Five Key Steps for Effective Competitive Positioning from Tom Mohr’s Scaling the Revenue Engine
Having a good idea or great product only gets a company so far in today’s markets. What separates a leading brand from the pack is effective competitive positioning: the ability to communicate unique value to a target audience, while boxing in competitors.
With these two words Apple created a brand identity that stands the test of time by transcending technology and individual products. Apple has become the world’s most valuable technology company and enjoys unwavering brand loyalty from its customers.
As a positioning statement, “Think different.” invokes creativity, innovation, change and possibility. When consumers purchase Apple products, they are purchasing these timeless ideals along with the timely technology; they are purchasing an image of themselves that they don’t see reflected by Samsung, Sony or Microsoft.
This is why Apple endures, regardless of the technology developed by their competitors and regardless of their competitors’ lower price points. Apple has become a “lifestyle brand,” permanently differentiated despite never ending advances in tech.
A well-crafted positioning statement is the basis of brand identity. It is the door through which you will reach your consumers and continue to reach them as your products or functions evolve. It is critical to get it right.
In Chapter 6 of his forward-thinking book Scaling the Revenue Engine, CEO Quest founder and CEO Tom Mohr breaks down competitive positioning and how to get it right. This article provides a summary of Mohr’s findings, by presenting five key steps to creating a compelling positioning statement:
- Understand your top priority segments
- Be clear about your market and market type
- Know your competitors
- Create and use market maps
- Track the trends
1. Understand your top priority segments
Who is your ideal customer? What are their buyer and user personas?
To answer these questions you need to understand your product use case scenarios and work from the bottom-up to build your customer profiles and segments.
Always remember that your ideal customer is your audience. Your statement needs to capture their attention and show them your value.
2. Be clear about your market and market type
Clearly define your market and determine its type. There are three options:
- You are competing in an existing market
- You are re-segmenting an existing market
- You are creating a new market
If you are creating a new market, you can position against the alternative of doing nothing. If you are operating within existing markets, you can assess your competitive advantage on Quality/Price dimensions:
3. Know your competitors
Explore your competitors’ online presence and comb through publicly available information. Read reviews, get a sense of their social reputation and talk to their customers. You want to understand their positioning and competitive advantage. Ask yourself, what do they do well? What are they missing?
You can organize your research into a grid that looks like this:
4. Create and use market maps
Once you’ve researched your competitors, you can define your unique points of competitive advantage. Create market maps to visualize your position as it compares to that of your competitors.
They could be organized according to:
- Price / Performance
- Feature / Technology
- Channel / Margin
- Trend / Competitor
In his article, “Mapping Your Competitive Position,” Richard A. D’Avenie provides an example of a Price/Benefit map of the American cell phone market:
5. Track the trends
Track trends within your chosen market to determine if you are flowing with or fighting against the current. Reflect this in your positioning by showcasing either your quality or price advantage.
Ask yourself the following questions to determine trends within your market:
- What emerging problems, opportunities, requirements, and technologies are impacting your top priority segments and reshaping the landscape?
- What key features are becoming popular?
- What shifts in market share are occurring as some competitors rise and others fall? Why? Does this dynamic accrue to your benefit or harm?
Once you’ve drafted your positioning statement, remember to test it with prospect customers and adapt it according to feedback. Stay nimble and flexible: the market will keep shifting on you.
In the words of Mohr, you need to “position to win.” These five steps will get you there.
To learn more about competitive positioning, click here.
If you would like more insight into scaling your revenue engine and building a great tech startup, please visit our website CEOQuest.com, or connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
