Positioning — from literal placement to metaphorical and strategic positioning

Positioning — Middle English posicioun, Old French posicion, Latin pōsitio, positiōn, pōnere.

In a marketing context the term positioning was popularized by Jack Trout and Al Ries in the 1984 blockbuster Positioning — The Battle for Your Mind. Trout and Ries view positioning as a marketing / communication tool to reach consumers in a cluttered media landscape.

Key concepts — Information Overload. According some research, the average US consumer is bombarded with rougly 3.000 commercial messages daily. Thus, we’ve seen a move from a commodity economy to an Attention Economy. Getting into the mind of the consumer. Repositioning and Depositioning. The Power of a Name.

In order to break through the clutter and get the attention of the audience, organizations and businesses are forced to differentiate and position themselves in new and creative ways (E.G. Online Brand Positioning – intelligent search engine optimization = relevant traffic = high Conversion rate)