Positioning
Helen Strong
Positioning: Purpose
Today’s marketing relies on the positioning of a brand to help reach the heart and pockets of a consumer. This model emphasizes the fact that positioning has to:
- Be based on or relative to the needs of the target market, and
- It is a key factor in defining the elements of the marketing mix.
Hence the model is applied when defining or reviewing the elements of the marketing mix.
Positioning: Structure and Description
Marketers take some concepts for granted as they are natural tools for establishing the identity of a product or brand. First proposed in the late 1960s, positioning emerges from managing the perceptions, attitudes, and affiliation that consumers have toward your brand and product. Aligning with Theodore Levitt’s classical question, positioning can even define the business that a company is in.
The positioning statement is related to a particular target market. It can be built up by expressing the product value offering (key benefit) and the major competitive advantage (Figure 26.1).
Development of the positioning statement first examines key attributes of the product class and consumer preferences. The process will often use perceptual mapsPM to establish where there are market gaps waiting to be exploited. Elements of the marketing mix are considered to ensure they are aligned with the positioning of the product.
The consumer evaluation of positioning is given in Figure 26.2.
Figure 26.1 Positioning model
Source: Perner 2013
Figure 26.2 Consumer promise
Positioning: Strategic Considerations
Positioning contributes to the brand image and attractiveness of the brand to its target market. The position of a brand and the way in which it is expressed, need to be relevant to the target market of the product category. The product position is defined by expressing the value proposition and unique sustainable advantage of the brand in attractive and emotive terms.
In effect, positioning is the marketing strategy and it therefore defines the entire marketing mix and implementation tactics.
Positioning: Implementation
Marketers strive to find a unique and relevant position for the brand, relative to the competition. The position can be defined by a single or a number of attributes (or perceived attributes) of the brand. The characteristics to be considered include:
- Functionality or uses
- Features
- Referent groups
- Psychological, emotional benefits, or both
- Ego or status related benefits
- Experiential benefits
- Usage locations or occasions
To bring together the components of positioning, marketers therefore need to conduct consumer, product, and competitor research. Within the techniques used, perceptual mappingPM and establishing points of parity and points of difference between products will assist in the positioning exercise.
Guided by the quality level of the product, critical buying factors, and psychosocial parameters that satisfy the target market needs, marketing can then choose the most compelling position around which to build the brand image.
Positioning: Conclusions
Marketers define the limits of their target market when they position a brand. Communication and engagement with that market are facilitated through a clear positioning. The brand positioning is expressed creatively using the signals and values that will be recognized by the target market, that is, the market interprets the brand signals. To effectively claim a position in the market, the elements of the marketing mix need to be aligned to the positioning statement and the values that are associated with it.
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