positioning revisted

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Positioning Revisited Author(s): John P. Maggard Source: Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jan., 1976), pp. 63-66Published by: American Marketing AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1250678Accessed: 07-02-2016 11:02 UTC

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Marketing Notes and Communications 63

Positioning Revisited John P. Maggard Is positioning something old, new, or borrowed?

N 1972, Trout and Ries heralded the com- ing of a new era of marketing strategy, the

"Era of Positioning." They maintained that:

Positioning has its roots in the packaged goods field where the concept was called product positioning. It literally meant the product's form, package size and price as compared to competi- tion..... today we are entering an era that recog- nizes both the importance of the product and the importance of the company image, but more than anything else, stresses the need to create a position in the prospect's mind.'

Marketers will quickly recognize the early concept of product positioning as nothing more than the established practice of product differentiation. Referenced in the above statement, however, are two additional positioning concepts, both external in nature: "company (image) positioning" and "positioning within the prospect's mind." Trout and Ries proceed to introduce a third concept, "master plan positioning," which is internal in nature. This particular positioning concept involves the firm's strategy of positioning a given product within the framework of its overall product line. It is a plan to manufacture a separate product to serve each of several particular consumer needs, such as one toothpaste for cavity prevention and another for sex appeal. Again, however, most marketers may view such "master plan positioning" as nothing more than differentiating each of several brands for a different market segment.

The question that this article asks-and at- tempts to answer-is: What is the role of the concept of positioning in the development of marketing thought? Is it to be construed as a new era of marketing thought, a new approach to marketing management? Or is positioning only a "warmed- over" version of one or more earlier recognized concepts? Some swear by positioning, while others tend to swear at it. Ries, an early proponent of the concept, recently stated, "If being condemned is a virtue, there must be some virtue in the Posi- tioning Concept."2

An examination of the use of the term positioning reveals that it is not a single, distinct concept

at all; positioning includes a variety of concepts, often closely related, and it is almost as versatile as the term marketing strategy. Therefore, perhaps the term that provides the most universal cover- age of positioning is positioning strategy. The scope of this term is sufficiently broad to encom- pass both internal and external positioning, positioning as a conceptual vehicle, "head-on" positioning, social accountability positioning, and all of the variations within these and other positioning concepts.

The issue here is whether each of these positioning concepts is something new and different, or essentially just another way of expressing a sound marketing strategy. While the author feels that all of these positioning ideas are contained within the overall scope of marketing strategy, they appear to have some features that set them off from traditional marketing ideas. The following discussion examines these similarities and differences and reflects upon the contribution of positioning to the development of marketing thought.

Positioning Strategy The concept of positioning is subject to consid-

erable differences in interpretation. Therefore, one would expect much disagreement as to what constitutes proper positioning strategy. For the most part, positioning strategy is used in such general terms as to be essentially the same thing as the target selection and consequent promotional aspects of marketing strategy. Only occa- sionally does someone such as Achenbaum attempt a definitive analysis of any significant aspect of positioning strategy.3 The Achenbaum treatment of the strategy of brand/product positioning is exceptionally good with respect to the need for research as a necessary foundation for brand-positioning strategy.

Although they are not always clear as to the actual meaning of the various concepts, a number of marketing experts appear to agree that positioning provides a useful vehicle for the interpretation of various elements of marketing strategy. Some tend to stress a single model of positioning, while others appear to offer a mixture of con- 1. Jack Trout and Al Ries, "The Positioning Era Cometh,"

reprint of a three-part series in Advertising Age (Chicago: Crain Publications, 1972).

2. Al Ries, "Position Properly, Broaden Base, Don't Ex- tend Line," Marketing News, November 15, 1974, p. 7.

3. Alvin A. Achenbaum, "Who Says You Need Research to Position a Brand?" Journal of Advertising, Vol. 3 (Summer 1974), pp. 21-24.


64 Journal of Marketing, January 1976

cepts. For example, one article on product positioning contained the following recommendation:

Position your product in the marketplace so that it stands apart from competing brands. You can cover that consumer space as if you had a patent on it. Find a strong product position and sit on it. Positioning tells what you stand for, what you are, how you would like customers to evaluate you. Your position telegraphs the simple truth of your products.4

Positioning as a Conceptual Vehicle

It could well be that positioning will make a real contribution as a conceptual vehicle through which various marketing concepts (market segmentation, product differentiation, consumer pref- erence, target market, and the like) might be coordinated more effectively. At the present time, the application of certain quantitative techniques to the concept of "positions" is showing some promise.

