Position and Positioning

Only recently have the terms position and positioning emerged from boundaries imposed by sales and marketing models that limited their use as [Page 663]heuristics and frameworks in broader public relations applications. Melanie James (2011) advanced possibilities for incorporating position and positioning in the public relations literature, offering a provisional conceptual framework that also calls for deep consideration of persuasion's ethical implications. Moreover, other public relations researchers use comparable concepts as stand-in terms.

To begin understanding position and positioning's roots as context for their application in public relations, it is useful to recall the integrated marketing communication (IMC) approach wherein all elements of the marketing mix—advertising, public relations, personal selling, etc.—are used to build relationships with key stakeholders. Integrated marketing communication campaigns designed to nurture bonds with consumers are most successful in competing for a share of the consumer's mind (and increasing sales) since their brand is the one the consumer readily thinks of when deciding which product/service to buy amid a sea of competitive brands. Prabu David (2004) warned that blurring of lines between public relations and marketing in an IMC context could lead to overemphasis on consumers “at the expense of the broader public” (p. 186).

Public relations practitioners consider a product's or service's position when developing messaging strategies for communicating with audiences, even though they may characterize the concept somewhat uniquely and use different terms to conceptualize it. While public relations practitioners and academics may not offer formal operationalizations for position and positioning, they nonetheless imply its significance in relationship building. For example, not-for-profit organizations’ fundraising campaigns often depend on differentiating products/services from competitors by promoting unique qualities of service, benefits, responsiveness, speed to market, and low price. Kirk Hallahan (1999) used framing to describe ways that information may be included or excluded to (de)emphasize particular meanings. It is important to note that this may constitute a move that edges dangerously close to spin outcomes for which Stuart Ewen (1996) and others intensely criticized public relations practitioners. Nevertheless, Alex Wang (2007) used priming to describe ways that public relations practitioners structure communication about corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. In political arenas, a key public relations role is to enable candidates and parties to alter their identities and stances via “discursive constructions,” with the hope that constituents vote a certain way (Roper, 2005, p. 145). Melanie James (2011) found positioning extensively used among 57 award-winning public relations campaigns in Australia and offered a provisional conceptual framework, suggesting that the concept is useful when practitioners face situations of deliberate self-positioning, forced self-positioning, deliberate positioning of others, and forced positioning of others.

Anyone employing the position/positioning concept in public relations must carefully consider multiple variables, including timing, context, and historical underpinning. Notably, public relations’ image promotion and reputation protection strategies that reinforce stakeholders’ already positive perceptions of an organization's position are much easier to implement than repositioning (or reversing) consumers’ negative views. For example, Johnson & Johnson's successful handling of the 1982 Tylenol product tampering episodes included re-emphasizing hospitals’ trust in administering Tylenol to patients. On the other hand, Winn-Dixie supermarkets found that changing customers’ negative perceptions of the stores’ beef quality since the 1998 charges of selling past-due meat is comparatively more challenging. Meanwhile, public opinion on BP's handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 remains mixed despite ongoing public service announcements and community outreach about the company's continuing commitment to environmental cleanup and compensation.

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