How to Create a Failed Positioning

Perhaps a more useful way to create a winning positioning for your brand is to
think of ways not to do it.

Here are some examples of thinking that will be doomed:

1. Claim that it’s for everybody; otherwise you might leave some unwitting
user out. Compile a list of all the features of your product and all the
benefits it provides. Mention them all. To focus on just one is a foolish
way to separate other brands.

2. Thinly disguise its weakness. If your pet is a cuddly lapdog, brag that
it is a tireless hunter and a brave guardian. If your store has trouble
keeping employees, talk about your great service.

3. Make a wish. Conduct a focus group and ask the ladies what they
hope for. Pick the wildest dream and make that the fulfillment of your
brand’s offer. Proving it and earning it can come later.

4. Find a difference, no matter how minor. Dig deep. Surely there is
something about you that is distinguishing. Make that the reason
people should prefer it.

5. Assure its obsolescence. Find the latest fad, latch on to it. Put the
current buzz words in your headlines.

6. Be sure it’s politically correct. Never risk offending anybody. Sharp
edges must be dulled. When in doubt, leave it out.

7. Don’t try to be the leader. Leaders get shot at and pulled down. Be
content to sit in the third chair. Under the radar. “Uneasy lies the crown--.”

So when you’re evaluating alternative positionings, look at each one: does it fall
into any of these traps? Discard it, and look for a better one.