How to Strategically Locate Your Business Directly into the Minds of Potential Customers
I would guess that more than a few small-business owners are not familiar with the marketing term “positioning.” It is a close relative (but not an identical twin) of traditional advertising.
This term was created by Al Ries and Jack Trout in 1969. They defined positioning as “not what you do to a product, but what you do to the mind of the prospect. That is, you position, or strategically locate, the product in the mind of the prospect.”
Many years have passed and significant technical marketing methodology advances have occurred since Reis and Trout first originated this concept. Positioning tactics and strategies are now much more sophisticated, since taking up residence deep within the digital age.
For example, we’ve learned that it is a matter of the actual measurable individual prospect’s perception of substance and detail that determines how he or she views your laundromat. Advertising generalities are no longer effective. Marketing has become a world of metric specifics.
Positioning is wrapped around igniting an emotional response in your prospective customer reacting to what and who a company is perceived to be and what it stands for. To capture a share of the market, you first must capture a share of the mind, largely because people buy on emotion and justify purchases with logic.
As a result, positioning in advertising is entirely the battle for the mind of the customer because perception is a complex reality.
Remember the Avis ads that began in 1962, using the “When You’re Only Number Two, You Try Harder” position? It was used for several years and became timeless because it brilliantly resonated across the broad market spectrum of car renters.
Avis, which at the time was competing mainly with the leading brand, Hertz, chose to use its second-place status as a positive by overtly admitting that it indeed was in second place.
It was an instant hit. Within one year, Avis went from losing millions a year to making millions, which was the first time it had been that profitable in more than a decade. The company positioned itself to capture a share of the prospects’ minds by owning up to what it was and displaying its major shortcoming.
“Positioning is an organized system for finding a window in the prospect’s mind,” Ries explained. “It is based on the concept that effective communication should only take place at the right time and under the right circumstances.”
To positively position your vended laundry business, you will need to create a positioning statement – such as the “most loved and adored laundry in town.” Next, test this statement on a select focus group or geographic area by including it in every advertisement you run. Also, create the proper graphic image marketing materials to help communicate your chosen position.
Part of your strategy should be to develop a unique niche. In other words, if your competition is essentially selling to one niche (such as walk-in traffic), find a niche your competition is ignoring (such as wash-dry-fold or commercial accounts business).
In addition, make certain you do one or two things exceptionally well at your laundry – and then tell a unique story about these products or services.
Furthermore, concentrate on being more user-friendly in all aspects of your business. Today’s world has grown very impersonal, so don’t let your laundry operate in such a manner.
Each self-service laundry and laundry owner are unique. To develop your positioning strategy, consider your total uniqueness. The idea is to position your business in the mind of prospective customers so that they feel they shouldn’t go anywhere else because your position lives beautifully and comfortably within their psychic economy.
Create a special market position strategy for your laundry by differentiating it from others, being memorable, knowing your audience, and always being consistent.
There are a number of excellent books on how to use the strategy of positioning. Two suggestions are: “Brand is a Four-Letter Word,” by Austin McGhie; and “Competitive Positioning,” by Richard Czerniawski and Michael Maloney.
In addition, I suggest you to look into Udemy (www.udemy.com), which offers more than 55,000 online courses on just about every subject imaginable. Two such courses include “Product Management and Marketing: Positioning” and “Positioning – Without Positioning, You Are a Nobody.”
I’m quite certain you’re familiar with the following five examples of outstanding positioning:
- Outback Steakhouse: “No Rules, Just Right”
- Target: “Style on a Budget”
- Volvo: “Volvo is the Family Automobile That Offers Maximum Safety”
- The Home Depot: “The Hardware Store for Do-It-Yourselfers”
- Timex: “Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking”
With some creativity, you can successfully position your laundry business in a similar manner. No, positioning is not easy. And, yes, it can be quite challenging.
But, in the end, it’s well worth the time and effort.
