Posititioning Flashcards
the act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a
distinctive place in the minds of the target market
=”mental real estate”
=owning a certain part of a consumers hand
Brand Positioning
to position a brand is to
attempt to) control perceptions of it in the marketplace relative to the competition
Two main building blocks of brand positioning
differentiation, favorability
- emphasizing the distinctive characteristics that make it different: strong, favorable, and unique brand associations
- developing a persuasive reason why the target market should buy
- a well-positioned brand will be easily called to mind, i.e. part of a consumer’s evoked set
End results of positioning
should resonate with consumers: giving them a narrative / story / interaction that is meaningful to them
Strong value claims
Positioning claims can be made at three levels:
- Feature / attribute positioning
- Benefit positioning
- Value positioning
focus on a special feature, ingredient, capability
Feature / attribute positioning
focus on the specific benefit to the consumer from usage
Benefit positioning
help consumers achieve the values they find important
Value positioning
he intended position may ___ = customers’ perceived position
NOT
Positioning depends on
wise marketing choices
each consumer’s personal goals objectives, values or usage situations
WOM
Internal, strategic document
Communicates unique value to a specific target market →
Answers: “Why should I buy?”
Positioning Summary
Contains 4 essential components of positioning summary
- Targeted users
- Category (frame of reference)
- Points of Parity & Points of Difference
- Reasons to believe
Targeted user
3 types of information to identify
- demographics, psychographics and attitude
- usage habits
- needs
- determine category and target markets → defines competitors
– requires understanding the category you compete in - identify and analyze competitors and close substitutes
▪ range of competitors can be much broader than the obvious
Competitive frame of reference
- Attribute / benefit associations that are not unique to the brand but are shared with other brands
= necessary category features to be seen as a legitimate competitor in the space
– may usually not be the reason to choose a brand, their absence can
certainly be a reason to drop a brand
Points-of-parity (POPs)
– distinctive attributes or benefits that consumers
– strongly associate with a particular brand
– positively evaluate, and
– believe they could not find to the same extent with a competitive brand
**and are deliverable by the company
Points-of-difference (PODs)
Understanding your POPs and your PODs will help you articulate your ___ ___ ___
unique value claim
- logical arguments
- scientific data
- formula
- patents
- superior design
- consumer testimonials
- authentic connections to a sport,
community, non-profit, etc. that is relevant to the brand’s values - celebrity endorsements
- association endorsements
- expert endorsements
- independent agency seal of approval
- country of origin
Reasons to Believe
For (targeted user), (brand name) is the brand of (frame of reference) that (unique value claim: PODs) because (detailed reasons to believe).
Positioning Statement
a deliberate attempt to change the way the market views a brand’s
distinct position relative to the competition
Repositioning
▪ its level of performance
▪ feelings it evokes
▪ situations in which it should be used
▪ even who uses
* the product
* the price
* messaging communications
* brand imagery
* distribution channels
Repositioning can involve changing…
– Competitors have caught up or overtaken you (features/benefits, especially functional benefits)
– Sales/market share are stagnant or declining
– Brand image is outdated
– Provide more customized products & services or shift to a new target market
Why do firms reposition a brand?
a positioning tool that summarize - in a visual, 2-D way – how customers perceive brands on different dimensions
Perceptual maps
To build such maps we identify a small # of dimensions that are important for consumers:
Can be done by:
1. surveying consumers or
2. mining online forums, blogs, product reviews
Building perceptual maps
