Editing Positioning (marketing) (section)

==Origins==
{{See also|Product differentiation}}

The precise origins of the positioning concept are unclear. Cano (2003), Schwartzkopf (2008), and others have argued that the concepts of market segmentation and positioning were central to the tacit knowledge that informed brand advertising from the 1920s, but did not become codified in marketing textbooks and journal articles until the 1950s and 60s.<ref>Schwarzkopf, S., "Turning Trade Marks into Brands: how Advertising Agencies Created Brands in the Global Market Place, 1900-1930" CGR Working Paper, Queen Mary University, School of Business and Management Centre for Globalization Research London, 18 August 2008</ref><ref>Cano, C., "The Recent Evolution of Market Segmentation Concepts and Thoughts Primarily by Marketing Academics," in E. Shaw (ed) ''The Romance of Marketing History'', Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Historical Analysis and Research in Marketing (CHARM)'', Boca Ranton, FL, AHRIM, 2003</ref>

[[Al Ries]] and [[Jack Trout]] are often credited with developing the concept of product or brand positioning in the late-1960s with the publication of a series of articles, followed by a book. Ries and Trout, both former advertising executives, published articles about positioning in ''Industrial Marketing'' in 1969 and ''Advertising Age'' in 1972.<ref name="Ellson p. 260">{{cite book|author=T. Ellson|title=Culture and Positioning as Determinants of Strategy: Personality and the Business Organization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19CHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA260|date=March 16, 2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-0-230-50981-8|page=260}}</ref> By the early 1970s, positioning became a popular word with marketers, especially those in advertising and promotion. In 1981, Ries and Trout published their now-classic book, ''Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind''. However, the claim that Ries and Trout devised the concept has been challenged by marketing scholars. According to Stephen A. Fox, [[Al Ries]], and Jack Trout "resurrected the concept and made it their trademark."<ref name="Fox p. 324">{{cite book|author=Stephen R. Fox|title=The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising and Its Creators|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QlVB6ARdT7kC&pg=PA324|year=1984|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-06659-7|page=324}}</ref>

[[File:1994-1997 Saab 9000 CD 2.3t sedan (2011-10-25) 01.jpg|thumb|In 1961, Ogilvy positioned the Saab as the car for the European winter]]
[[File:Lux ad 1916.jpeg|thumb|Lux, print advertisement (1916) positioned the soap as a gentle product for washing delicate clothing]]
Some scholars credit advertising guru, [[David Ogilvy (businessman)|David Ogilvy]], with developing the positioning concept in the mid-1950s, at least a decade before Ries and Trout published their now-classic series of articles.<ref>Urde, M. and Koch, C., "Market and brand-oriented schools of positioning", ''Journal of Product & Brand Management'', vol. 23, no. 7, 2014, pp 478-490</ref> In their early writing, Ries and Trout suggest that the positioning concept was widely used in the [[advertising]] industry before the 1950s. Ogilvy's writings indicate that he was well aware of the concept and drilled his creative team with this idea from at least the 1950s. Among other things, Ogilvy wrote that "the most important decision is how to position your product",<ref name="ReferenceA">Ogilvy, D., ''Confessions of an Advertising Man'', 1963</ref> and "Every advertisement is part of the long-term investment in the personality of the brand."<ref>Ogilvy, D, "The Image and the brand: a new approach to creative operations," Speech given at AAAA Luncheon in Chicago, 4 October 4, 1955 and cited in Schwarzkopf, S., "Turning Trade Marks into Brands: how Advertising Agencies Created Brands in the Global Market Place, 1900-1930" CGR Working Paper, Queen Mary University, London, 18 August 2008</ref> Ogilvy is on record as having used the positioning concept in several campaigns in the mid-1950s and early 1960s, well before Ries and Trout published their articles on the positioning. In relation to a Dove campaign launched in 1957, Ogilvy explained, "I could have positioned Dove as a detergent bar for men with dirty hands, but chose instead to position it as a toilet bar for women with dry skin. This is still working 25 years later."<ref name="Ogilvy 1983 p. 12"/> In relation to a SAAB campaign launched in 1961, Ogilvy later recalled that "In Norway, the SAAB car had no measurable profile. We positioned it as a car for winter. Three years later it was voted the best car for Norwegian winters."<ref name="Ogilvy 1983 p. 12"/>