The Fishbein and Rosenberg attitude models would be examples of such quantitative ap- proaches.5 These models indicate that it is possible for a manufacturer to influence or change the positioning of his brand by manipulating various factors that affect a person's attitude toward the brand. Attitude research suggests that a brand's position in the mind of the prospective consumer is likely to be determined by the combined total of a number of product characteristics, such as price, quality, durability, reliability, color, and flavor. The consumer places importance weights on each of these product characteristics. It is ap- parently possible, via promotional effort, to realign these weights, thereby adjusting the position of the brand in the mind of the consumer. The same concept might, of course, be equally applicable to the firm as well.

Head-On Positioning "Head-on" positioning is a concept that can be

applied to either the firm or the product. Only a short time ago, this particular strategy was con-

sidered to be dangerous. According to Trout and Ries, "You can't compete head-on against a company that has a strong position. You can go around, under or over, but never head-on."6 These early proponents of the "positioning era" cited a number of cases to substantiate the contention. Such "head-on" casualties might include the Xerox entry into the computer field, IBM's ven- ture into the paper copier market, and the Bristol-Myers positioning of Fact against Crest.

The general feeling has been that the new product too often served to the advantage of the "en- trenched" brand. Starch research, in 1969, re- vealed test results on television advertising (the medium in which the "h-ad-on" clash most frequently appears) that indicated that out of 1,800 commercials in prime time, an average of only 16% of the viewers could remember the name of the advertised product, and 8% were crediting the commercial to a rival product. In additional research of the same nature in 1970 and 1971, the identification figure dropped below 15%, with the degree of misidentification increasing.7

The recent upsurge of comparison advertising would seem to indicate that the previous fear of "head-on" positioning has greatly diminished. Whether the area is drugs, cosmetics, or au- tomobiles, there appears to be little hesitation in placing the new brand right alongside the en- trenched leaders, all in the same commercial set- ting. Gillette places Earth Born directly against Clairol's Herbal Essence, Johnson's Baby Sham- poo, and Procter & Gamble's Head and Shoul- ders;8 and Procter & Gamble might well have to reexamine the theme that "no other potato chip stacks up" if the PepsiCo test of their cannister- packaged, dehydrated potato flake-based, "stacked" potato chip is successful.9

Head-On Variations: Positioning with an Idea

Most products must be launched against a leader, either directly or indirectly. The direct "head-on" route is usually risky, but some variation in this type of strategy is quite common. Avis took such a position in the 1960s, but elected to place itself in a courageous "underdog" position, openly advertising its brazen intentions of dis- placing the leader. Later, the Coca-Cola Company openly "announced" Tab into the number one position, in an effort to knock off the diet soft

4. William I. McGirr, "The Taster's Choice Story- Establish a Strong Product Position," Marketing Times, Vol. 4 (November/December 1973), p. 26.

5. Michael L. Ray, "A Decision Sequence Analysis of De- velopments in Market Communication," JOURNAL OF MAR- KETING, Vol. 37 (January 1973), p. 35.

6. Same reference as footnote 1. 7. Harry W. McMahon, Advertising Age columnist, as re-

ported by E. B. Weiss, Advertising Age, January 8, 1973, p. 38.

8. Advertising Age, June 17, 1974, p. 1. 9. Advertising Age, August 12, 1974, p. 1.

* ABOUT THE AUTHOR. John P. Maggard is professor of marketing management in the School of Business Administration, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.


Marketing Notes and Communications 65

drink leaders, via the use of magazine ads using the headline "Make Room for Number One." Another unique variation in meeting a leading opponent "head-on" is depicted by the campaign B. F. Goodrich launched to "separate" its name from that of Goodyear.

"Positioning with an idea" will sometimes pro- vide the means whereby a head-on position may be achieved with success. Vick Chemical did not elect to position Nyquil against the leading cold remedy on a head-on basis. Instead, they positioned the product, quite successfully, via the idea of Nyquil as the assurance of "a good night's sleep."

It is interesting to review the "product newsmakers of 1972" from the standpoint of determin- ing those products that could be considered as having been "positioned with an idea."10 Exam- ples might include the following: Gillette's Tract II twin-blade cartridge shaving system; Kimbies, the "baby-shaped" paper diaper; Mennon E, the "wonder-vitamin deodorant"; and Mazda's "rev- olutionary" rotary engine. Of these particular newsmakers, one might well have predicted that Kimbies represented one of the more serious risks of head-on positioning (against P&G's Pampers), with only the concept of "baby shaped" as the distinctive variation or idea.

