If You Can’t Find an Opening, Make One!

It’s easy to see that most product categories are over-saturated in today’s market. So is it even possible to introduce new products?

Yes! If you can’t find a hole to fill, make one!

You do this by repositioning the leading brand out of it’s #1 spot. Or at least knocking it down enough to claim a respectable part of the market for yourself.

Example: Samsung’s Don’t be a Wall Hugger commercial repositions the iPhone from being something that makes you a trendy cutting edge phone connoisseur to something that makes you a wall hugger.

Notice that this is very different from ineffective comparative advertising. Which instead of repositioning the competition simply says “we think we’re better than them.”

Example: Verizon’s Colorful Balls commercial

“People like to watch the bubble burst.”

— Al Ries & Jack Trout

Want to know more? Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind is available on Amazon.

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Ries, Al, and Jack Trout. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986. Print.