Marketing Management

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 10
Crafting the
Brand Positioning

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Developing a Brand Positioning
• Positioning
– The act of designing a company’s
offering and image to occupy a
distinctive place in the minds of
the target market
– Value proposition

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Value Proposition
Table 10.1 Examples of Value Propositions
Company and Product Target Customers Value Proposition
Hertz (car rental) Busy professionals Fast, convenient way to rent the
right type of a car at an airport
Volvo (station wagon) Safety-conscious The safest, most durable wagon in
upscale families which your family can ride
Domino’s (pizza) Convenience-minded A delicious hot pizza, delivered
pizza lovers promptly to your door

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Competitive Frame of Reference (1 of 2)
• Competitive frame of reference
– Defines which other brands a brand competes with and
which should thus be the focus of competitive analysis
– Identifying and analyzing competitors

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Competitive Frame of Reference (2 of 2)
Table 10.2 Customers’ Ratings of Competitors on key Success
Factors
Customer Product Product Technical Selling
blank
Awareness Quality Availability Assistance Staff
Competitor A E E P P G
Competitor B G G E G E
Competitor C F P G F F

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Points-of-Difference and Points-of-
Parity (1 of 6)
• Points-of-difference (PODs)
– Attributes/benefits that
consumers strongly
associate with a brand,
positively evaluate, and
believe they could not find
to the same extent with a
competitive brand

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Points-of-Difference and Points-of-
Parity (2 of 6)
• POD criteria
– Desirable
– Deliverable
– Differentiating

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Points-of-Difference and Points-of-
Parity (3 of 6)
• Points-of-parity (POPs)
– Attribute/benefit associations that are not necessarily
unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with
other brands

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Points-of-Difference and Points-of-
Parity (4 of 6)
• POP forms
– Category
– Correlational
– Competitive

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POP vs. POD
• Multiple Frames of Reference
• Straddle Positioning

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Points-of-Difference and Points-of-
Parity (5 of 6)
• Choosing specific POPs
and PODs
– Competitive advantage
– Means of differentiation
– Perceptual map
– Emotional branding

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Points-of-Difference and Points-of-
Parity (6 of 6)
• Brand mantras
– Communicate
– Simplify
– Inspire

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Establishing a Brand Positioning
• Communicating category membership
– Announcing category benefits
– Comparing to exemplars
– Relying on product descriptor

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Communicating POPs and PODs
• Negatively correlated attributes/benefits
‒ Low price vs. high quality
‒ Taste vs. low calories
‒ Powerful vs. safe
‒ Ubiquitous vs. exclusive
‒ Varied vs. simple

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Monitoring Competition
• Variables in assessing
potential competitors
– Share of market
– Share of mind
– Share of heart

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Alternative Approaches to Positioning
• Brand narratives and storytelling
– Setting
– Cast
– Narrative arc
– Language
• Cultural branding

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Positioning/Branding for A Small
Business
• Find compelling product • Create buzz and a loyal
performance advantage brand community
• Focus on building one or • Employ a well-integrated
two strong brands based set of brand elements
on one or two key
• Leverage as many
associations
secondary associations
• Encourage product trial in as possible
any way possible
• Creatively conduct low
• Develop cohesive digital cost marketing research
strategy to make the
brand “bigger and better”
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Copyright

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