The Fundamental Principles of Positioning
The universal principles of strategic positioning that work regardless of scale—from solo consultants to Fortune 500 companies
Positioning isn't what you do to your product. It's what you do to the mind of your prospect.
This foundational insight, first articulated by Al Ries and Jack Trout in the 1970s, remains as relevant today as it was fifty years ago. Yet somehow, the marketing industry has managed to complicate what is fundamentally a simple discipline.
We've turned positioning into a buzzword soup of "brand differentiation," "value propositions," and "competitive advantage"—abstractions that sound strategic but provide zero operational clarity.
The truth is simpler and more powerful: positioning is about occupying a specific space in someone's mind, and the principles that govern this process are universal, timeless, and completely indifferent to whether you're a Fortune 500 company or a solopreneur.
The Physics of Positioning
Think of positioning like structural engineering. The fundamental principles that prevent a building from collapsing—load distribution, foundation requirements, material stress limits—remain identical whether you're designing a home office or a 50-story corporate tower.
Gravity doesn't care about your org chart.
The same applies to positioning. The psychological principles that determine whether a strategic choice will be effective are universal. What changes is the complexity of implementation, not the underlying physics.
When people argue that positioning a company is fundamentally different from positioning a person, they're conflating execution complexity with strategic principles. Yes, a corporation has multiple stakeholders, regulatory constraints, and internal politics that individuals don't face. But the core positioning principles that determine effectiveness? Those are identical.
The 3 Universal Laws
Every effective positioning strategy, regardless of context, operates according to three fundamental principles:
1. The Law of Singularity
You cannot own multiple positions in the same mind simultaneously.
The human brain categorizes information to manage cognitive load. When you try to be multiple things to the same audience, you become nothing memorable to anyone.
McDonald's owns "fast." Volvo owns "safety." Tesla owns "electric luxury." Each occupies a singular, distinct mental category.
The solopreneur who tries to be "the marketing consultant who also does web design and business coaching" violates this principle just as severely as the company that tries to be "innovative, reliable, affordable, and premium" all at once.
Choose one thing. Own it completely.
2. The Law of Preemption
It's better to be first than it is to be better.
This isn't about being first to market—it's about being first in mind. The brand that establishes a category often maintains that position regardless of whether competitors offer superior products.
Google wasn't the first search engine. But they were first to own "comprehensive search" in the public consciousness, and that preemptive positioning proved more valuable than being technically superior.
This means identifying an unoccupied or poorly defended mental category and claiming it decisively.
Don't try to be better. Be different.
3. The Law of Consistency
Positioning compounds through repetition, not variation.
Every touchpoint should reinforce the same core positioning. This doesn't mean saying the exact same thing repeatedly or slapping a logo on everything—it means ensuring every message supports the same fundamental perception.
The Economist has maintained consistent positioning as "intelligent perspective for decision-makers" across decades and platform changes. Their social media, newsletters, advertisements, and editorial voice all serve this singular positioning.
Most businesses violate this principle by treating each piece of content as an individual tactical decision rather than a contribution to a cumulative positioning effort.
The Implementation Paradox
Here's where it gets interesting: the simpler the principle, the harder the execution.
Understanding that you need singular positioning is straightforward. Choosing which singular position to own and having the discipline to reject everything else? That’s where most get stuck.
Think of Starbucks. They positioned themselves for busy professionals but attracted people of all ages and categories. The temptation would be to expand their messaging to explicitly appeal to students, retirees, casual coffee drinkers, etc. Instead, they maintained their professional focus.
When you own a clear position in one segment's mind, adjacent segments often follow naturally.
This is why most positioning efforts fail. Not because people don't understand the theory, but because they lack the strategic courage to commit to a specific choice and reject attractive alternatives.
Expanding your audience organically is positioning success, not positioning failure.
The Measurement Problem
Marketing metrics like reach, engagement, brand awareness, etc. are positioning proxies at best. They measure activity, not effectiveness.
Real positioning success is measured by:
Mental availability: When prospects have a relevant need, do they immediately think of you?
Category ownership: When people describe your category, do they use your language?
Premium pricing power: Can you charge more because of your positioning, not despite it?
These metrics are harder to track but infinitely more valuable than vanity measurements.
The Strategic Choice
Effective positioning requires making a strategic choice:
Will you compete on breadth or depth?
Most businesses default to breadth—trying to appeal to everyone, serve every need, and avoid limiting their total addressable market. This feels safer but is strategically counterproductive.
Depth-based positioning—serving a specific audience with a specific need better than anyone else—creates sustainable competitive advantage because it's inherently difficult to replicate.
The luxury jeweler who refuses to sell online and only sells through gallery appointments isn't limiting her market—she's creating one that competitors cannot enter without fundamentally changing their business model.
The Consistency Test
Here's how to evaluate whether your positioning follows these principles:
Singularity Test: Can a stranger explain what you do in one sentence without using "and"?
Preemption Test: What mental category do you own that competitors can’t easily claim?
Consistency Test: Do all your touch points reinforce the same core perception?
If you can't pass all three tests, you don't have positioning—you have marketing theater.
The Practical Reality
The fundamental principles of positioning are simple, but simple doesn't mean easy.
Choosing a singular position requires rejecting profitable opportunities that don't align. Preempting a category requires patience as you build mental availability over time. Maintaining consistency in reinforcing The Narrative requires discipline, especially when competitors gain temporary advantages through reactive tactics.
These principles worked for Procter & Gamble in the 1830s, Coca-Cola in the 1880s, Apple in 2000, and they'll work for whatever emerges in 2050. They're not subject to platform changes, algorithm updates, or cultural shifts.
Positioning isn't about the channels you use or the tactics you deploy.
It's about the space you occupy in the mind of your market.
And the mind, unlike technology, hasn't fundamentally changed in thousands of years.
You’re a shit hot educator and writer.
Definitely gave me some new perspectives 👍🏻