At first glance, one might also predict that Seagram's recent introduction of the PartyTyme line of cocktail mixes would be doomed to failure in head-on positioning against National Distiller's Holland House brands. However, when viewed in terms of "positioning with an idea," on an item- by-item basis, Seagram's marketing strategy shows considerable promise. An example is the PartyTyme winter drink called Snowbird. The product was launched as "the hottest thing in snow country."" The new drink was jointly pro- moted with United Airlines, which ran special Snowbird Flights to various ski resorts and on each such flight served free Snowbird drinks to passengers. Although appealing to a relatively thin market, and applying only to a single item in the PartyTyme line, this campaign illustrates the means by which an advertiser avoids the direct head-on clash with a leader via the strategy of "positioning with an idea."

Other examples of "positioning with an idea" would be Theodore Hamm's attempt to launch its Burgie Beer into the tough Chicago beer market primarily via the idea of promoting Burgie's "California Feeling"2 and Kraftco's attempt to

"position the three brands-Breyers and Sealtest ice cream and Light n' Lively ice milk-as com- plimentary rather than competitive.' '13 Again, though, most marketers would probably appraise each of these "positioning" strategies as applications of product differentiation or market segmentation or both, but not as examples of a new concept.

Positioning for Social Accountability

This is one of the most interesting developments in positioning. E. B. Weiss described the concept as follows:

We hear a good deal currently about positioning products. I suggest that products will also be positioned for social accountability. Johnson and Johnson, in its new marketing strategy, plans a program designed to locate areas of greatest consumer dissatisfaction with all of the company's consumer products. That's a splendid example of using a social audit to achieve improved service to the public-and improved profit perfor- mance.'4

How extensive this particular type of positioning will become is, of course, subject to much specu- lation. Each producer of consumer products must become increasingly aware of the trend toward consumer protection, a trend that will cer- tainly continue in the future. A stance of "social accountability" is one to be coveted in today's market, and many firms, via their promotional planning, are exerting considerable effort to pro- ject the image of good citizenship.

For example, Del Monte recently initiated a crash program to become more socially account- able by converting to consumer-pleasing labels for its extensive line of food products. According to Business Week, this firm is a pioneer in its ef- forts to become a major force in the "marketing of nutrition."" In a like manner, American Motors has staged a remarkable comeback in the automotive world through the strategy of positioning the firm as the only producer of au- tomobiles that guarantees customer satisfaction in the troublesome area of service.

The profit potential of positioning for social accountability was recently defined by Bayard Hooper. He stressed the fact that surveys indicate that the majority of consumers today distrust the majority of business firms and business execu-

10. Advertising Age, January 8, 1973, p. 3. 11. Advertising Age, December 18, 1972, p. 3. 12. Advertising Age, August 19, 1974, p. 1.

13. "Positioning Puts Sealtest on Top of Ice Cream Mar- ket," Advertising Age, September 16, 1974, p. 3.

14. E. B. Weiss, "Advertising Meets Its Era of Social Ac- countability," Advertising Age, October 23, 1972, p. 78.

15. Del Monte, "Living with New Labeling Rules," Busi- ness Week, February 3, 1973, pp. 42-45.


66 Journal of Marketing, January 1976

tives. Furthermore, most consumers feel that product and service quality has deteriorated over the past decade, and even the majority of business executives agree that such deterioration has taken place. Hooper concluded that:

You must convince your corporate clients that advertising can only gain in credibility as the products you are promoting gain in reliability, and you must make it clear to them that as Americans' faith in business is declining, their expectations of what business should be doing as responsible corporate citizens is growing all the time.16

From the macro standpoint, it might well be that marketing will be forced to adapt to the social accountability philosophy of doing business much in the same manner that the marketing concept became a "must" in the 1950s. Whether an "era," a philosophy, or a strategy, the idea of social accountability appears to be gradually re- placing the original version of the marketing concept. A 1970 survey of business executives and marketing educators indicated that, "Academi- cians with more education and those with more business experience express less confidence in the Marketing Concept than do those with less training and experience."'7 Bell and Emery also have expressed the opinion that the future will present marketing with the difficult challenge of recognizing and dealing with the dual business goals of social responsibility and profitability, and that "a revised view of the marketing concept is one approach to meet this challenge."'8

A growing number of consumerists, academics, and businesspeople seem ready to endorse the following emerging opinion:

Because it is amoral in its present form, the marketing concept has outlived its usefulness, especially for those firms whose products- engines, fertilizers, detergents, fuels, nuclear re- actors, etc.-contribute pollution that threatens man's very survival. A new concept of business responsibility to the public and to future genera- tions must replace the current criterion of the

highest level of current, individual need satisfaction that has been the goal of the marketing concept. Tomorrow's customer must be defined not as some of the people but as all of the people.19

Thus, it might well be that the product era of the 1950s and the image era of the 1960s will be re- placed, or at least overshadowed, by the social accountability era of the 1970s.

