Every American Indian tribe (and every Texan and Mexican) feared the Comanches in the 1800s.

Their rise to dominance is in part a story of positioning strategy. I’m just finishing Sam Gwynne’s recent book, Empire of the Summer Moon – a riveting narrative on the rise and fall of one of the most feared tribes in American history. Only the Sioux on the northern plains come close to the Comanches’ ferocity.

The Comanches’ ascent can be traced clearly to their expertise in raising, breaking, and riding horses. Over the course of about 200 years, the tribe developed a specialty in handling horses. Consequently, the Comanches made their living by hunting buffalo and warring against other tribes (stealing their horses) and, eventually, killing the white man. The tribe had no patience for subsistence farming.

At a young age, Comanche boys had a horse to ride. By the time they were in their teens, a young brave could sweep up off the ground a wounded comrade at full gallop. For years, the Comanches raided and slaughtered the frontier settlers, including the Army and even the early Texas Rangers. For example, when chasing and then engaging the Comanches after a raid on a settlement, pursing soldiers would dismount their plodding Army horses to shoot their muskets. It took a minute or so to reload the rifle.

But the Comanches would stay on their mustangs, which were much leaner and faster than the those of the soldiers, and charge into a line of standing soldiers. By the time it took to reload a musket, a Comanche brave could shoot a dozen or more arrows while hanging on to the side of a horse at breakneck speed.

Eventually, the inexorable advance of the white man pushed out the Comanches. The white man slowly learned to ride more like a Comanche warrior – on a fast horse. And then came the game-changer: the Walker Colt, the repeating revolver. Then it was the white man’s turn to slaughter the Indians.

The simple point is that power comes from being really good at something. Ergo, one thing. Consequently, you develop a reputation (and a messaging strategy) for that one thing.

The specialist position is really the only tenable marketing strategy in today’s explosion of organizations, services, and products.

In April I spent a week fly fishing in Montana with a friend of thirty years. It’s our annual trek to Bozeman to fish the lower Madison and the Yellowstone in Paradise Valley.

I’m always puzzled by large number of fly fishing shops near Bozeman, Montana. How do they all survive?

Every fly shop looks to be the same. Each carries rods, flies, waders and boots, rain gear – the basics. Each shop promotes guided fly fishing trips. There are small shops and slightly bigger shops. The bigger stores simply carry more gear or a wider selection of brands than the small shops. One fly shop boasts that it is the official Orvis (a well known brand in fly fishing rods) dealer in the area. Each shop has an online presence, of course.

But that doesn’t really give the business that much of a competitive advantage over the others, does it?

My friend heard that Dan Bailey’s fly shop in Livingston, Montana, was doing well, and we stopped in one morning before floating the Yellowstone.

The downtown Livingstone store looked about the same as the other fly shops, but with less gear, perhaps, than some of the other, newer shops. We were the only two in the store.

Then I learned why Dan Bailey’s fly shop might be doing better than some of the others: the retail outlet is mostly a front for its business-to-business strategy.

Dan Bailey’s is a distributor of fly fishing products to other fly shops across the country. That’s where it has found success.

Strategy does matter.

The American Red Cross had a big problem. The blogosphere was peppered with negative comments about the organization. So the American Red Cross decided to listen to the conversation taking place on the web.

They soon learned there was a gap between how they positioned themselves and how their stakeholders’ described their experience of the organization. Through daily monitoring of blogs and other Web 2.0 tools, the Red Cross changed the way they engage their advocates and recruit volunteers.

According to Geoff Livingston, author of Now is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs, this is what today’s customers and donors expect: to be listened to and understood.

Here Livingston offers his advice for making new media marketing programs work for your organization:

Brand & Strategy: Does social media increase lead generation?

Geoff Livingston: It really depends on the program. If you don’t integrate calls to action and natural ways for people to engage further, then your effort is for naught; social media is just a hot shiny object.

