Intellectual Positioning: The Uncharted Frontier of Media Brand Strategy
Beyond demographics and psychographics lies a potent, often overlooked, strategic lever: Intellectual Positioning. It’s not about smart or dumb, it’s about where a group resides on the wide spectrum of intellect.
It’s the deliberate place you occupy on the intellectual scale of your category. While low-intellectual, lowest-common-denominator content dominates commercially, it has crowded the market and created a new opportunity elsewhere.
Consider the scale: In TV, reality programming is a 2 and C-SPAN is a 10. In music, today’s disposable pop song is a 2 and progressive jazz may be a 9. The key is not to be "high" or "low," but to consciously select and dominate a specific position.
The Sweet Spot: "Mass Appeal Intelligence"
We see the greatest white-space opportunity at a 7 or 8. This is the zone of "Mass Appeal Intelligence"—smart but not elitist, accessible but not dumb. It’s intelligent content with broad, visceral appeal.
Regardless of the number you choose, success demands a ruthless commitment to these principles:
Uncompromising Cool: Infuse everything with a timeless, rock-and-roll cool. This isn't just musical; it's an attitude that applies to information design, visuals, and audio—a complete focus on the intellectual qualities that define you. It’s an Eye-Ear-Brain strategy.
Purity from Cliché: Your position must be devoid of old-media tropes, stiffness, self-importance, and PC fear. It requires a pure, uncluttered attack on your chosen point on the scale.
A Synchronized Vibe: This intellectual and cool sensibility must transmit seamlessly to every brand touchpoint. The best artists master this; their work has a consistent, unmistakable feel.
Authentic Execution: You must walk the walk of the streets, not the conference room. If you choose an 8, you must live as an 8. This is about genuine embodiment, not a marketing facade.
Blueprint for Enhancement, Not Restriction: Create systems that amplify your "mass appeal intelligence," preventing intellectual compromise and ensuring every decision reinforces your position.
Strategic Honesty: Be brutally honest about your capabilities and your audience. A newspaper in a "beer and basketball" town shouldn't futilely chase the New York Times ; it should master being an excellent 6. Choose a target that aligns with your resources and market reality.
The Competitive Advantage
Defining your "intellectual characteristics" in your look, sound, and feel becomes a powerful differentiator and a driver of success. While many low-scale properties excel at serving their audience, few companies deliberately target by intellect.
You can ooze a specific, positioned cool by hiring, training, and living it. Not everyone will "get" it—and that’s the point. But by having the guts to identify your intellectual coordinates and execute with purity, you can build an extraordinarily loyal and successful audience.
Demographics and psychographics tell you who your audience is. Intellectual positioning tells you how they think. It’s time to start targeting the mind.