Owning a word in your prospect’s mind is the most powerful concept in marketing
Law #5
is The Law of Focus whereby the authors propose you
own a word in your prospect’s mind, as exemplified here with these brands:
·
Mercedes - engineering
·
BMW - driving
·
Volvo - safety
·
Domino’s - home
delivery
·
Pepsi-Cola - youth
While these
brands may have evolved somewhat since this book was written in 1993, for the
most part each company still owns these words in the minds of consumers,
customers and subscribers.
In other
words, The Law of Focus stands the test of time. So, how can you apply
the value of focus in your organization?
The Value of Focus: As a value, Focus means concentration of attention or energy; maximum clarity.
Ries and
Trout suggest marketers must burn their way
into the mind by narrowing the focus to
a single word or concept. But how do you do that? You can do that by concentrating all attention and
energy around a single concept.
Please note
that this one concept must meet two important criteria:
1. It must
be relevant to your target customers;
2. It must
not be owned by any of your competitors, direct or indirect.
In the
automotive industry for example, Volvo has owned the word safety for many years. It is clearly important to
consumers. And Volvo was the first to own it.
So how does
such a clear focus get started?
Consider
the statement made by the founders of Volvo when they started the company in
1927: “Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind
everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is and must remain, safety”,
said Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson.
Safety has
been the single guiding principle of Volvo for over 80 years, providing maximum clarity to every employee, every
shareholder, every supplier, and ultimately every customer.
That’s the
power of focus.
Note that
this is by no means easy. In fact, Ries and Trout call this “The ultimate marketing sacrifice.”
So how do
you get all your stakeholders willing to sacrifice?
The Leadership of
Focus
Strong
leadership is required to help an organization apply the power of focus. When
this occurs, and complete ownership of a single word in the mind of consumers
is achieved, then another marketing law is triggered - Market Leadership. Leaders who apply the power of focus internally
will ultimately achieve leadership externally in the market.
Consider
for a moment, how a friend may offer you a drink, and ask “What kind of Coke do
you want?” Or when someone asks you “Do you have a Kleenex?” Sometimes they
even ask “Have you put Maggi in the stew?” And in today’s world, it’s not
uncommon to hear “I’ll Google that to find out.”
These
brands – indeed, the companies of Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark, Nestle and Google
– are the leaders in their categories. And their leadership abilities are
demonstrated by the fact they each own a word they created in our minds.
However,
generally it’s easier to take ownership of a word that already exists in the
dictionary – like safety. Creating new words that are embraced by consumers
requires a complex set of leadership skills, time, and massive resources.
To sum up
The Law of Focus, Ries & Trout said:
“The essence of marketing is narrowing the
focus. You become stronger when you reduce the scope of your operations. You
can’t stand for something if you chase after everything.”
So,
what one word can you own in the mind of customers that will differentiate your
brand?
And
how can the value of focus make a difference in your business?
By Al Ries, marketing professional and author, acclaimed as “The Father of Brand Positioning”.
Additional reports by ‘Dele Dele-Olukoju, Marketing Communication strategist and publisher of the
online Marketing Communication Digest. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria. +234 807
481 2389.
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