RainToday Note: This is part one of a two-part series. In this first section, Marcus defines the concept of positioning and explains the qualifying differences between a "position" and a "mission". In part two, Marcus will elaborate on what makes a position work for a professional service firm.

There is no great mystique to the marketing concept of positioning. While it's not as simple as some would make it seem, nor as complex as others would have you believe, it's still very real.

Like so many words used in marketing, positioning has come to be shorthand for some ideas that have come a long way in the pursuit of sound marketing practice. First popularized by Ries and Trout in their 1981 book, Positioning, the concept took a basic advertising practice and codified it in a way that made it possible for other marketers to think differently about approaches to the market.

The basic idea is simple. Or at least, simple to state.

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