actual brand names create confusion (which is for noses-Scotties or ScotTissue?).
When transistor technology created demand for alkaline batteries, P.R. Mallory introduced Duracell in distinctive black and gold packaging. Union Carbide, maker of Eveready batteries, initially dismissed the need for a new name, then tried emphasizing "alkaline power cell" over their Eveready trademark. Eventually they surrendered and created "Energizer," which finally competed effectively with Duracell.
Though Benson & Hedges is known as the original 100-mm cigarette thanks to its memorable "disadvantages" campaign, Pall Mall Gold was actually first but fell into the line-extension trap. Pall Mall, once the #1 cigarette brand in America in 1964, began line-extending in 1965 with Pall Mall Menthol, Extra Mild, and Light 100s. Their market share has declined every year since, plummeting from 14.4% to just 3.8%.
Line extension offers immediate recognition and generates quick initial sales as retailers stock the new product. The early figures look promising as distribution channels fill, but problems emerge when reorders don't materialize. Line extensions ultimately fail because they slide effortlessly in and out of the mind without establishing independent positions. They become mere satellites of the original brand, blurring its position.
The shopping list test reveals line extension's fundamental flaw: when you write "Kraft" on your list, will your spouse bring back cheese, mayonnaise, or salad dressing? Line extension slowly saps brand strength until it becomes "everything and nothing." Where Kraftco leads categories, they don't use the Kraft name (Philadelphia cream cheese, Sealtest ice cream, Parkay margarine).
Step-down extensions often achieve immediate success but destroy the brand long-term. Pre-WWII Packard was America's premier luxury automobile, positioned above even Cadillac. When they introduced the inexpensive Packard Clipper in the mid-1930s, it became their best-selling car ever-but destroyed their prestige position, ultimately killing the company. By 1954, Studebaker absorbed Packard, and the brand eventually disappeared entirely.
Capitolo 10
Positioning Yourself and Your Career: Personal Branding
Positioning strategies that work for products can be equally effective for personal career advancement. Like products, people often try to be all things to all people. The challenge is selecting a single concept to own in others' minds. Can you sum up your position in a single concept? Most people aren't ruthless enough to establish a singular position for themselves-they vacillate or expect others to define them.
Anything worthwhile doing is worthwhile doing poorly at first. Waiting for perfection leads to paralysis. Your reputation improves by trying frequently and succeeding sometimes rather than attempting only sure things. People remember Ty Cobb's 70% success rate stealing bases but forget Max Carey's 96%. Eddie Arcaro, perhaps history's greatest jockey, had 250 straight losses before his first win.
Names matter tremendously in positioning. Leonard Slye became Roy Rogers, Marion Morrison became John Wayne, and Issur Danielovitch became Kirk Douglas. Common law allows name changes as long as they're not deceptive. Your name is a crucial positioning tool that shouldn't be overlooked.
Many executives fall victim to "initialitus," using initials instead of names. This works only if you're already well-known. When building your reputation, you need a distinctive name, not forgettable initials. Common names like John Smith create confusion-the enemy of successful positioning.
Ambitious people trapped in bleak situations often try harder, working long hours expecting success to follow. But trying harder rarely leads to success-trying smarter does. Success comes more from what others can do for you than what you can do for yourself. You must find yourself a horse to ride.
Where is your company going? Too many good people lock themselves into situations doomed to failure. No matter how brilliant you are, it never pays to cast your lot with a loser. Even the best officer on the Titanic wound up in the same lifeboat as the worst. Place your bets on growth industries like computers, electronics, communications, and especially services which are growing faster than hard products.
Is your boss going anywhere? Always try to work for the smartest, brightest, most competent person you can find. Biographies of successful people reveal how many climbed the ladder right behind someone else. Some people actually prefer working for incompetents, thinking they'll stand out better, forgetting that top management often throws out the whole bunch.
Many business people have personal friends but no business friends. Most career breaks happen because a business friend recommended you. You need to maintain these relationships actively-sending relevant articles, congratulatory notes for promotions, and staying in regular contact.
As Victor Hugo wrote, "Nothing, not all the armies of the world, can stop an idea whose time has come." An idea can take you to the top faster than anything else, but you can't wait until everyone accepts it-by then someone else will have claimed it. To ride the "idea" horse, you must be willing to face ridicule and controversy.
Capitolo 11
Playing the Positioning Game: The Rules for Success
To succeed at positioning, you need mental flexibility, understanding of how words affect people, caution about change, vision for the future, courage to act decisively, objectivity in evaluation, and the ability to find simple yet subtle solutions.
Words are triggers that activate meanings buried in the mind. Most people are "unsane"-neither completely sane nor insane. The difference? Insane people make reality fit what's in their heads (like someone thinking they're Napoleon). Sane people analyze reality and change their thinking to fit facts. But most people find it easier to change facts to fit opinions, or simply accept an expert's view without bothering with facts at all.
Though things change rapidly today-with product lifecycles measured in months rather than decades-the more things change, the more they remain the same. Companies often rush into new ventures trying to keep pace: Singer into home appliances, RCA into computers, General Foods into fast-food outlets. Meanwhile, those who kept doing what they did best have been immensely successful: Maytag selling reliable appliances, Disney selling fantasy and fun, Avon calling.
To play the positioning game successfully, you must make decisions about what your company will be doing 5-10 years ahead. You need vision to see beyond narrow technologies, obsolete products, or defective names. Most importantly, you must distinguish between what works and what doesn't-not easy when rising economic tides make everything seem successful and falling tides make nothing work.
When tracing how leadership positions were established, from Hershey in chocolate to Hertz in rent-a-cars, the common thread isn't marketing skill or product innovation-it's seizing initiative before competitors establish themselves. Leaders pour in marketing money while situations remain fluid.
In today's overwhelming communication volume, only obvious ideas work. But the obvious isn't always apparent. As "Boss" Kettering's sign at GM Research stated: "This problem when solved will be simple." Simple concepts like "Raisins from California. Nature's candy" or "Bubble Yum. Number yum in bubble gum" succeed today. When ideas are clever or complicated, be suspicious-they're probably not simple enough.
The essence of positioning is sacrifice. You must give up something to establish a unique position. Nyquil gave up the daytime market. Most marketing operations do the opposite-they seek to broaden markets through line extension, size and flavor proliferation, and multiple distribution channels. These tactics may produce short-term sales increases but cause long-term positioning erosion.
The first rule of positioning remains: you can't compete directly against a company with a strong position. Go around, under, or over-never head-to-head. In our overcommunicated society, only the better positioning players will survive.
