One of the most profound statements made on the subject of positioning comes from Louis Carroll's, Alice In Wonderland. When Alice asks the Cheshire Cat which path to take, he responds, "If you don't care where you're going, it doesn't make a difference which path you take."

Your positioning statement is the foundation on which all communications activities are based upon. It is the most important marketing practice, and often the most overlooked. Without clearly defined messages and positioning, promotion efforts are fruitless.

From a management perspective, positioning is the cornerstone of an effective communications plan. A well-crafted positioning statement defines your company's direction. A positioning statement expresses how you wish to be perceived. It is the core message you want to deliver in every medium. The purpose of this is creating clarity, consistency, and continuity in the way your organization speaks to the market. This makes all forms of communications less complex and easier to manage.

Once established your company should actively apply its new positioning statement to all communications (internal and external) - from marketing collateral to sales material, Web sites to press releases. This means that if communications do not support the sought-after positioning or do not include, reflect, address or amplify the positioning statement and key messages, they are off strategy. This positioning process should be repeated as market conditions require, semi-annually is customary.

An effective positioning statement answers seven essential questions: