Sublime

The design firm has to be able to make the right choices around what’s going to be the most critical thing that will break through to consumers to build that relationship—that familiarity yet distinctiveness that connects with consumers.

But the best positioning ideas are so simple and obvious that most people overlook them.

The average person will sit still when being told something which he or she knows nothing about. (Which is why “news” is an effective advertising approach.) But the average person cannot tolerate being told he or she is wrong. Mind-changing is the road to advertising disaster.

With a zag, you can start a new category that your customers, your employees, your partners—even your competitors—will help you build.

What does all this mean for a CEO, founder, or category creator of any kind? Your number one job is to change the way people think.

The low-price creneau

Ogilvy called it “the Big Idea.” The concept was that every great promotion has, at its core, a single, powerful idea.

Look at what competitors say, along with others in your space. Avoid almost all of the words they use.