Your strategy should treat social media like a toolset, with different ways of communicating. Do your homework. By exploring this site, you can research how organizations have used social media successfully.

Can social media help a non-profit organization increase the number of new donors?

Again, if there’s no integration into your plan, then it won’t! If you do integrate, it will. It all gets back to strategy. Are you talking to donors to accomplish something, or are you just Tweeting? Check out Beth Kanter’s blog for more insights.

How do you convince management to engage in conversations with customer-communities without controlling the conversation?

Show them a blog search with all of the conversations about their company. Or even better, point them to the conversations about their competition. But really, at this stage in the game, if they are still not going forward with social media, it may be time to consider a more innovative organization.

How should “social media releases” be fundamentally different than traditional press releases?

They should be more of a story board for bloggers, providing them multimedia tools to create their own story. Rather than a positioning document, it should provide facts and paths for others to figure out the position, so they can tell it their way.

How do you reach out to bloggers, podcasters, and individuals with high-traffic social network profiles?

You get to know them through conversation over time. You definitely don’t pitch them out of the gates. It’s Relationships 101, really. Treat people like you want to be treated.

How should organizations integrate social media on their own web site?

First, they need to get to know their online community and listen for a while. Then once you understand what your stakeholders actually do online–what they talk about–build your strategy. It should flow naturally.

An article in The New York Times recently provided some statistics on the state of blogs on the Internet. The stats originate from Technorati, an Internet search engine that tracks blogs:

•There are roughly 133 million blogs;
•Only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs had been updated in the past 120 days; and
• Between 50,000 and 100,000 blogs generate most of the page views.

Millions and millions of poppies: Which poppy is prettier?

The stats on blogs confirm how cluttered the marketing landscape has become. The herculean challenge is to position your organization accurately and to communicate your message to your prospects with clarity and power.

I say, “Good riddance to the blog fever,” if in fact fewer folks are paying attention to their blogs. Most were lousy writers. Maybe the slow death (or at least slower growth) of blogs will free up some attention for those organizations whose message is worth hearing.

I’m a member at a local health club that recently spiked in growth.

It’s an “eat or be eaten” world, and when another local health club closed its doors for a couple weeks, my club feasted on the carrion. Note the phrase my club.

One day while I jogged around the indoor track, I rounded a corner and almost flattened a wizened lady who was walking in a run-only lane. I mumbled to myself something slightly profane and gave her a wide berth.

Does she not know which lane is for walkers? Is she illiterate? Can she not read?

Then one morning after my workout, I wanted simply to sit in one of the chairs in the lounge, sip the free coffee, and cool down before driving home. There was no open chair. A bunch of folks who looked like they had just caught the bus over from the retirement community sipped free coffee and chatted cheerily, like late-night patrons at a neighborhood bar.

Not long after, I began noticing a not-so-subtle change in the men’s locker room. I don’t classify myself as a “younger man” (I’m 46), except that I’ve noticed that there is a great divide in age (and psychology) between men who wrap a towel around their waist while in the locker room and those who appear to feel more comfortable with themselves. I know this sounds age-ist, but the male body after about 70 is no French painting.

Here’s the marketing story: A competitor goes under, and the senior management of my club likely said, “Wow, let’s create a promotion to cherry-pick these memberships from the other club – and voila! we’ll grow while having to spend no real marketing dollars to acquire them. We grow with no added expense!”

Makes perfect sense.

So management repaved the parking lot to narrow the parking spots – and thus increased parking capacity. Then, I noticed for the first time some signs that trumpeted valet parking. Yes. Valet parking for a health club! Most recently, the furniture in the lounge area was upgraded and expanded, ostensibly for those whom “going to the health club” means in large part chatting with friends and drinking branded coffee.

So, my question to you: Has this club’s position in the market changed, given that the average age of the club spiked along with the new growth?

Growth always involves a shift in power from the old to the new. I’m out of power, and the new folks are in. So, I bite my tongue, close my eyes, and head to the locker room to change before I run.

