Positioning

Three of the ideas you’ll keep

The Clif summary of Positioning pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first three.

1. Positioning happens in the prospect's mind, not in the product. Don't try to change the customer; reshape the connections that already exist in their head.
2. Being first beats being best. The brand that occupies a category position first is hard to dislodge, so race to own an empty space rather than out-feature an incumbent.
3. Own one word. Pick a single idea (safety, overnight, uncola) and hammer it relentlessly; a brand that stands for everything stands for nothing.

The other 4 — and the full 11-minute summary — are in the app.

What’s inside: 11 chapters

The whole summary runs about 11 minutes, read or listened to.

1. The Overcommunicated Mind
2. Positioning Lives in the Mind, Not the Product
3. From the Product Era to the Positioning Era
4. The Ladder and the Power of Being First
5. Owning a Word in the Mind
6. Positioning the Leader: Defend and Expand
7. Positioning the Follower: Find the Open Hole
8. Repositioning the Competition
9. The Power, and Peril, of a Name
10. The Line-Extension Trap
11. Building Your Own Positioning Program