Summary and Conclusions A decade ago the term positioning would have

been recognized as nothing more than a simple, all-purpose word such as placing or locating. Dur- ing the early 1970s, positioning became a popular term with marketing people, especially those in the area of advertising and promotion. It con- tinues to be a frequently used term in marketing literature. Unfortunately, however, the concept is still difficult to define and involves a variety of different interpretations. The purpose of this article has been to explore a number of these different ideas of positioning, and to determine whether or not there is something new and different about such concepts as: internal positioning, external positioning, head-on positioning, positioning with an idea, and positioning for social accountability.

There are a number of sound elements of marketing strategy embodied in the overall notion of the positioning concept. Most of these, however, are related rather closely to the advertising and promotional aspects of the marketing mix. The author does not agree with those who would pro- claim positioning as something new and rev- olutionary in marketing strategy.

The use of positioning strategy by marketers is as old as the ideas of market segmentation and product differentiation. Product innovations have traditionally been launched as the results of new ideas, while such concepts as social accountability and even the recent idea of "demarketing" are really part of the established image-building role of marketing strategy. This is not to say, however, that positioning concepts are useless. On the con- trary, positioning provides a valuable conceptual vehicle, which is being effectively used to make various strategy techniques more meaningful and more productive.

16. Bayard Hooper, "The Consumer's Challenge to Adver- tising Agencies and Their Clients in the 1970s" (Annual meeting of the American Association of Advertising Agen- cies, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, May 17, 1973).

17. H. C. Barksdale and William Darden, "Marketers' At- titudes Toward the Marketing Concept," JOURNAL OF MAR- KETING, Vol. 35 (October 1971), p. 36.

18. Martin L. Bell and C. William Emory, "The Faltering Marketing Concept," JOURNAL OF MARKETING, Vol. 35 (Oc- tober 1971), p. 42.

19. Frederick E. Webster Jr., "Changing Social Values and the Morality of Marketing" (The Second Albert Wesley Frey Lecture, University of Pittsburgh, May 1970).


Article Contentsp. 63p. 64p. 65p. 66

Issue Table of ContentsThe Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jan., 1976), pp. 1-130Front MatterFrom the Editor [p. 1]Planning Product Line Strategy: A Matrix Approach [pp. 2-9]Risk-Aversive Pricing Policies: Problems and Alternatives [pp. 10-15]Industrial Advertising Effects and Budgeting Practices [pp. 16-24]USDA Beef Grading: A Failure in Consumer Information? [pp. 25-31]Consumer Patronage DecisionsRisk- and Personality-Related Dimensions of Store Choice [pp. 32-39]Bank Selection Decisions and Market Segmentation [pp. 40-45]Do Lower-Income Consumers Have a More Restricted Shopping Scope? [pp. 46-54]

Marketing Notes and CommunicationsMarketing Intermediaries in Channels of Distribution for Services [pp. 55-57]Consumer Problems and Consumerism: Analysis of Calls to a Consumer Hot Line [pp. 58-62]Positioning Revisited [pp. 63-66]Comments on "The Underestimated Potential of the Canned Sales Presentation" [pp. 67-68]A Reply to Reed [pp. 68-70]

Applied MarketingMail Questionnaire Response Rates: Updating Outmoded Thinking [pp. 71-73]New Product Evaluation: Electric Vehicles for Commercial Applications [pp. 74-77]Applications of Focus Group Interviews in Marketing [pp. 77-80]

Legal Developments in Marketing [pp. 81-94]Marketing Abstracts [pp. 95-109]Book ReviewsReview: untitled [p. 110]Review: untitled [p. 111]Review: untitled [pp. 111-112]Review: untitled [p. 112]Review: untitled [p. 113]Review: untitled [pp. 113-114]Review: untitled [p. 114]Review: untitled [pp. 114-115]Review: untitled [pp. 115-116]Review: untitled [p. 116]Review: untitled [pp. 116-117]Review: untitled [p. 117]Review: untitled [p. 118]Review: untitled [pp. 118-119]Review: untitled [p. 119]

Back Matter [pp. 120-130]

positioning revisted

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