One size does not fit all.

You’d think advertisers would know that, before spending billions aimed at so-called Soccer Moms. Research indicates most women aged 25 to 45 don’t identify themselves as such.

Whether or not you’re marketing to women exclusively, tailoring your message to the segments of your audience is critical.

Holly Buchanan, co-author of The Soccer Mom Myth – Today’s Female Consumer: Who She Really Is, Why She Really Buys, talked to Brand & Strategy about identifying your customers’ personas and giving them what they want and need:

Brand & Strategy: You argue women want to be acknowledged as consumers with individual needs, not just as members of the female demographic. Is that also true of men?

Holly Buchanan: Everyone wants to think that advertisers are speaking directly to them. But women, more so than men, don’t want to be treated as stereotypes. Their lives are so much richer and more complicated than that. Images and messages that will resonate with them are those that reflect how they see themselves.

So how do you do that?

You begin by creating what we call personas. You can typically identify four or five that incorporate the varied lifestyles, needs, motivations, and buying processes of each of your audience segments. Then you can address each in the manner that will appeal to that specific audience. But be careful not to fragment your message so much that you sacrifice consistency.

What are some of the personas you’ve identified?

An oversimplification would be to equate them to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, which categorizes how people process information. Are they Left-brain or Right-brain? Spontaneous or Methodical? Humanistic or Competitive?

It’s not enough to identify how your customers are the same—you also need to know how they’re different. You need to do what we call “uncovery” to get to the whys behind customer needs and characteristics.

Seems too complicated to reach each persona with a unique message.

The Internet is a powerful way to connect to different segments of your customer base. Your web site is the most effective place to start. The key is to provide clear pathways so that each persona can find the information they’re looking for when they need it. Then your visitors can self-select the experience they want.

How do you determine what it is they want?

Start by listening to your customers, not just talking to them! Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and objections are a great place to begin your research—they tell you what people want to know and where they get hung-up in the buying process. Make sure you address these upfront! And don’t shy away from addressing any drawbacks or “This isn’t for you if … ” scenarios.

If you’re upfront about the negatives, folks are much more likely to believe you about the positives.

What about social media?

Social media has put the consumer firmly in control of the buying process. You can also find out what people already are saying about you on blogs and consumer feedback forums.

If you don’t include your consumer in the “conversation” they will tune you out.

You talk about how “Everything is marketing” and there are hundreds of touch-points. How can you control them all?

You can’t control everything—but you better control everything you can. Small details can be huge in the midst of a purchasing decision—everything from the lighting in your store, the friendliness of your operator, to the cleanliness of your washrooms. The challenge is to not just meet your customers’ expectations but to go beyond that—to delight them.

We’ve found that if you can meet the expectations of your female customers, you will have exceeded the expectations of your male customers.

You can’t trumpet something you’re not. Or, rather, you can, but good luck. You won’t have much of it. There’s no befuddling your potential clients.

According to Harry Beckwith, author of, among others, Selling the Invisible, and You, Inc the positioning of your organization demands authenticity. CZ President Dave Goetz interviewed Beckwith on why consumers buy into “true stories” and how to position yours:

CZ: What does positioning entail?

Harry Beckwith: To establish your position successfully, you must consider two things—how you are seen and how you want to be seen. From there, you measure the gap between the two. Then you can determine how to get to your end goal. Positioning is about moving that perception.

How do you obtain the best position?

There’s no such thing as an inherently superior position. The tendency is to reach to be “the best.” The superior product. The superior service. You can’t because “the best” doesn’t exist. However, each position has strengths and weaknesses. Part of positioning is being mindful of your inherent weaknesses.

Take cell phones, for example. What’s a superior cell phone? To some people, it’s the iPhone, because it’s colorful and does a lot of stuff; it’s even prestigious. To others, the iPhone’s features represent a whole lot of things that can screw up their work. They don’t even want a camera in their cell phone.

