Those Little Ladders In Your Head

Like the memory bank of computer , the mind has

slots.

But with a difference , computer accepts all things

but our mind does not

It rejects information which it can not “compute” , it

accepts only that new information that matches

current state of mind .

You See What You Expect To See

Ask two people of opposite persuasion , say, a

democrat and a republican , to read article on a

controversial subject . Then ask each one if the

article changed their mind

You’ll find that republican gets out of the article

facts to support one view point and democrat gets

out of the article facts to support one view point ,

but ,opposite in nature .

You Taste What You Want To Taste.

Blind test testing of champagne have often ranked

California brand above French one . But with label

on ,this is difficult to happen

One prime objective of all advertising is to

heighten expectations. To create the illusion that

the product and service will perform the miracle

you expect.

An Inadequate Container

Humans reject information which does not match

their prior knowledge or expectation.

According to Harvard psychologist Dr. George A.

Miller, the average human mind can not deal with

more than 7 digits at a time like 7 wonder of

world, seven days etc.

If asked to name brands of any category, no one

can name more than 7 and that too if its their

interest category.

To cope with complexity , people have learned to

simplify everything.

People can often remember positioning concepts

better than names. This ranking of people , object

and brand is not only a convenient method of

organizing things , but also a absolute necessity to

keep from being over-whelmed by the

complexities of life.

The Product Ladder To cope with product explosion , people have

learned to rank products and brands in the minds.

On each step of a ladder is a brand and each

different ladder represent a different category.

A competitor who wants to increase share of the

business must either dislodge the brand above or

somehow relate its brand to the other company’s

position.

Many companies advertise as if competitor's

position did not exit.

Advertise their product in vacuum and get

disappointed when their message fails.

Moving up the mind can be extremely difficult.

Advertiser must carry a new ladder, it’s often

better to tell the prospect what the product is not,

rather than what it is.

The “Against” Position

Today competitor’s position is as important as your

own position.

“Avis is only no.2 in rent-a-car, so why go with us? We

try harder.”

People assumed they try harder.

Avis was successful, as it related

itself to Hertz.

Hertz

Avis

National

The “Against” Position

Time magazine followed the same lead.

Frustrated with competition they adopted

“We try damned Harder.”

Later, found the word offensive and the accounts

executive was fired.

If the company is not the first then must occupy

second position.

The “Uncola” Position Conventional Logic – find your concept inside yourself

or your product.

Not true, must look inside prospect’s mind.

7-Up positioned itself as the uncola drink & sales

increased drastically.

Mc Cormick Comm. acquired WLKW and positioned it

as the unrock radio station & became no.1.

The F.W.M.T.S Trap

“Forgot what made them successful”

After being sold to ITT, Avis adopted,

“Avis is going to be No.1”

No frequent increase in revenues and campaign was

waste.

7-Up also fell in the trap and adopted

“America’s is turning 7-Up”

Sales fell and now Sprite has 50% market share.