The idea of 'positioning' a product or service emerged in the early 1970's when Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote a series of articles called 'The Positioning Era' for Advertising Age.

Their definition of positioning is still one of the best:

"… positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect. That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect." Al Ries and Jack Trout Positioning: The Battle for your Mind

Of course, since this initial clarity there have been plenty of attempts to confuse the matter. This is one of the best:

"Positioning Theory is a new discipline-based school of thought about the strategic marketing process. It is the study of the governing laws, principles, strategies and models of how the consumer's mind systematically sorts, ranks and files concepts in the mind's directory relative to the competition."

Well yes, can you tell an academic wrote that one? But just to show we have no prejudice against academics, how about this:

"Positioning is the attempt to control the public's perception of a product or service as it relates to competitive products." Mississippi University State Extension Service

This one we like very much, and if you take this definition, there is no difference between positioning and branding (to see our definition of a brand, click here).

Always nice to make these connections and simplify the world a little. Positioning is branding.