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LESSON 23:
BRAND POSITIONING STRATEGIES
Topics Covered consider three out of the six as a purchasing choice. The
Components of positioning, Consumer segmentation, consumer may have encountered a negative experience with a
Perceptual mapping, Brand benefits and attributes, Advertising specific brand and may never consider purchasing it again, or
and Branding, Repositioning, Role of agencies in Branding, there may be a brand that simply does not stand out to the
Differential Advantage and Positioning strategies, Brand consumer and it is passed up.
Architecture. Position Or Perish!!!
Objectives Have you ever thought what makes Kelloggs different from
The learning objective: after this lecture you should be able to Maggi. The difference lies in positioning. Let us see how this
understand: magical concept plays a major role in making any brand a success
or God forbid a failure!!!
a. Brand positioning: Its meaning and scope and importance
b. Brand Positioning Strategies and how it works
After studying Service Brands and Retail Branding let us now
discuss Brand Positioning. I’m sure by now you must be
having some idea about what positioning is. You must have The concept of positioning was introduced by Al Ries and Jack
also studied it in Marketing course. Let us discuss brand Trout in 1969 and was elaborated in 1972.
positioning in detail. To understand the concept of positioning we can consider the
human mind as consisting of a perceptual map with various
Introuction
brands occupying different positions in it. This concept of
The famous ‘5 p’s’ of marketing folklore (product, place, price, perceptual space forms the theoretical basis for brand position-
promotion & packaging) were fine tools for implementing ing. What this leads to is the perception of the consumer, which
packaged goods brand positionings - and the basic formula still decides the positioning of any brand. It is important to note
has its role in FMCG assignments. But today we are entering that what a marketer does is to find a position for its brand in
the era of customer brands where ‘company’ and ‘brand’ are the perceptual space of the consumer and place it at the most
one and the same. In this scenario the company culture & lucrative point. Hence, Positioning is not what you do to the
values become a crucial factor in the solution: finding and product, it is what you do to the mind of the prospect. It is a
harnessing what’s there already or setting out to create values new approach to communication and has changed the nature of
and practices which support and manifest the positioning. advertising. It can be of a product, service, company or oneself.
Why is Defining the Positioning So Important? The perception of a consumer is a function of consumer’s
Running a brand is like conducting an orchestra. Positioning is values, beliefs, needs, experience and environment. Thus as per
the heart of competitive strategy. The messages transmitted by Subroto Sengupta “the core thought behind brand positioning
everything from the advertising to phone calls with your -the idea that each brand (if at all noticed) occupies a particular
customer care department all need to be kept in harmony and point or space in the individual’s mind, a point which is
on-brief. Without a clear, single-minded definition of what the determined by that consumer’s perception of the brand in
brand is about the messages rapidly become discordant and question and in its relation to other brands”.
confusing. The positioning statement is therefore a focusing Thus, in the perceptual map, the spatial distance between the
device which helps brand management to keep everything sharp points on which brands are located reflects the subject’s
and relevant. perception of similarity or dissimilarity between products or
Identifying where a specific brand is placed within the market- brands.
place and its relationship to competitive brands, brand The basic approach of positioning is not to create something
positioning is determined by defining the brand’s benefits to new and different but to manipulate what’s already up there in
the consumer, opportunities for which the brand is best suited, the mind, to retie the connections that already exist. In commu-
the brand’s target audience, and who its main competitors are. nication, as in architecture, less is more. The only answer to the
or us to achieve the benefits of brand positioning, it is necessary problems of an over communicated society is positioning.
to research in-depth the market position (or lack thereof) of the Positioning is an organized system for finding a window in the
brand. Brand maps and forms are created to profile the brand mind.
positioning, comparing the results with competitive brands. The easy way to get into a person’s mind is to be first in a
In realizing the benefits of brand positioning, it is important to particular category. If you are not the first then you have a
understand that not all brands are competitors. A consumer positioning problem.
may be presented with six brands of one product and only
BRAND MANAGMENT
phases: of a brand. Originally considered as a mixer for hard drinks, it
The product era: - The product features and customer benefits was later positioned as an Un-Cola soft drink. The result was
were of importance. With technology being easily available, the that it became the third largest soft drink after Coke and Pepsi.
product was no longer the Unique Selling Proposition. As Trout and Ries say
The image era: - In this phase the reputation and image of the “You will not find an un-cola idea inside a 7-Up can. You find it
company became more important than the product. But the inside the cola drinker’s head.”
