Positioning Guide #17

Two keys to successful brand positioning are simplicity and consistency.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Al Ries should be feeling very flattered right now as this guide has been lifted from his contributions to marketing.

Simplicity:  Most marketers are too deeply involved in their product category to view it as naively and simplistically as does their target consumer.  When thinking about the promise that is the unique brand benefit, we want to write something exceedingly clever … something no one else has ever thought of.  We often want to be “creative.”  We want to write an advertising theme line or slogan.  Advertising theme lines are a task that should be left to your advertising agency.  Marketers should concentrate on (a) perfecting their marketing strategy – segmentation, targeting, and positioning; (b) on developing marketing mix tactics that are consistent with their marketing strategy; (c) and on executing those marketing mix tactics well.

The result of marketers playing advertising agency creative is usually a theme line that sounds good but fails to communication their brand’s unique brand benefit.  Find the unique brand benefit in the following list of theme lines:

Inspire the next.  Hitachi

The Right Technology. Right Away. CDW

Instruments for Professionals.  Breitling watches

Advance.  Acura

An American Revolution.  Chevrolet

Get There.  Goodyear

Passion for excellence.  Bridgestone

While all of these theme lines contain nice words, none of them directly convey the brand’s unique brand benefit.

Now consider the simplicity of these theme lines, all of which are built around the brand’s unique brand benefit:

      Change.  Barack Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign

The Ultimate Driving Machine.  BMW

The Best a Man Can Get.  Gillette

Save Money. Live Better.  Wal-Mart

Live richly.  Citibank

Consistency:  How long has BMW been The Ultimate Driving Machine?  Since 1975.  How long has Maytag used the Maytag repairman to communicate durability?  Since 1967.  These are examples of consistency in brand positioning and in marketing communications. 

Contrast the examples of BMW and Maytag with efforts of Chevrolet.  Chevrolet, prior to the restructuring of General Motors, evidently believed in long last advertising agency relationships, which is a good thing, as Campbell Ewald  was their agency for over 80 years.  Unfortunately, it appears that neither Chevrolet nor Campbell Ewald believed in long last brand positioning, advertising slogans, nor brand positioning.  Since Diana Shore first sang See the USA in Your Chevrolet on network television in the 1950’s, Chevy has bounced from one advertising slogan to another:

See the USA in Your Chevrolet (1954)

1 USA (1957)

The road isn't built that can make it breathe hard! (1957)

Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet (1975)

The Heartbeat of America (1986)

Like a Rock (1991)

Genuine Chevrolet (1994)

An American Revolution (2003)

Another example of lack of consistency is Pepsi-Cola.  Since 1975, the brand has visited and revisited the concept that Pepsi is a brand for youthful consumers.  Unfortunately, they’ve confused their target consumers with tangential visits to with vague consumer benefits:

For Those Who Think Young (1975)

Have a Pepsi Day (1978)

Catch the Pepsi Spirit (1980)

Pepsi’s Got Your Taste for Life (1982)

Pepsi Now (1983)

The Choice of a New Generation (1984)

A Generation Ahead (1989)

Gotta Have It (1992)

Be Young. Have Fun. Drink Pepsi (1993)

Nothing Else is a Pepsi (1995)

The Joy of Cola (1999)

For Those Who Think Young (2002)

Generation Next (2002)

Think Young. Drink Young (2003)

It’s the Cola (2007)

Changing unique brand benefits and advertising campaigns frequently leads to “confused positioning.”  Consumers learn through repetition.  When the same message is repeated over and over again, consumer learn to associate the brand with its claimed unique brand benefit.  When the message changes frequently, consumers end up confused.  We think of Pepsi as being the number two cola beverage after Coca-Cola; but recently, it slipped to the number three position with Diet Coke taking the number two spot.  Could this be the result of confused positioning?