Positioning

Overview

Disaggregating customer markets, selecting the best option, and positioning for success.

Presented by:
Larry Vincent,
Professor of the Practice of Marketing
Presented to:
GSBA 509
September 22, 2026

What is positioning?

Context

  • 15-year consumption decline–Per capita milk consumption in California dropped from 29 gallons (1980) to 23 gallons (1993)
  • “Good for you” wasn’t good enough. Knowing milk was nutritious didn’t translate to drinking more
  • Outflanked by competitors–Soft drinks, bottled iced tea, Snapple, and bottled water were crowding milk out of refrigerators
  • Consumers found milk “fatty, childish, and boring”–a commodity nobody gave a thought to … unless they ran out of it
  • The industry had been trying to convert non-users and tout product benefits rather than motivating the 70% of Californians who already drank milk

The best advertising should make you nervous about what you’re not buying.

Mary Wells Lawrence

Positioning is a strategic exercise designed to outflank competitors.

Perceptual maps

Positioning is about linking a value proposition to perception.

Positioning template

BMW

Why did Porsche sales level off?

Finding the answer

Finding the answer

Positive associations

New value proposition

What does a positioning statement look like in the wild?

Long-form positioning

Positioning line

Laddering up to emotion and evocation.

Positioning is where competitive strategy and creativity intersect to differentiate.

Differentiating

Youngme Moon

Positioning strategy

Famous positioning statement

Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.

Positioning strategy

Positioning strategy

Positioning strategy

Positioning strategy

Let’s talk about Barbie

Positioning circa 2013

Dress rehearsal for real life.

Moms don’t see Barbie as a role model for real life.

Internal stakeholder

The closest thing we own with moms and girls is imaginative play.

Internal stakeholder

I observed my daughter Barbara playing with her friends on the floor by the hour. They would play with adult paper dolls and they would reflect their dreams and their future through their play with these adult paper dolls.

Takeaways

  • Positioning shapes the perception you want customers to carry.
  • It’s built by choosing the benefit you’ll own and the competitive lens you want to define. It’s often about framing.
  • Ultimately, positioning is about differentiation—carving out a distinctive place in the market that only you can occupy.