The Ladder in the Mind
Prospects rank brands on mental ladders — know your rung before you choose your strategy.
To cope with the explosion of products and brands, people have learned to rank them on mental ladders. Each ladder represents a different product category, with the leader on the top rung, the No. 2 brand on the second rung, and so on. Most ladders have about three rungs; seven is the maximum (the rule of seven). Some categories have no ladder at all — people simply do not want to remember any brand names. The strategy you should use depends entirely on which rung you occupy. The top-rung brand can play the leadership game, reinforcing its position as the original. The No. 2 brand can succeed by acknowledging its position and turning it into advantage, as Avis did with 'We try harder.' The No. 3 and below brands face the most serious problems and often need to find a new ladder entirely. An advertiser who wants to introduce a new product category must carry in a new ladder, which is extremely difficult unless the new category is positioned against the old one. The product ladder is the mental structure that determines whether your marketing will succeed or fail.
- People rank products and brands on mental ladders — each ladder represents a different product category
- The leader sits on the top rung; most ladders have three rungs, seven is the maximum
- Your marketing strategy must match your rung — what works for the leader will not work for No. 2
- The mind has no room for what is new and different unless it is related to the old
- To move up the ladder, you must relate your brand to the brands already there
- Sometimes it is better to create a new ladder (new category) than fight for a higher rung on an existing one
- A large share of market does not mean you own the position — a large share of mind is what matters
- Determine Your Current RungResearch where your brand sits on the mental ladder in your category. Ask prospects to name brands in your category — the order they list them reveals the ladder. Be brutally honest about your position; the ladder in the mind may not match your internal perception or market share data.Pro tipA large share of market does not necessarily mean you own the top rung. Scott had the largest share in paper products but was not firmly ensconced on any product ladder — a housewife could write 'Charmin, Kleenex, Bounty and Pampers' on a shopping list and know exactly what she was getting, but 'Scott' had no meaning.WarningDo not confuse market share with mental share. Share of mind is more important and more durable than share of market.
- Choose the Strategy That Matches Your RungIf you are the leader (top rung), reinforce your position as the original and block competitors with multi-brand strategy. If you are No. 2, acknowledge your position and turn it into advantage — find the weakness inherent in the leader's strength. If you are No. 3 or below, consider repositioning the competition or finding a new ladder entirely.Pro tipAvis succeeded by acknowledging it was No. 2: 'We try harder.' This related Avis to the leader (Hertz) and capitalized on the natural sympathy people have for the underdog. The strategy only works when you honestly claim your rung.WarningIf you pretend to be the leader when you are not, the prospect will not believe you. The Avis strategy worked because it was honest about its position — when Avis later dropped the 'We try harder' campaign, their results suffered.
- Consider Creating a New LadderIf your rung is too low to compete effectively, create a new category ladder where you can be on top. 7-Up brilliantly created a new ladder by positioning itself as 'The Uncola' — linking to the existing cola ladder but establishing a new one where 7-Up was the leader.Pro tipThe new ladder must be related to an existing one in the prospect's mind. 7-Up's genius was linking itself to the massive cola category while establishing an alternative position. The three rungs on the cola ladder became: One, Coke. Two, Pepsi. Three, 7-Up.WarningThe mind has no room for what is new and different unless it is related to the old. A completely unrelated new category is extremely difficult to establish.
Avis was losing money as the No. 2 car rental company behind Hertz. Instead of pretending to be the leader or ignoring the competitive reality, Avis acknowledged its No. 2 position with the campaign 'Avis is only No. 2 in rent-a-cars. So why go with us? We try harder.' The honesty respected the ladder in the prospect's mind and capitalized on natural sympathy for the underdog.
7-Up could not compete on the cola ladder dominated by Coke and Pepsi. Rather than fighting for a rung on that ladder, 7-Up created an entirely new ladder by positioning as 'The Uncola' — linking to the enormous share of mind held by the cola category while establishing an alternative position where 7-Up was the leader.
Sears created the DieHard battery brand with a name that immediately communicated the product's positioning — long-lasting, reliable power. Despite being available only at Sears stores, the DieHard name itself established a position in the prospect's mind that transcended its limited distribution.
Ries and Trout observed that the human mind organizes brands much like a computer organizes data — in categories with hierarchical slots. They noticed that Harvard psychologist George A. Miller's research on the 'magic number seven' (the mind's capacity limit for simultaneous information) explained why most categories had only a few brands that anyone could name. They developed the ladder metaphor to help marketers visualize and work with this mental architecture rather than fight against it.