Playing For The Gaps — Positioning Strategy
Ouch! I missed it the third time! I cursed myself! I looked at my friend standing on the other end of the pitch. I could see that anger was boiling all over his face. I ignored him and got ready to face the next delivery.
I again swung the bat. This time, I felt a thud sound. Vow! I think, finally, I have hit the ball. I rolled my eyes to locate and follow the ball. It was in the air.
Suddenly, I felt a rumble in my stomach. My heart almost touched my mouth. Several scenarios unravelled quickly in my mind. What would my friend say? I looked at the ball with bated breath.
And…. the ball landed safely… in the fielder’s hands. I was out. I was dejected.
I was afraid of glancing into the eyes of my friend. I averted my gaze and began to walk away. I could hear the swear words coming from him. He angrily shouted, “Can’t you hit the ball where there is no fielder? There’s so much gap around there. Every match, you are repeating the same.”
Oh! Yeah! Play the ball into the gaps! — The ultimate advice.
In my childhood, while playing cricket, I really struggled to hit the ball towards a spot where there were no fielders. I tried, tried, and tried.
Finally, my friends found a solution to help me! They made me an umpire in all subsequent matches. Eventually, I stopped playing cricket and became an armchair critic.
Thus, I have escaped from the “Playing into the gaps” strategy. At least, I thought so…..Until….
Several years later…..
When I entered the Design Thinking field…..
I slowly realized that “Playing into the gaps” has re-entered my life differently. Unfortunately, this time, I cannot run away. Because….. it is the most critical element in my field….. I had to face it. Oh! How dreadful it was!
To launch a successful product/brand/business, the fundamental step or the first step is to play the ball(brand/product) towards the gap where there are no fielders(where there are no competitors). It is called Brand Positioning or positioning your product inside your consumer’s mind. In other words, we have to find the gap(empty category) inside your consumer’s mind and place your ball(brand/product) there.
In the 1960s, Kmart, Woolworths, Dayton-Hudson, and other bigger discounters opened their stores only in cities with a population of 50000. Some medium-sized stores like Gibson opened shops in towns that had a population of 12000. Sam Walton observed that nobody is opening discounting stores in towns having a population of 5000. He saw a gap there and opened his Walmart in those small towns. Sam Walton was good at finding spaces between fielders(competitors)!
As I read several case studies like Walmart, to my surprise, I realized that I began to love the strategy. Oh! Boy! It’s stimulating, refreshing, and rewarding! It was unlike cricket. The more time I spent learning and applying the ‘playing for the gaps’, the strategy became the most exciting part of my consulting process.