Marketing
How to write your own positioning statement
The fastest and easiest way to write a positioning statement is to craft an Onliness Statement—a tool that forces you to concisely formulate the radical differentiation of your company vs. its competitors.
Originally introduced by Marty Neumeier in his book Zag, this approach is not only essential for communication; it also defines your ideal strategy.
What is the Onliness Statement?
Most minimally, your Onliness Statement takes the form:
Our company is the only [category] that [point of radical differentiation].
And more maximally, it answers the WHAT, HOW, WHO, WHERE, WHY and WHEN of the radical difference at the core of your company:
WHAT: company category
HOW: point of radical differentiation
WHO: segments of audience
WHERE: market geography
WHY: need
WHEN: underlying trend
Or in one sentence:
To illustrate, let's take a look at one of Marty Neumeier's examples.
A wine bar chain's Onliness Statement could look like this:
And zoomed in:
Or in one sentence:
Here's Harley Davison's Onliness Statement:
A wine bar chain's Onliness Statement could look like this:
Our company is the ONLY chain of wine bars that builds community around education.
And zoomed in:
WHAT: the ONLY chain of wine bars
HOW: that builds community around education
WHO: for men and women of drinking age
WHERE: in cities and progressive towns in the U.S.
WHY: who want to learn more about wine
WHEN: in an era of cultural awakening
Or in one sentence:
Our company is the ONLY chain of wine bars that builds community around education for men and women of drinking age in cities and progressive towns in the U.S. who want to learn more about wine in an era of cultural awakening.
Here's Harley Davison's Onliness Statement:
Harley Davidson is the only motorcycle manufacturer that makes loud, big motorcycles for macho guys (and macho wannabees) in mostly in United States who want to join a gang of cowboys in an era of decreasing personal freedom.