By Anna Valmero
Inquirer.net

“The essence of positioning is to look for an open hole in the consumer mind and aim to be the first to fill that open hole with your brand.”

Thus spoke marketing guru Al Ries during the Brand Strategy Forum held at Dusit Thani Makati, October 1. Ries declared in 1970 the positioning era in the advertising age and reshape the perspective of advertising.

To survive in today’s world of global brands, an intelligent approach to positioning is a must. Ries, in an interview with INQUIRER.net, explained that positioning as a marketing component goes beyond communication. It is focusing on one idea to promote the brand—a strategy that most companies do not follow.

According to Ries, companies often change their marketing strategy every year–launching a new program or a new idea, only to find out in the end it doesn’t work for them. “It takes a long time to establish an idea in mind,” Ries stressed.

The Marlboro cigarette brand, for example, began by using cowboys in 1953. “Fifty-five years after, Marlboro advertising still carries the same images of cowboys and Marlboro country. That’s what having consistency with your brand means.”

How will brand consistency help companies adopt to change?

“The strategy should be consistent but the strategy should come from the tactics,” said Ries. “Before, advertising is done in print but now, you can go with the Internet. That’s okay. But remember: the strategy should not change — it’s the same brand, it ought to have the same strategy forever.”

According to the author of the book entitled “Positioning,” companies should resist from changing the strategy of their brand in the goal to make the brand appeal to a new market. A good approach is to launch a new brand that solely aims to cater and appeal to the new target market. Using the same branding for different products is a no-no, said Ries.

“To survive in the long run, companies should go global,” said as he challenged the Filipino forum participants.

Global brands are everywhere and most product categories moving toward the same direction. Unless companies step up the plate to compete with the global brands, the Philippine market will shrink, he said.

An example is the Red Bull brand, a brain-child of Dietrich Mateschitz. The businessman visited Thailand once, drank its Krating Daeng and found a gap unfilled in the global market, giving birth to the energy drink.

Is there a formula to duplicate this success?

“There are no formulas. You have to find that unique idea,” said Ries. “Develop a brand that is different from others and then, you can go global. The idea doesn’t have to be revolutionary but it has to be different.”