How hard can it be to form a good impression in a person’s mind? How about everyone in a city? These questions gave me an insight on how Positioning can be really challenging. As AL Ries and Jack Tout call it and I agree, it is without a doubt that Positioning is a battle for your mind. I decided to analyze the Position strategy of Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). MEC has in the past done well at the sectioning its store with its selection of outdoor categories (Climbing, biking, hiking and cycling), located on the busy King Street in Toronto.

The latest MEC rebranding effort, which includes their new logo, campaign and brand platform called “Outsiders” leaves me second guessing, is the new name better for positioning the products? As David Labistour, the Chief Executive Officer at MEC says that they believe the greatest contribution they can make is to get people active. I expect that the new logo to be memorable and very descriptive of MEC’s products. I feel like most consumers are left confused by the name. For instance; the first impression I get from word Outsider is a popular magazine in my high school where I was one of the auditors or someone who’s an outlier.

The new logo “Outsider” is general and wide to be used by MEC. From my analysis, MEC can benefit from a well-developed name that focuses on a niche that is unoccupied in mind of consumers. Name logos for any product should aim at selling it.

Position Strategy, Concrete Designer Outsider by Carlos Garavito<http://strategyonline.ca/2013/09/19/mec-uses-consumer-motivations-to-inspire-a-rebrand/>

http://strategyonline.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/MEC6-200×300.jpg