Trying harder is rarely the pathway to success. Trying smarter is the better way.

Not only does the human mind reject information which does not match its prior knowledge or experience, it doesn’t have much prior knowledge or experience to work with. In our overcommunicated society, the human mind is a totally inadequate container.

“We’re better than our competitors” isn’t repositioning. It’s comparative advertising and not very effective. There’s a psychological flaw in the advertiser’s reasoning which the prospect is quick to detect. “If your brand is so good, how come it’s not the leader?”

Gen-er-al Mo-tors is often GM. A-mer-i-can Mo-tors is often AM. But Ford Mo-tor is almost never referred to as FM. The single syllable Ford says it all. But where there’s no phonetic advantage, most people won’t use initials. New York and N.Y. are both two syllables long. So while the initials N.Y. are often written, they are seldom spoken. Los

For many people or products today, one roadway to success is to look at what your competitors are doing and then subtract the poetry or creativity which has become a barrier to getting the message into the mind. With a purified and simplified message, you can then penetrate the prospect’s mind.

The truth is, many products are sold, few are positioned.

The best approach to take in our overcommunicated society is the oversimplified message. In communication, as in architecture, less is more. You have to sharpen your message to cut into the mind. You have to jettison the ambiguities, simplify the message, and then simplify it some more if you want to make a long-lasting impression.

Alfred Korzybski, who developed the concept of general semantics, explains that insane people try to make the world of reality fit what is in their heads. The insane person who thinks he is Napoleon makes the outside world fit that notion. The sane person constantly analyzes the world of reality and then changes what’s inside his or her head to fit

Positioning is the first body of thought that comes to grips with the difficult problem of getting heard in our overcommunicated society.