Establishing your unique market position can make or break a product launch.
There are a few ways to begin the discussion around your own market positioning. My recommendation is to start by exploring the positioning strategies of your competitors. Take everything you know about your competitors and develop an analysis that shows how each competitor uses their unique features/benefits to project their brand in marketplace.
You’ll find that each organization will focus on different features or benefits, usually in alignment with their own actual or perceived strengths. You’ll want to document statements that summarize the key market message (position) for each competitor and their value proposition, which is generally expressed as savings in time or money or improved efficiency.
Sometimes, this information is apparent on their marketing collateral; other times, you will have to distill a statement based on whatever thread of consistency exists in their marketing claims. Ideally, you’ll be able to present the necessary information for each competitor in 5-6 bullets. Remember, you’re shooting for clarity, not volume of information.
Here is an example of a competitive profile I developed for a firm that specialized in medication adherence programs for patients:
Competitor A
• Direct programs to patients through a network of 22,000 pharmacies
• Main tactic is direct mail
• Measurement based on clinical trial methodology, not matched pairing
• Considered the “gold standard” in the adherence marketplace
• Market Position: The most experienced adherence vendor
• Value Proposition: Programs begin to pay for themselves in 3 months
After you’ve developed profiles of competitors, the next step is to take an inventory of your own potential differentiators. I will often list a wide variety of them in the plan so readers can understand the criteria I considered. Then, later in this same section of the plan, I will present my recommendation for the differentiators that I believe will provide the most ideal or unique market position for our offering.
Some questions you can consider to jump-start your list include:
• What is my company’s core competency?
• What does my company have that no one else truly has?
• Why would someone spend their hard-earned dollar with me instead of one of my competitors?
• What about my offering is highly desirable to my customers?
• Does certain expertise, knowledge, or experience exist at my company that makes us different?
• What are my competitors already doing that is not worth repeating or improving?
• Is this proposed differentiator easily imitated?
• Is my offering complementary to other solutions, providing a value-added experience?
• What about my customer service creates value beyond the solution itself (i.e., the ordering process, troubleshooting, installation, knowledge base/tutorials)
At this point, you have to be very honest with yourself. Not everything about your offering is unique or special. Understanding what you do well and better than anyone else is critical. This process can be difficult, but it’s the only way you can define the direction in which your company should grow and establish a market position that is sustainable. It will also help you to focus on the activities most likely to produce successful results over the long term. Develop a good working list of 6-8 potential differentiators and add a short statement that explains why you think each one should be considered.
While you’re thinking about unique differentiators, let me illustrate some examples of statements that do not represent sustainable differentiators, but come up often:
• We’ve been in business for 30 years
• We’re licensed and insured
• We’re number one or “the leading”
• Our solution is comprehensive
• Our prices are the best
• We have deep experience
• We offer a wide variety
• We’re flexible
• We’re honest
You get the idea. These statements are mushy and do not clearly differentiate from offering to offering. Anyone could say them or come up with something close. Some of them may serve as “proof points” that underscore a larger message, but these kinds of claims alone will not secure a long-term position in the market.
Now that you’ve explained how your competitors position themselves and you have presented your differentiators, it’s time to put the puzzle pieces together. I suggest that you start by selecting two items on your list of differentiators that are extremely strong and very unique to your offering.
Next, you can create what is called a positioning map. You’ll simply create a four-quadrant grid where you place one of your differentiators on the horizontal axis and the other on the vertical axis. Ideally, you’ll then place a circle somewhere in the upper right quadrant, indicating that you are strong for both differentiators. Then, you will begin to place circles in various quadrants for each of your competitors, depending upon where their strengths or weaknesses fall.
You may find that some potential competitors cannot compete with you on either dimension, and they will not appear on the chart. Conversely, you may identify a competitor that scores well on both measures, and you will have to decide if you can create a differentiated position against them based on nuances of the dimensions. If not, you can substitute a differentiator on your positioning chart or try two new ones until you find that you hold a truly unique position.
This can be an iterative process, so don’t get frustrated. It is intended to help you think critically about the key differentiators that will become the core of your market positioning and ultimately your market message. It will also put the spotlight on those organizations that you will likely be competing with the most. There is a good degree of subjectivity to this exercise, of course. Be ruthless in your analysis.