Positioning is a choice.

There are only two types of positioning in the market: the mass and the outliers.

The mass refers to those average value propositions mass-produced for average consumers, and the outliers refer to genuine value propositions meticulously catered to specific customers.

The mass belongs to the hump of a bell curve. It’s chunky. It has gravity. It pulls brands in to feed its ever-expanding and ever-perfecting system.

As the system grows in dominance, more and more brands will join the force in exchange for a slice of pie.

But that slice of pie comes with a big price tag: cogs.

A system rewards cogs– the ones to fit in.

It encourages brands to give up on their individualities and become cogs – the parts of the mass.

And cogs, by definition, have to be standardized in order to fit in. The more cogs join the race, the more standardized they will become. That’s a race to the bottom.  

The system will surely move on with a greater degree of totality, but for the cogs? May the best win, as the old saying goes.

But then, there are outliers – the ones that can’t get settled in the mass. They can’t trade their individuality for that slice of pie. They take the road less traveled. They break away.

And that’s what customers see out there: the mass and the outliers. They see a contrast between the mass and the outliers, but can’t see a contrast among brands within the mass.

They are hardwired for that. They rarely see things as what they are, but see things in patterns, especially contrast in patterns. So when they notice the contrast between the mass and the outliers, the contrasts within the mass become invisible.

That’s why there is no positioning within the mass, but beyond the mass.

Ultimately, positioning is a choice. The mass is easy in easy out. Maybe, just maybe, shooting the moon is the way to go.