Comments on: Surprise us: Seeking examples of SURPRISING positioning statements

By: Vidooshak

Vidooshak — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:58:22 +0000

As a product, Marmite, a toast spread popular mainly in UK, Australia and Singapore, has definitely surprised and polarized its consumers for many years. There are those who get addicted to its slightly burnt, bitter taste (like me). And others who can’t bear to be in the same room.

Their marketing decided to actually acknowledge this fact and prominently talks about “I hate Marmite” in its ads and webpages. Very brave and interesting, IMHO.

http://www.marmite.com/hate/

By: Bruce Olsen

Bruce Olsen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:00:45 +0000

Perhaps the granddaddy of them all was the VW campaign (from, oh, 40+ years ago). It played on the unattractive appearance and reliability of the original VW with tag lines such as “Ugly is only skin deep”and “Stays ugly longer”. You may be familiar with the floating VW ad (http://www.adclassix.com/ads/67vwbeetlefloater.htm) that was part of this long-running campaign.

Here’s one discussion of the positioning technique, (http://www.sutherlandsurvey.com/Column_pages/acknowledging_a_wart.html) and a little more on the campaign itself (http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/index.cfm?featureid=1348).

And finally, a link to an article about Bill Bernbach, whose groundbreaking agency created it. The article also mentions several other campaigns that would be enlightening to a student of positioning.
)http://adage.com/century/people001.html)

By: Jeff Foley

Jeff Foley — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:08:31 +0000

What about the manufacturer Ronseal in the UK, who uses the tagline “It does exactly what it says on the tin” ? I know, I know, we’re getting distracted by talking about tag lines and not positioning statements, but of course a true positioning statement is rarely going to be broadcast to the world as-is. In this case, Ronseal is positioning themselves as reliable and trustworthy by making transparent claims and NOT promising the world. Similar to your Avis example about not trying to say “we’re #1″. No hype, no bombast, no superlatives. (In truth, they do have their share of “uniques”, “ultimates”, and “ideals” in their copywriting, but the message is still pretty clear across all their products.)

http://www.ronseal.co.uk/index.jsp

By: saeed

saeed — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:47:14 +0000

On a similar note, there’s Buckley’s Cough Syrup. I think it’s only available here in Canada. Their tag line is:

It tastes awful. And it works.

Here’s an good write up on it.

http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/brandautopsy/2007/11/buckleys-the-go.html

By: Al

Al — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:13:10 +0000

this reminds me of a talk I saw by Robert Cialdini, where he suggested that you’re message should start with the negative and end with the positive.

my favorite example was the one he used for Lancome, who’s positioning was:

“It’s expensive…but you’re worth it. “

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:27:02 +0000

I’ve been surprised by the small response with specific suggestions. Thanks for weighing in.

By: Roger L. Cauvin

Roger L. Cauvin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:39:02 +0000

Sorry, Alan, I know you’re looking for examples. If I think of one, I’ll post it

In the meantime, I thought it was important to be explicit about the guidelines for positioning a product. Several blogs have recently addressed the topic of positioning (including this one), but I’ve been disappointed to see that none of them has explicitly mentioned the Ries and Trout guidelines.

By: Roger L. Cauvin

Roger L. Cauvin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:24:34 +0000

Just commented on another @onpm blog entry on positioning. http://bit.ly/36NWYw #prodmgmt

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:53:26 +0000

Hi Roger – Thanks for reading and commenting. Yes, those are the principles underlying Avis’ move, and straight out of the Ries and Trout textbooks. I’m looking for companies that have done a good job of it, particularly in ways that surprise the potential buyer. Actual examples. Enterprise software examples? CPG examples?

By: Roger L. Cauvin

Roger L. Cauvin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:22:54 +0000

There are basically three different strategies for positioning a product. The Avis positioning exemplifies two of them:

– Highlight the strength within your weakness.
– Attack the weakness within the leading competitor’s strength.

The other one is portraying your product/company as an antidote to a market problem.