Crafting the 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.
 First brand that comes to mind for following product
categories.
• Anti dandruff shampoo  Head & shoulder
• Best stain removing washing powder  Surfexcell
• Soup which gives 24 hours protection against germs  Safeguard
• Anti cavity toothpaste for strong teethes  Colgate
 How these companies positioned
themselves
• Mercedes-Benz ………………… prestige.
• BMW …………………………… ultimate driving.
• Volvo…………………………….. Safety.
• Rolex………………………………high-end watches.
• Google ……….……………………Search.
• Red bull ………………………… energy drink.
• FedEx…………………………… overnight (delivery)
 Why positioning?

The mind rejects much of the information offered to it

due to over-communication from each side. In
general , the mind accepts only that which matches
with it’s prior knowledge or experience.

In today’s communication jungle out there, the only

hope to score big is to be selective, to concentrate on
narrow targets, to be unique, to practice
segmentation.
 Why positioning?

• You narrow the focus.

Dell Computer narrowed its focus to personal computers "sold direct"

and became the world's largest PC manufacturer.

BMW narrowed its focus to "driving" and became the largest-selling

European luxury car
in the U.S.

Starbucks narrowed its focus to high-end coffee and became the

world's largest coffee chain.

Focus is the key to successful brand building in today's ultra-

competitive marketplace
 The simplified Message

• Today the best approach to take, in our over communicated

society is to simplified message.

you simplified the message, then simplified it some more if you

want to make a long last impression.
-Al Ries and Trout
 Positioning requires, defining:

• Competitive frame of references

• POPs (Points of Parity)
• PODs (Points of Differences)
 Defining competitive frame of references

• What market you are competing in ?

• Who are your competitors?
• Analyze your competitors.

A frame of reference signals to consumers the goal they can

expect to achieve by using a brand.
 POPs (Points of Parity)
• Associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may be
shared with other brands. POPs are not the reason why consumer will
Pick your product, but their absence can certainly become the reason
to drop your brand. There are two types of Points of Parity.
A) Category Point of Parity
B) Competitive Point of Parity

Category POPs are associations consumers view as essential to a

legitimate and credible offering with in a certain product category.
– A bank will not be suitable, for example, unless it offers adequate ATM
service.
– A mobile phone will not be suitable, for example, unless it offers FM radio
option.
Competitive POPs are associations designed to negate competitors
PODs.
 Points-of-difference (PODs)

• Attributes or benefits consumers strongly associate with a brand,

positively evaluate, and believe they could not find to the same
extent with a competitive brand
 Consumer Desirability Criteria for PODs

• Relevance
• Target consumers must find POD personally relevant and important.

• Distinctiveness
• Target consumers must find POD distinctive and superior

• Believability
• Target consumers must find POD believable and credible.
 Deliverability Criteria for PODs

• Feasibility
 Refers to company’s ability to deliver its POD. Sometimes require
changes in product offering or sometimes changes in product
perceptions.

• Communicability
• Is the POD being understood by consumers in the same way as the
company thinks? Companies should provide verifiable evidences to make
sure that the consumers will understand the desired association.

• Sustainability
 Firm must be willing to devote enough resources to create enduring
position. POD should be such that it can not be easily attacked by
competitors.
 Differentiation Strategies

• Product differentiation
• Personnel Differentiation
• Channel Differentiation
• Image Differentiation
 Positioning statement

A statement that summarizes brand positioning. It takes this

form:

To (target segment and need) our (brand) is (concept)

that (point of difference).
 Example of positioning statement

To young, active soft-drink consumers with little time for sleep,

Mountain Dew is the soft drink that gives you energy because
it has the most caffeine.
 So is positioning always beneficial?

• Xerox first made photo copy machine & sold

them world wide, as the time passed Xerox
become synonymous to photocopy.
When it launched it’s “Xerox data system", fax
machine, and PC all were disastrous and
Xerox lost billions of dollar since it could not
change or reconstructed minds of prospects.