So it’s about staking a desirable niche, in which people will catch something really positive—and giving up on this notion of superiority.

Can you change an established position?

Yes, but you can’t position yourself as something you’re not or cannot be perceived as. It’s a waste of energy.

The most vivid example is when Gerber tried to market adult food. The mind didn’t allow it. Frito Lay tried to do lemonade. They produce salty and crispy snacks, so your mind won’t allow you to drink Frito lemonade.

The stronger your identity and the stronger you’re identified with something, the less able you are to be perceived in any way different than that. So it really depends of how flexible your brand is. How far does it stretch?

How does branding relate to positioning?

Positioning is about your message being perceived in a consistent way—like “sexy,” “fast,” “reliable,” or “safe.” Branding reinforces that single message as well as the nuances and subtle sub-messages that come within that.

I always use branding to describe all of the activities you engage in to reinforce your message. And an enormous part of this is your internal activities. Your staff activities create a sense of authenticity. For instance, if you’re a wealth management firm and the assistants are cold and ruthless, then chances are a warm, friendly service message will hurt you rather than help. It will raise expectations, and you won’t meet them. You have to deliver that position—you have to do what you promised.

How often should you change your position?

Re-positioning yourself demands real changes, not just cosmetic ones. You need confidence in your investment so that you will stay with it for a long period of time. When that position succeeds, you continue to build on your investment.

Take, for example, a University with a well-established School of Optometry: “Okay, we are known for optometry, how might we grow from that? You start to consider adding specialties closely related to optometry—audiology, for example, or other subspecialties in health care. You might offer health care administration in the general university—in short, growing from your strength into closely related areas that expand your offering. Whatever you do, you must begin your strategy by asking, “For what are we known?” And then ask how you can build on that, add to it, and grow.

Good marketing is rooted in good communication: It is concrete, not general. If you’re general—a little of this, a little of that—you’re not strategic. You don’t have a bona-fide, authentic position—and people will perceive it that way.

There’s a corny saying that if you’re not the lead dog, the view never changes. Most organizations and businesses are not the leader in their category. So how do you market your university or service if in fact you are going up against Goliath day after day?

The answer is the art and science of positioning. It’s marketing strategy that works. Positioning is even more relevant today than when Jack Trout coined the word in 1969.

In a recent interview with CZ President Dave Goetz, Jack Trout, the man behind the theory of positioning and co-author of the marketing classic Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, talks about what marketing must to do to compete in a world of overblown expectations, fierce competition, and commodity services and products.

B&S: What, if anything, has changed over the past thirty years in marketing strategy?

Jack Trout: Essentially, the only thing that has changed is the level of competition. Competition today is intense. It’s what I call the “tyranny of choice.” There is now so much choice that if you make a mistake, your competitors quickly get your business, and you don’t get it back.

It’s the General Motors problem. They made a lot of mistakes and market share continues to drop.

Has your thinking about positioning changed since you coined the phrase?

Jack Trout: No, not at all. My stance on positioning has become more important in the scheme of things because of the level of competition. My first article in 1969 about positioning pointed essentially to the “me-too-marketplace.” The concept of positioning was necessary because of the arrival of more and more competitors saying, “Me too.” My premise was based on the rise of competition.

But did I realize in 1969 what it would be like in 2006? Not at all. At that point, there wasn’t global competition.

Are there a limited number of positions?

Jack Trout: Remember, we’re talking about positioning as a science. It’s the science of the mind—psychology. One of the things we talk about in positioning is the Rule of Seven. In other words, in any category there are no more than seven brand names that anybody can remember, and those are only high interest categories. Harvard psychologists figured out that generally the finite number of brands that stick in people’s heads is seven.

But there’s also the law of duality. If you look at every category, only two brands eventually rise to the top. It’s Coke and Pepsi, Kodak and Fuji. The remaining brands—3, 4, 5, 6, and 7—are working in a fairly small market share.