Positioning Guide #19

If you aren’t the pioneering brand in a given category, create a new category in which your brand can be the pioneer.

With apologies to Al Ries and/or Jack Trout, this guide stems from their writings.

While it’s not always true that the innovator, or pioneer, is going to be the long term winner in a given product category (see Positioning Guide #16), the pioneering brand with adequate marketing skills is likely to be the long term winner.  Once the pioneering brand with adequate marketing skill becomes the leader, it also becomes the winner and most customers want to be associated with winners.

I’m no expert in the analgesics (pain reliever) category, and someone with experience will probably correct me.  Nevertheless, I’m going to use the category as an example for this positioning guide.  My counting of generations of new products may not follow the category accepted pattern, but that doesn’t matter in illustrating this guide.


Bayer was first with the aspirin tablet.  They created the product category of aspirin tablets in 1914.  At the time of Bayer’s innovation, aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) had been around for a while, but in powder form rather than tablet form.  Aspirin relieves pain, is an anti-inflammatory, and reduces fever.  I don’t believe that any of the newer pain relievers do all three of these things.  The problem with aspirin powder, however, was that it took some effort to mix the powder with water prior to ingestion.  Admittedly, the effort required to mix powder is minimal; but, nevertheless, it is effort.  A tablet is more convenient.   

At one time Bayer owned the trademark in the U.S. and many other countries, not only on the Bayer name, but also on the Aspirin name.  As a result of World War I, they lost their trademark on the Aspirin name in the U.S., France, and the United Kingdom (the World War I allied countries).  However, Aspirin is still a registered trademark owned by Bayer in most of the rest of the world including Canada in North America.

The aspirin was the product of choice in pain relief, and Bayer was the leader.  However, the aspirin tablet has some negative side effects, such as upsetting the stomach.  The likelihood of stomach irritation is reduced when aspirin is in powered form, and the powder form gets into the blood system faster than the tablet form.  Nevertheless, consumers preferred the convenience of aspirin tablets.  The problem of stomach irritation was addressed by the first non-aspirin pain reliever - acetaminophen.  Tylenol created a new product category -- non-aspirin pain reliever.  Tylenol became the dominant brand in the new category that they created. 

Americans almost always believe that newer is better.  First, you had aspirin.  Next you had non-aspirin pain relievers.  The third generation of pain reliever was ibuprofen.  The pioneer was Advil, and the product category that Advil created was “advanced medicine for pain”.   Americans were given the choice of aspirin  -or-  non-aspirin pain reliever  -or-  the advanced medicine for pain.   Given this choice, Americans embraced the pioneering brand, Advil.

Now, what’s the problem with aspirin, non-aspirin, and the advanced medicine for pain?  You have to take all of them multiple times during the day to sustain the pain relief.  Introducing the fourth generation of pain reliever -- naproxen.  Naproxen is marketed as Aleve by the company which started this story, Bayer.  “Two Aleve provide relief that can last all day.”  “Compare it!  Based on minimum label dosing for 24 hours, you could take eight Extra Strength Tylenol or four Advil to get the same all-day relief as just two Aleve.” So Aleve has created the fourth new product category, the all-day pain reliever.

Pain relievers is an interesting product category for learning about marketing.  It is a mature product category, but one in which innovation occurs frequently.  The brands in this category don’t talk about their technology, however.  They seek to find unique solutions to human needs, and each unique solution creates a new product category in which the pioneering brand can assume leadership.  Ask yourself, how can you apply this guide to your product category?