On Positioning

Positioning has been the most important idea I've understood this year.

I always thought it was about being different, about holding a specific space in the mind of your audience.

That is part of it. But the true meaning is more active: who you target, how you serve them, and why.

Most brands have no teeth because they try to be everything to everyone. They think widening the net will increase their chances of success.

The opposite is true. The more powerful and resonant brands stand for something real and exclude everyone else.

If your brand feels vague, it is probably because you have not concentrated it enough. You have not chosen specifically who you work for and how you deliver them value. You have not chosen the problem that you solve, and you have not become an expert in it. You haven't built a solution that is uniquely yours.

Positioning is a series of decisions, and most of them are about what you are willing to say no to. The audience you won't serve. The problems you won't solve. The work you won't take. Each no sharpens the yes.

Until you have those in place, your positioning isn't real. It's at best a vague assumption.