Cutting Through the Clutter

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If your new product or service falls into a recognizable category, with one brand already dominant, it may be difficult to break through the mental shortcuts people have created for themselves.

Cutting Through the Clutter
by Bart Preecs

Have you ever tried to tell a friend about a new restaurant you discovered?

A few years ago, you might have been able to describe a place in a few, easily understood categories: seafood, Italian, or Chinese. Today, however, a basic Chinese restaurant may have a much more specific description: Szechwan, Cantonese, pho, Thai, or even “Asian fusion.”

This explosion of categories is part of the information overload we all have to deal with. The business world is no different; therefore, marketing strategists—and if you’re in business, you’re a marketing strategist—need to carefully consider how their products are “positioned” in the minds of the people they want to reach.

Positioning as a strategy is based on a simple yet enduring idea: when people encounter a new idea, product, or service, they subconsciously connect it to something they already understand. “Asian fusion? It’s like Thai combined with Japanese, with sort of a Northwest twist” is a positioning statement.

If all you know about French cooking is that it sometimes involves snails and frog legs, it may be difficult to convince you to try that new La Belle Eatery—no matter what the critics say about it. So smart marketing starts with asking: Who am I trying to reach? Which category will

those people think my product falls into?

What do they already know about that category?

If your new product or service falls into a recognizable category, with one brand already dominant, it may be difficult to break through the mental shortcuts people have created for themselves. Coke and Pepsi, for example, spend millions of dollars reminding folks that they’re the two leading soft drink companies. However, Seattle’s Jones Soda enjoys quite a bit of success by offering unusual flavors that are not part of the normal cola experience. In a market saturated with competition and mass messaging, you either leverage the qualities that make your product unique or succumb to them.

It takes experience, skill, hard analysis, and some serious creativity to prepare an effective positioning and message framework, but doing the job right will almost always pay off.

The team at Washburn Communication understands the issues that drive business, move markets, and influence purchase decisions. As professional communicators, we take the time to understand your audiences and your goals. Applying our understanding and appreciation of both business and technology, we can help you develop content that communicates your concepts and connects with your audience in a compelling and targeted way. Contact Bart Preecs or call 425-453-2501 ext. 113.