Positioning was first introduced by Jack Trout in 1969 ("Industrial Marketing" Magazine- June/1969) and then popularized by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their bestselling book "Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind." (McGraw-Hill 1981).

Positioning has changed the way people advertise. With this approach, a company creates a position in the prospect’s mind, one that reflects the company's own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of its competitors.

Positioning is not what you do to a product, instead positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect.