The 3rd P in the 7 Ps of Property Marketing is the P for Positioning. This isn’t a fancier word for ‘Location’. The term ‘Positioning’ was originally coined by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their marketing bestseller: Positioning – The Battle for Your Mind.
In marketing and business strategy, market position means how your potential buyer perceives your brand or property development in relation to competing brands or property developments. Market positioning is therefore the process of establishing the image or identity of a brand or property development so that buyers perceive it in a certain way. And making it stand out.
BEING KNOWN FOR SOMETHING
A word or phrase that your business could own in the mind of your buyer was what positioning meant to them. Like the “word association” game you used to play as a kid. Remember that? So if I say “Rolls Royce”, did the word “Quality” come to mind?
Saatchi calls this “One word equity … the modern equivalent of having the best site on the high street, except the location is in the mind.”
“One word equity … the modern equivalent of having the best site on the high street.”
WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN “POSITIONING” YOUR PRODUCT AMONGST C0MPETITIVE OFFERINGS
Here are some questions that will get you thinking about market positioning your property project in the minds of your target audience:
- What is the one word or phrase you can own in the mind of your Ideal Customer that none of your competition can compete on?
- What sets your development apart from its competition?
- What is your Core Message?
- How do you get from Competing with Everyone to None Competing with No One?
Once you have answered these questions you can create a core positioning statement – a central message in plain English around which you build your whole business. An excellent mentoring group I’m involved with calls this your “million dollar message“. Here’s how to put it together:
“[Your company name] [action verb e.g. provides/helps/offers] [describe your Ideal Customers] to [describe benefit] without experiencing [their biggest pain point]”.
Here’s an example of that in action:
Bermudiana Beach offers Bermuda lovers the chance to own a dream condo in Bermuda, where they can enjoy generations of family vacations, while the Tapestry Collection by Hilton and an experienced management team take away all the usual hassles of renting and maintaining a vacation home.
Long-winded for brochure copy, but a good hook on which to hang the marketing hat.
