About two months ago, I did a blog post on five marketing positioning strategies. You can read about the five strategies here. Since that blog post, I have been closely watching Apple's product positioning strategy against the Android phone market. Android has been using the front attack product positioning against Apple and the iPhone.
The Front Attack by Android
You probably have seen the commercial with the green Android flying around a bunch of consumer quotes. The quotes talk about how much people love Android phones over the iPhone. There is one caveat to front attack strategies, which is, they are an easily defeated.
Apple's Counterattack Positioning
So what does Apple do to defend this type of strategy? First, watch the following Apple commercial and then we will discuss their strategy and positioning.
Click here to view more of Apple's current product positioning
Apple's Flanking Strategy
Apple is using a flanking strategy. A flanking strategy shifts the focus of the customer's buying criteria to new or different issues that favor your solution.
Guidelines and Caveats
• Focus on business value
• Don't play by their rules
• Right timing
• Right target
• Right Issues
• Don't open the "playing field"
Apple product positioning is brilliant. Here are a few of their key product differentiators and positioning from the above video:
If You Don't Have An iPhone...
"If you don't have an iPhone, then you don't have an iPod on your Phone. With your music and your playlists"
"If you don't have an iPhone, then you don't have iTunes on your phone, the world's #1 music store. With Genius, that recommends similar songs based on songs you already have purchased."
"If you don't have an iPhone, well, you don't have an iPhone."
Positioning strategies are always fluid and in constant motion, so it is important to understand how a competitor is positioning against you. By knowing their strategy you can counter position successfully.
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