Positioning in Advertising and Seduction

As part of the evolutionary arms race comparison of the Seduction Community and the mass media for my Communication Studies paper, I am also going to be focusing on positioning.

My Opinions:

It's my opinion that PUAs strive to position themselves in the minds of targets in unique and innovative ways. Women, in general, have developed resistance to AFC techniques and PUAs try to stay a head of this resistance by approaching women in ways they haven't been approached before, thus placing themselves in original positions in the women's minds. I believe DHVs are one type of positioning devices PUAs use to accomplish their goals.

I believe beautiful women are bombarded with approaches and attempts at attraction and seduction and a PUA takes this into consideration when approaching these women.

Your Contributions:

I am looking for message board posts, blogs, articles, or other PUA sources that deal with how positioning in the minds of the targets and positioning oneself against competition. If you know of any public sources or are interested in writing a public source, please leave the link(s) to the source(s) in the comment section of this blog post. I've added specific comments to some of the quotes; my opinions appear in (parenthesis) and italics.

Advertising Quotes regarding Positions:

"Advertising is, for the most part, unwanted unliked. In some cases, advertising is thoroughly detested." (I believe the same could be said of the Seduction Community but have no source to reference).

"In spite of its reputation, or perhaps because of it, the field of advertising is a superb testing ground for theories of communication. If it works in advertising, most likely it will work in politics, religion, or any other activity that requires mass communication." (p. 2)

"So the examples in this book could just as well have been taken from the field of politics, war, business, or even the science of chasing the opposite sex." (p. 2)

"Positioning starts with a product. A piece of merchandise, a service, a company, an institution, or even a person. Perhaps yourself." (p. 2)

"Anyone can use positioning strategy to get ahead in the game of life." (p. 4)

"To be successful today, you must touch base with reality. And the only reality that counts is what's already in the prospect's mind."(I believe the same could be said of the Seduction Community and the target's mind but have no source to reference). (p. 5)

"To be creative, to create something that doesn't already exist in the mind, is becoming more and more difficult. If not impossible." (p. 5)

"Today's marketplace is no longer responsive to the strategies that worked in the past." (p. 5)(I believe the same could be said of the Seduction Community but have no source to reference).

"We have become an overcommunicated society." (p. 6)

"In the communication jungle out there, the only hope to score big is to be selective, to concentrate on narrow targets, to practice segmentation. In a word, 'positioning.'" (p. 6)

"The mind, as a defense against the volume of today's communication, screens and rejects much of the information offered it. In general, the mind accepts only that which matches prior knowledge or experience." (p. 6) (The second sentence of this statement is difficult for me to believe, especially when being paralleled with women. I believe the PUA is actually trying to do things that do NOT match prior knowledge or experience in hopes of positioning themselves as different/better than others men.)

"Once a mind is made up, it's almost impossible to change it." (p. 6) (I strongly agree with this statement and think PUAs aim to aid women in making up their minds in regards to favoring PUAs).

"The only defense a person has in our overcommunicated society is an oversimplified mind." (p. 6)

"We communicate with each other in a wide variety of bewildering ways." (p. 7) (I couldn't agree more and I think PUAs aim to master this bewildering communication to their advantage.)

"'Glittering generalities" have become a way of life in our overcommunicated society." (p. 7)

"It's a selection project. You have to select the material that has the best chance of getting through." (p. 8) (This can be seen in the different methods, strategies, and techniques offered from various individuals, businesses, and groups with the Seduction community.)

"When you want to communicate the advantages of a political candidate or a product or even yourself, you must turn things inside out." (p. 8)

"You look for the solution to your problem inside the prospect's mind." (a PUAs problem is seducing a women; the answers to seducing women lie within her individual mind.)

"'In politics,' said John Lindsay, 'the perception is the reality." So, too, in advertising, in business, and in life." (p. 8) (and I'd say in seduction also).

"The only answer to the problems of an overcommunicated society is the positioning answer." (p. 14)

"In our overcommunicated society, the paradox is that nothing is more important than communication. With communication going for you, anything is possible. Without it, nothing is possible. No matter how talented and ambitious you may be." (p.19)

"Positioning is an organized system for finding a wind in the mind. It is based on the concept that communication can only take place at the right time and under the right circumstances." (p.19)

"The easy way to get into a person's mind is to be first." (p.19) (I'd love to see PUA write about being unique and innovative to get into the target's mind.)

"Falling in love is similar phenomenon. While people are more selective than ducks, they're not nearly as selective as you might think." (p.20)

"What counts most is receptivity. Two people must meet in a situation in which both are receptive to the idea. Both must have open winds. That is, neither is deeply in love with someone else." (p.21)

"If you want to be successful in love or in business, you must appreciate the importance of getting into the mind first." (p.21) (I believe being the first to approach a woman in a unique way positions a PUA to be in "the mind first".If a woman is approached with the same AFC tactics over and over again, she begins to resist it so PUA have to be creative to approach her in, what appear to be, original ways).

"You build brand loyalty in a supermarket the same way you build mate loyalty in a marriage. You get there first and then be careful not to give them a reason to switch." (p.21)

"If you didn't get into the mind of your prospect first (personally, politically, or corporately), then you have a positioning problem." (p.21)

"The chaos in the marketplace is a reflection of the fact that advertising just doesn't work the way it used to. But old traditional ways of doing things die hard" (p.23)(Reminds me of AFCs; they don't want to learn new ways of attracting and seducing women).

"Messages prepared in the old, traditional ways have no hope of being successful in today's overcommunicated society." (p.23)

"The fund and games of the sixties and seventies have given way to the harsh realities of the eighties." (p.24)

"To succeed in our overcommunicated society, a company must create a position in the prospect's mind, a position that takes into consideration not only the company's own strengths and weaknesses, but those of its competitors as well." (p.24) (Again something I see PUAs doing).

"Advertising is entering an era where strategy is king." (p.24) (I think there may be something in the Magic Bullets about this...I'll have to check)

References

All above quotes came from Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind written by Al Ries and Jack Trout.