THE STORY
What if we thought of our mental condition as being like a location on a map? Then, if someone said “I am in a state of confusion,” we could just tell them to “Get in a car and drive to a different state, like the state of Contentment.” The United Mental States of America could have all sorts of interesting states. I think we already have a lot of politicians from the state of Denial.
Just think of how much money you could make selling maps showing the best path for getting from a bad mental state (like the state of Despair) to more desirable locations (like the state of Bliss). Wait a minute! Isn’t that basically what travel agencies do? Isn’t that what all those psychological self-help books try to do? Is Dr. Phil nothing more than just a seller of maps?
Continuing with this idea, if someone said “I think I am going crazy,” you could reply “How can you be going to a place where you already live? You’ve been in the land of Crazy for years.”
THE ANALOGY
Strategic planning tends to deal with a lot of abstract concepts. This is particularly true when it comes to strategic positioning. To make these abstractions easier to understand and work with, it can be useful to follow the example in the story.
In the story, the idea was to take abstract mental conditions and treat them as physical locations on a map. In the same way, I think there are benefits to looking at the abstract concepts of strategic planning as if they were positions on a map.
THE PRINCIPLE
The principle here is that strategies may be easier to understand and create if we think of them as being a location. In fact, there are three different ways to apply this principle.
1. Strategic Success Depends Upon Locating Yourself Properly on the Consumer’s Mind Map
Consumers act based on how they think. Hence, if you desire a certain consumer behavior, one needs to first get the consumer to think in a particular way about that behavior. In other words, you need to locate your product or brand in a specific location in the consumer’s mind if you want your strategy to succeed.
Where is that ideal location in the brain? It will vary based upon your strategy, but all successful locations will address the three S’s. The first S stands for “slot.” Different parts of the brain are used, depending upon the type of problem the brain is trying to solve. One of your first strategic tasks is to decide what problem your product is trying to solve.
Perhaps you are trying to solve the problem of “what’s for dinner?” Or maybe you are trying to solve the problem of preparing the customer for retirement. Then again, the problem could be trying to lower the cost to run your client’s factory.
There are all sorts of problems to choose from. As part of your strategy, you need to choose the problem you are trying to solve. And I don’t mean an internal problem like “How can I make my company more profitable?” The problem is to be a problem held by your potential customer. This is an important decision, since if you cannot help a consumer with a problem, then you have no relevancy to that customer.
Once you have chosen the problem, you need to make sure that your brand/product is “slotted” into the location of the consumer’s brain concerned with that problem. In other words, whenever that problem turns up for that consumer, you want your name to fire up in that part of the brain. This is done by communicating in a manner which continually associates your brand with that problem.
For example, Crest has spent decades associating its toothpaste brand with the problem of cavity prevention. It is now solidly slotted in the brain, so that when the problem of cavities comes up, the brain immediately thinks of Crest.
The second S is “solution.” Your strategy needs to provide a solution to that problem. What is it about your product/brand that makes it capable of solving that problem? Again, there are often many ways to solve a problem. You have to choose one.
This solution choice includes both the process and the performance. By process, I mean the general approach to solving the problem. For example, if the problem is weight loss, the choice of process could include exercise, diet, surgery, pharmaceuticals, hypnosis, and many others. By performance, I mean the type of attribute emphasized in the process you choose, such as being fastest or cheapest or most comprehensive, etc.
The third S is for “superiority.” It is not good enough to just be located in the brain where the problem is being addressed. You need to be seen as the superior solution to the problem. In Al Reis and Jack Trout’s excellent book Positioning, they refer to this as being a rank ordering, like rungs on a ladder. You want your brand to own the top rung (the best) in the mind of the consumer. So, another role of strategy is to locate your brand on the top rung on the problem ladder. You have to have a convincing argument (both rationally and emotionally) for why you should own that location.
Whenever I work with someone on developing a strategy, I usually end up at some point asking the question “Why should a customer prefer your product over all the other options?” If you have difficulty answering that question, the consumer probably has even greater difficulty coming up with an answer. And if you are not perceived as being the best alternative, they will choose someone else.
For example, for the problem of dependable transportation, Toyota has firmly cemented itself to the top rung location. It is perceived as best at automotive dependability. Through years of effort, Toyota has created a strategy which gives them ownership of that location in the brain of most consumers. They are slotted as the superior solution.
To summarize, your strategy needs to develop a superior means of solving a relevant problem and then place that information on the top rung in the relevant problem-solving location in the consumer’s brain.
2. Strategic Success Depends Locating Yourself Properly on the Competitive Map.
A strategic position is not created in a vacuum. The position plays itself out in the competitive marketplace. You can think of this marketplace as being like a map. Each competitor has a location on that map. The viability of your strategic position depends in large part on where you are on the map relative to everyone else.
For example, let’s say that you are a retailer with a strategy is based on owning the low price solution. Your ability to own the low price position depends a lot on your location on price versus competition. Wal-Mart recently has started a number of price wars in areas such as toys, books and DVDs. As long as Wal-Mart is driven to be closer to the lowest possible price location on the map than you are, you cannot own the low price position, no matter where you set your prices.
So when creating the action plan for your strategy, do not think primarily in terms of absolutes. Instead, think in terms of relativity—where you are relative to others on the map. In other words, if you want to own quality, it is not good enough to just set a high absolute quality level. You need to have higher relative perceived quality than the competition. That can be a moving target.
Often times, it is best to locate yourself on the competitive map is a place that is relatively empty. For example, if everyone else seems to be fighting for space on the quality area of the map, you may be better off going to the price area of the map, which is more wide open. The lest contested a space, the easier it is to own in the mind of the customer.
Right now Chevrolet is trying to convince people that it has the highest quality, most fuel efficient cars available. That is a hotly contested space, already owned by Toyota and Honda. Chevy will have a hard time unseating those entrenched positions. It would have been better off trying to go after a less contested space.
Although Ford would also like to be seen as high quality and fuel efficient, its approach has been less of a direct assault on Honda and Toyota. Instead, Ford is trying to establish itself with superiority in high-tech enhancements. This space is less contested on the competitive map. Once Ford owns this space, it can use high-tech superiority as a justification for a secondary claim at superiority in quality, safety and fuel economy (caused by unique technology).
And when you are building this competitive map, make sure you include every competitor attacking the same problem. For example, if the problem is weight loss, you need to include every process aimed at that solution. You may claim to be the fastest exercise solution for losing weight, but if there is a pill you can take that works a lot faster at losing weight than any exercise, you have not really captured the “speed” space on the map.
3. Strategic Success Depends Upon Locating Yourself Properly on the Map of the Future
Strategy is often about creating a better position in the future than you have today. It is often easier to communicate where you want to take the company if you can visualize that future state on some sort of map. Then, not only can you show the desired future location, but also today’s location and the path you must take in order to get from the one to the other. The mind map or the competitive map may be good templates to show the new destination and transition path to get there.
SUMMARY
Complex concepts can often be better understood, worked with, and communicated if thought of visually—like positions on a map. In strategy, some of the more useful maps would be a consumer mind map, a competitive landscape map, and a future map.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If your strategy cannot be easily translated into a visual map, then it is highly likely that your troops will get lost in strategy execution (and you will not reach the desired destination).
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