Yet other scholars have suggested that the positioning concept may have much earlier heritage, attributing the concept to the work of advertising agencies in both the US and the UK in the first decades of the twentieth century. Cano, for example, has argued that marketing practitioners followed competitor-based approaches to both market segmentation and product positioning in the first decades of the twentieth century; long before these concepts were introduced into the marketing literature in the 1950s and 60s.<ref>Cano,  C., "The  Recent  Evolution  of  Market  Segmentation  Concepts  and  Thoughts  Primarily  by  Marketing  Academics," in  E.  Shaw  (ed.), ''The  Romance of Marketing History: Proceedings  of  the  11th  Conference  on  Historical  Analysis  and  Research  in  Marketing (CHARM), '' Boca Ranton, FL: AHRIM, 2003, p.18</ref> From around 1920, American agency, [[J. Walter Thompson]] (JWT), began to focus on developing brand personality, [[Brand|brand image]], and brand identity—concepts that are very closely related to positioning. Across the Atlantic, the English agency, W. S. Crawford's Ltd, began to use the concept of 'product personality' and the 'advertising idea' arguing that in order to stimulate sales and create a 'buying habit' advertising had to 'build a definitive association of ideas round the goods'.<ref>Schwarzkopf, S., ''Turning Trade Marks into Brands: how Advertising Agencies Created Brands in the Global Market Place, 1900-1930'', CGR Working Paper, Queen Mary University, London, 18 August 2008, p. 22</ref> For example, in 1915 JWT acquired the advertising account for Lux soap. The agency suggested that the traditional positioning as a product for woolen garments should be broadened so that consumers would see it as a soap for use on all fine fabrics in the household. To implement, Lux was repositioned with a more up-market posture and began a long association with expensive clothing and high fashion. Cano has argued that the positioning strategy JWT used for Lux exhibited an insightful understanding of the way that consumers mentally construct brand images. JWT recognized that advertising effectively manipulated socially shared symbols. In the case of Lux, the brand disconnected from images of household drudgery and connected with images of leisure and fashion.<ref>Cano,  C., "The  Recent  Evolution  of  Market  Segmentation  Concepts  and  Thoughts  Primarily  by  Marketing  Academics," in  E.  Shaw  (ed.), ''The  Romance of Marketing History: Proceedings  of  the  11th  Conference  on  Historical  Analysis  and  Research  in  Marketing (CHARM), '' Boca Ranton, FL: AHRIM, 2003, pp 16-18</ref>

As advertising executives in their early careers, both Ries and Trout were exposed to the positioning concept via their work. Ries and Trout codified the tacit knowledge that was available in the advertising industry; popularizing the positioning concept with the publication of their articles and books. Ries and Trout were influential in diffusing the concept of positioning from the advertising community through to the broader marketing community. Their articles were to become highly influential.<ref>Enis, B. and Cox, K., ''Marketing classics: a selection of influential articles'', Boston, Allyn and Bacon, 1969</ref> By the early 1970s, positioning became a popular word with marketers, especially those that were working in the area of advertising and promotion. In 1981 Ries and Trout published their classic book, ''Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind'' (McGraw-Hill 1981). The concept enjoys ongoing currency among both advertisers and marketers as suggested by Maggard<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|last=Maggard|first=John P.|date=1976-01-01|title=Positioning Revisited|jstor=1250678|journal=Journal of Marketing|volume=40|issue=1|pages=63–66|doi=10.2307/1250678}}</ref> who notes that positioning provides planners with a valuable conceptual vehicle, which is effectively used to make various strategy techniques more meaningful and more productive.<ref name=":11" />

Several large brands – [[Lipton]], [[Kraft Foods|Kraft]], and [[Tide (brand)|Tide]] – developed "precisely worded" positioning statements that guided how products would be packaged, promoted, and advertised in the 1950s and 1960s. The article, "How Brands Were Born: A Brief History of Modern Marketing," states, "This marked the start of almost 50 years of marketing where 'winning' was determined by understanding the consumer better than competitors and getting the total 'brand mix' right.<ref>{{cite journal | title=How Brands Were Born: A Brief History of Modern Marketing | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/10/how-brands-were-born-a-brief-history-of-modern-marketing/246012/ | journal=The Atlantic | author=Marc de Swaan Aron | date=October 3, 2011 | access-date=November 8, 2016 }}</ref> This early positioning tactic was focused on the product itself – its "form, package size, and price", according to [[Al Ries]] and [[Jack Trout]]<ref name=":11" />

The positioning concept continues to evolve. Traditionally called product positioning, the concept was limited due to its focus on the product alone.<ref name="Battle 2001 p. 2">{{cite book|author1=Al Ries|author2=Jack Trout|title=Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BHj1OYgF7wC|date=January 3, 2001|publisher=McGraw Hill Professional|isbn=978-0-07-170587-5|page=2}}</ref> In addition to the previous focus on the product, positioning now includes building a brand's reputation and competitive standing.<ref name=":11" /> John P. Maggard notes that positioning provides planners with a valuable conceptual vehicle for the implementation of more meaningful and productive [[marketing strategy|marketing strategies]].<ref name=":11"/> Many branding practitioners make positioning a part of [[brand]] strategy and even label it as "brand positioning".<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2016/11/brand-positioning-definition/ | title =A Simple Definition of Brand Positioning| website =The Branding Journal| access-date = November 14, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url =http://equibrandconsulting.com/approach/anticipated-benefits | title =Brand Positioning Strategy| website =Equibrand Consulting| access-date = November 14, 2017}}</ref> However, in the book ''Get to Aha! Discover Your Positioning DNA and Dominate Your Competition'', [[Andrea Cunningham|Andy Cunningham]] proposes that branding is actually "derived from positioning; it is the emotional expression of positioning. Branding is the yang to positioning's yin, and when both pieces come together, you have a sense of the company's identity as a whole".<ref>{{cite book | last = Cunningham |  first = Andy |author-link=Andrea Cunningham | title =Get to Aha! Discover Your Positioning DNA and Dominate Your Competition | publisher =McGraw-Hill | date = October 17, 2017 | url = http://get2aha.com | isbn = 978-1-260-03120-1}}</ref>