similar companies sprung up and this advantage was no longer Aaker considers positioning so central and critical that it should
a distinct one. be considered at the level of the mission statement representing
The positioning era: - To succeed in today’s over communi- the essence of the business.
cated society a company must create a position in the prospect’s Robin liquid also exhibits the criticality of positioning. The
mind, a position takes into consideration not only the compa- brand facing stiff competition from Ujala today made a
nies own strengths and weakness, but those of competitors as comeback after detergent powders took Blues for a ride with
well. In the positioning era as stated earlier, you must be the their arrival. For the manufacturer what make it special are
first to get into the prospect’s mind. attributes such as “flourescer” and “ultramarine” but for a
The ladders in the mind: - In a particular category, people have housewife what matters is that “washing powders take away the
learned to rank the products and brands in the minds e.g. In dirt but Robin liquid gives clothes that extra coat of white”.
soft drinks, we generally have Coke followed by Pepsi followed So this is how we get going-
by Thumsup. Thus if a new soft drink is to be introduced, the
We plot not only consumer perceptions but also preferences of
company must decide upon the way it will position itself viz.
a given consumer segment in a particular category or product
the product ladder position.
market. Consumers express such preferences in terms of the
Positioning a company:- You can also apply Positioning to an benefits, whether they are getting the benefit, if it is important-
organisation in general. The companies who have a high to what extent, are they missing something. These are what we
position in the minds of the prospect i.e. the students mind call IDEAL POINTS on a perceptual map.
absorb the cream of the crop from institutes. Similarly compa-
Thus this gives us the idea as to how close we are to where we
nies visit only those campus who have a high position in the
should be, that is, the position of our brand on the perceptual
mind of the company (the company becomes the prospect in
map vis-à-vis the ideal points. The next implication of the
this case.)
mapping is that it earmarks the vacant spaces on the perceptual
The whole concept now boils down to creating a perception for map, which are nothing, but opportunities which can be
your brand in the prospect’s mind so that your brand stands exploited for positioning. Thus identify the gaps which new or
apart from the competing brands and provides the consumer repositioned products can fill by offering what current products
with what he wants. do not provide. This gives us the skeleton for making the
Thus speaking comprehensively, positioning is a function of strategy for future.
1. Perception it brings about in the mind of target consumer. Thus positioning is both difficult as well as simple because as
2. Functional and non-functional benefits associated with the Al Ries and Jack Trout say” Most positioning programs are
product. nothing more or less than a search for the obvious”.
3. Perception of the competing brands held by the target So position well —IT CAN CROWN OR DROWN YOUR
consumer. BRAND
Now let us see an example of how company studies the market Source: By Amar T and Vikram J of JBIMS
left, right and centre before introducing a brand. Maggi noodles
define the strategy, which clearly shows how far can positioning
help in making a brand a success. The brand was introduced in Prospecting for Positionings
Delhi in 1983. The brand was a big success. Annual target for In marketing the consumer is king - but the idea that consumers alone should
that market was increased from 50 to 600 tons and it was no dictate brand positioning has always been
less than a battle for Nestle. an over-simplification! Customer feedback via research is vital - but to this has to
be added analysis of the company
What Did Maggi Do? and its inherent capabilities, plus an sharp understanding of the competitors already
in the market - their strengths and
The market results show it found a weak spots
vacant, strong position and sat on it as
Positioning key points:
“good to eat, fast to cook” anytime
Ø It is a strategic, not a tactical, activity
snack. On the other hand Kelloggs Ø It is aimed at developing a strategic, sustainable competitive advantage
positioned itself as a nutritional Ø It is concerned with managing perceptions
breakfast only. Today no one even Ø Brand image and reputation are the result of the positioning process
thinks of taking Kelloggs corn flakes in
the evening.
Brand Positioning
Liberty Shoes shifts positioning from ‘family brand’ to ‘fashion
brand’
December 20, 03, Jasmeen Dugal
In the Rs 1,200-crore organized footwear market in India, the
previously unassuming Rs. 300-cr Liberty Shoes is fast becom-
ing a trendsetter. Releasing over 115 designs encompassing the
latest trends in the international markets, supported by a high
decibel advertising campaign, Liberty has kick-started an
aggressive promotional campaign. The company’s sponsorship
of fashion-related activities and tie-ups with fashion institutes,
reflect Liberty’s change in positioning from a ‘family brand’ to a
‘fashion brand.’
After signing on as Associate Sponsor for LIFW 2003, Liberty is
now collaborating with Pearl Academy of Fashion for a design
talent promotion and Continuum’03 – the 10th anniversary
celebrations of the institute.