Fundamental question: How is positioning different from messaging? I have attended so many PMM talks and the lines seem to blur between the two. Would love to understand how they are different/the nuances. Thanks!

Good question and I’m sure everyone has a slightly different take on this. From my perspective:  Positioning = How you solve customers needs and sit in relation to the wider competitive market  Messaging = How you bring your positioning to life in market  I like to think of messaging as the tactical way that your positioning comes to life. Your positioning is your foundation and the messaging is the particular angle you’ll take when launching a campaign. Messaging will be used to creatively brin ...Read More

I’m so glad you asked this, because it’s actually one of my favorite topics to get on the soapbox about! :) I think April Dunford defined positioning best when she wrote, “positioning describes the specific market you intend to win and why you are uniquely qualified to win it.” I'll add my two cents which is that strong positioning means identifying and deeply understanding the most strategic target audience(s) you want to acquire, and picking out a place in their mind where you are the clear wi ...Read More

A good question - there are many definitions around. What matters the most is to align your own organization with those definitions. Here are the definitions we agreed on in my organization: Value Proposition is a simple statement that describes the overarching promise of a product, service or company. In other words: what your offering is. Positioning is a more elaborate form of Value Proposition highlighting benefits and differentiators to a specific market segment/persona --> why it is rel ...Read More

That’s a great question and some great answers already on this thread! Here’s a short and sweet take on this.  Positioning is the unique place you want to acquire in the mind of your target audience. This takes into account your product truth, problem it solves and how it compares to competition.  Messaging on the other hand is how you bring this positioning to life. Same positioning can be articulated in various ways and refreshed from time to time. It can also be a sequence of messages that bu ...Read More