Two Jennifers
In the groundbreaking book on positioning – Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind – authors Jack Trout and Al Ries made the point that there was so much advertising, so many images and messages assaulting the mind of the consumer that it was near impossible for a new brand to find a place in the mind.
If advertising’s blitz on the senses in 1981 – the year the book was published – blocked the entrance of new brands, how does a brand break out and be recognized today? Almost 40 years later, the average adult sees 2 million TV commercials a year!
Whoaaaa!
But everyone is online today. What about the Internet? It is awash with ads. 5.3 trillion display ads are shown online each year. A trillion is a thousand billion. It’s a lot!
So again, how do you stand out? Particularly if you’re not Tom Brady, Stormy Daniels, or illegal immigrants from Honduras or Guatemala? (The later positioned as climate refugees escaping the horrors of global warming in Central America.)
Those of you who read these articles know that we conduct a distinct kind of surveys to come up with a unique position for a product or service. Other than tying their product to a celebrity, most advertisers don't understand the basics of positioning and so don't do any. Those that do, guess at a position if they try to position it all.
Go ahead look at a Sunday newspaper or a commercial on television or on the Internet. It is rare to find any positioning in an ad. Yet positioning is the most important aspect of any communication strategy.
What is positioning all about?
Positioning is a marketing technique that enables the advertiser to make the unfamiliar (presumably a product or service) familiar by tying it (the product) to something that is already in the mind. This facilitates an instant communication because the product that is being promoted is tied to something that the audience is already familiar with.
The technique has been used in politics for many years.
Using positioning in PR, it was typical for Republicans to position themselves with Ronald Reagan - the 20th century icon of the Republican Party.
And for Democrats to position themselves with the icon of the 20th century Democratic politics, John Kennedy. These two major figures are falling away from being positioning icons these days.
The Democratic Party has moved quite left of John Kennedy and, love him or hate him, Donald Trump has become the standard bearer for many conservative Republicans.
His popularity is not as ubiquitous as was Reagan's as his nasty habit of publicly attacking anyone who disagrees with him diminishes his stature as someone with whom to position; but his political coattails are strong because of what he gets done and many ride them with abandon.
Advertisers have long used the technique of tying a well-known personage to their product - and have used it for decades. They often take this “easy way out” and position their product with an entertainment or sports celebrity.
These people are well known and usually well thought of. And if positioning is making the unfamiliar familiar by tying it to something already in the mind, then well-known celebrities are perfect.
· Brad Pitt, one of the most celebrated A-list actors, raised eyebrows when he made a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume.
· Matthew McConaughey… is currently appearing in domestic commercials for carmakers.
… One McConaughey commercial for Lincoln has been viewed more than half a million times on YouTube.
· Ellen DeGeneres makes TV commercials every Christmas selling sheets and towels for J.C. Penney.
THE JENNIFERS
· Currently, you’ve likely seen Jennifer Garner as a spokesperson for Capital One credit card:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEvcrplEPNc
· Or Jennifer Aniston for smart water.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFtBXgZED_4
But many A-listers pick-up a few extra millions promoting products outside of the U.S.
· George Clooney, for example, has been a spokesman for years in Europe for coffeemaker Nespresso;
· Clooney has also enlisted celebrities such as Matt Damon to work with him. Damon was paid a reported $3 million for the deal;
· Brad Pitt reportedly cut a deal last year to hawk Cadillacs in China; and
· Julia Roberts appeared in a 45-second advertisement for Italian coffee house Lavazza in 2010. (She was paid $1.2 million Euros – about $1.5 million dollars but didn’t even need to speak).
https://www.theimproper.com/110986/jennifer-garner-hollywood-alisters-turn-commercials-video/
Tiger continues to represent Nike with the iconic swoosh on his T-shirts and baseball hats as, resurrected like the Phoenix in arguably the greatest comeback in sports history, he has returned to winning golf tournaments, including the 2019 Masters (unbelievable!). Joe Namath has recently been pitching health insurance. And so it goes.
But what if you don’t have a $200,000,000 marketing budget to pay Tiger (of course you don’t need the entire $200 million up front – that’s over 5 years -$40 million a year – much easier.)
https://heavy.com/sports/2019/04/tiger-woods-nike-contract-endorsement-length-money/
Or $3 million dollars for Matt or $1.5 million for Julia?
Then you need to create a position by survey.
This done in two steps.
This first step is to conduct a survey that generates buttons. A button is a point of agreement among a particular public.
Example: You are surveying for features for a new cell phone.
“What is the most important feature you would like to see in the new
X10 mobile phone? (made up phone).
The biggest answer = “Extended battery life.” That’s a button.
Buttons have two purposes: 1) to attract and interest prospects in what it is you are selling, and 2) for use in creating positioning questions.
Then questions are created using the buttons generated by the first survey.
Let me give you a real-life example:
A start-up company came to us that sold telecom systems to the correctional industry – meaning pay phones used by inmates in jails and prisons.
The competition was fierce. It is, unfortunately, a multi-billion-dollar industry.
We surveyed wardens and sheriffs across the country.
What did they most want from an inmate phone system?
They wanted the phone to be “Indestructible”.
Huge button because if the phone system broke down, the inmates couldn’t call their wives, kids, girlfriends, lawyer, etc.
Then we came back with the positioning survey: “What object or activity represents indestructible to you?”
The answer was “a Tank”.
The survey information went to the company’s design and graphic people and they rolled out a whole PR and marketing campaign – graphics to match for
THE INDESTRUCTIBLE TANK PHONE
This little company went from $0 to $30,000,000 in three years and became the largest independent provider of inmate phone systems in the country.
We have this story on our website (www.ontargetresearch.com) because it was so successful. How successful?
"When we implemented On Target's research survey findings, our profits increased, and marketing costs decreased. From a financial analysis of our company, we discovered that over a two-year period, On Target Research saved our firm over $300,000 a month or a ball-park total of $7.2 million dollars, so far."
R C
President
Does your brand or product have a position?
If not, and you’re interested in finding out the time and costs of creating one, call me or send me an email.
Best,
Bruce
Bruce Wiseman
President & CEO
On Target Research
1-818-397-1401