“Sometimes when public relations programs yield disappointing results, the fault lies with underlying communications and marketing assumptions. Part of the responsibility of the senior public relations staff and/or outside PR consultants is to question those assumptions and, if necessary, challenge them. At the heart of all marketing and public relations planning and decision-making is a positioning statement. The wrong marketing assumptions will lead to an off-target positioning statement.
Positioning Statements
A positioning statement describes a product or service for marketing purposes and answers the following questions:
- What is the target market – the audience – for the product?
- What need does the product fill (or what problem does it solve) for that target market?
- Who are the key competitors that are trying to reach the same audience and fill the same need?
- What are the differentiations (both positive and negative) between the product and its key competitors?
When all the above information is available, and if it is accurate, it can be used to develop a statement about the product’s positioning in the marketplace. That statement is what underlies the development of messages for the target market; that is, what the organization wants to tell the target market about the product.
Inaccurate answers to those questions are not uncommon, unfortunately, and lead to the wrong marketing assumptions and an off-target positioning statement. Most commonly, companies make too much of small product differences that do not really differentiate their products sufficiently from competitors to make a difference to their target audiences. Another inaccurate answer is to the first question. Many businesses have a very hard time being objective about their own products, and when asked who the target market is, the answer that comes out is “Everyone!” However, even large multinational conglomerates don’t have the resources to target everyone; they focus on the most likely buyers. Small companies must be ruthless in homing in on their target audiences.
We typically ask four questions about the product and each of its important competitors to develop the above information: What are its:
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Strengths?
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Weaknesses?
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Opportunities?
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Threats?
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Looking at an example of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis will help clarify how this process works.
Company X has developed a new technology for boots that stores the body heat of the person wearing them and uses the stored heat to warm the wearer’s feet when the temperature inside the boot goes below a certain level. The boots keep people’s feet warmer than any insulation lining, such as wool or down, can.
Company X has developed the following SWOT chart for its own product:
Strengths:
- The boots are the first and only stored body heat boots on the market. The company has named the product SBH Boots for their key feature, stored body heat.
- The technology is all natural, does not include chemicals or electronics, and it works.
- The boots do not require a heavy or bulky lining to keep a person’s feet warm. The special heat-storing cells invented by the company weigh almost nothing and attach to the inside surface of the boots’ exterior (leather, vinyl, etc.).
- The boots are made from very sturdy “green” material and will hold up well and last a long time.
- The boots have a new type of crinkly silicone sole, manufactured just for Company X, that prevents slipping on snow and ice.
Weaknesses
- Company X has no other shoe or boot products. As a result, consumers looking for new boots are not at all familiar with Company X. The company has not established any credibility or image as a manufacturer of boots. This is also making it extremely difficult to find a distributor.
- Because the company doesn’t have a distributor, it plans on selling the boots online only at first.
- Company X is not a fashion-oriented company. Its product designers are known for technological, not design savvy, and the new boots are not trendy-looking (frankly, they are rather clunky-looking).
- The price for a pair of the boots is 50% more than the cost of the warmest boots with insulating linings that the company considers to be competitors.
Opportunities
- Company X has created a new category of boots and so far its SBH Boots are the only product in the category.
- There are millions of baby boomers who are becoming more sensitive to the cold as they age into their 70s. They are not as fashion-conscious as younger consumers; they simply want to keep warm.
- Baby boomers tend to be an affluent consumer group and will spend money on physical comfort.
- Baby boomers are at an age when they are beginning to worry about falling on snow and ice and the new silicone soles are an added sales incentive.
Threats
- Company X has just learned that Steve Madden, a popular shoe brand with millennials, will soon launch its own new boot warming technology. The Company X technology is patented, but apparently Steve Madden will use a different technology, a new type of tiny semiconductors using a material called graphene, imbedded into the boots. If you’re wondering, “How to sell my idea without a patent?” you might explore options such as forming strategic partnerships or showcasing your technology’s unique benefits to potential customers. While Company X has concluded that these new boots will be extremely expensive, they think they could be a hit with early adopter millennials and catch on quickly due to Steve Madden’s superior design sensibility. The company has heard that Steve Madden will not be incorporating especially effective slippage-free soles.
- The above information leads Company X to believe that it will not be the only player for long with new boot heating technology.
Using all the above information, Company X concludes that the best target audience for SBH Boots is the baby boomer living in cold, snowy regions. Consumers older than baby boomers (people in their 80s and above) who could also benefit from the product will be harder to reach, since they are not as likely to be online as baby boomers, and even those who are online are not as comfortable with online shopping.
The company developed the following positioning statement to guide its marketing and communications planning and activities for SBH Boots:
“SBH Boots are the only winter boots on the market that keep people’s feet really warm without being bulky and heavy, without chemicals or electronics, while also providing very effective proprietary non-slip soles. The patented SBH technology stores and uses the wearers’ own body heat to provide unprecedented boot warmth. The SBH manufacturing process will allow Company X to undercut the price potential competitors may charge.”
Note that this positioning statement is for internal use only. Using the above statement, Company X can develop short and easy to understand and remember messages aimed at its target audience, baby boomers.
The key messages for consumers may be:
- There’s a new type of winter boots on the market that keep your feet warmer than any previous boots, without their bulk and weight.
- SBH Boots are a scientific advancement that use your own body heat to keep you warm naturally.
- SBH Boots have proprietary non-slip silicone soles to protect you from falling on snow and ice.
Once online sales show evidence of consumer interest, the company can begin reaching out with messaging aimed at potential bricks and mortar retailers.
For more PR and marketing insight, check out our related posts:
– How to Brainstorm the Best PR & Marketing Solutions
– Striking Gold: How to Hire the Best Public Relations Professional