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Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind isn’t your typical photography book. In fact, it’s not about photography at all. Even so, I found it helpful for increasing my understanding of marketing strategies. Al Ries & Jack Trout’s book discusses the concept of positioning – that is, the position your product or service owns in the “prospect’s” mind. It comes down not to what position you want your product to own, but what position it already does own. Ries & Trout discuss how to “play the positioning game” – and also how NOT to play. Although many of the examples in the book are huge mega-corporations such as Coca-Cola and Bayer, some time is spent discussing the little business too.
As the title implies, positioning isn’t necessarily about what your product/service offers (from your perspective). It’s how your potential customers think of your product/service – what place it has in their mind. Ries & Trout discuss how to reposition the competition, and how to position yourself. One key point that is re-iterated throughout the book is that your name isn’t just a name, it also influences your position. The authors make the comment – (paraphrased) “would the Mustang be so popular if it had been called a Turtle?”
Positioning is a strategy, and it does take planning and foresight. As mentioned in the text, you can’t position yourself for the short-term. You have to position your product, your company, for the long-term. I learned a lot reading this text, and am glad it was suggested to me. Remember, even though you’re in the photography business because you love creating images, it doesn’t mean that you can’t work on improving your business skills.
View Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind on Amazon.com
