POSITIONING

POSITIONING
Clauncy

& Shulman, 1994

Positioning is something all marketers talk about,
but rarely do anithing

Gary Witt, 1998

Positioning is how to take market share

Ries & Trout, 2004

Positioning is not what you do to a product.
Positioning is what you do to the mind of the
prospect ..
Osama Taha, 2004
A positioning strategy results in the image you
want to draw in the mind of your customers, the
picture you want him/her to visualize of you what
you offer, in relation to the market situation, and
any competition you may have.

Kotler,

2003
Positioning is the act designing the companys
offering and image to occupy a distinctive place
in the mind of the target market

Lawson, 2006
Positioning is one of the more misunder-stood
concepts in business-to-business

Vadim Kotelnikov, 2005

Positioning is about how you
differentiate your product or service in
the mind of your prospect
Positioning is what you do to the mind
of the prospect-you look for the solution
of your problem inside the prospects
mind.

Positioning

has come to mean

the process by which marketers
try to create an image or identity
in the minds of their target market
for its product, brand, or
organization

Positioning

is defined as the way

by which the marketers creates
impression in the customers mind.

Positioning

strategy.

is your competitive

What's the one thing you do best?

What's unique about your product
or service?
Identify your strongest strength
and use it to position your product.

Three Elements In True

Positioning
Who Are you (Creating an image)
How You Are Different From Competition
( Differentiation )
How You can satisfy Their Needs & Wants
( Communicating Benefits )

THE ESSENCE OF
POSITIONING :

A new approach
to communication,
advertising and marketing.

The primary elements of

positioning are:
Pricing.

Is your product a luxury item,

somewhere in the middle, or cheap, cheap,
cheap.
Quality. Total quality is a much used and
abused phrase. But is your product well
produced? What controls are in place to
assure consistency? Do you back your
quality claim with customer-friendly
guarantees, warranties, and return policies?

Cont
Service.

Do you offer the added value of

customer service and support? Is your
product customized and personalized?
Distribution. How do customers obtain
your product? The channel or distribution
is part of positioning.
Packaging. Packaging makes a strong
statement. Make sure it's delivering the
message you intend.

USAGES OF THE POSITIONING

1.
2.

How your company is situated

relative to its competitors
How your products and services
are situated in the minds of
customers and target audiences.

WHAT ARE THE SUCCESSFUL

POSITIONING ?

# Competitors
# Customers
# Channel
(whether you sell direct, indirect
or both)

THE STEP TEMPLATE FOR

SUCCESSFUL POSITIONING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

What position do you currently own?

What position do you want to own?
Whom you have to defeat to own the
position you want ?
Do you have the resources to do it ?
Can you persist until you get there ?
Are your tactics supporting the positioning
objective you set ?

Questions and Comments

The product positioning process

involves:
Defining

the market in which the product

or brand will compete (who the relevant
buyers are)
Identifying the attributes (also called
dimensions) that define the product
'space'
Collecting information from a sample of
customers about their perceptions of each
product on the relevant attributes

Cont
Determine

each product's share of mind

Determine each product's current location
in the product space
Determine the target market's preferred
combination of attributes (referred to as
an ideal vector)
Examine the fit between:
The position of your product
The position of the ideal vector

The brand positioning process

involves:
Identifying

the business's direct

competition (could include players that
offer your product/service amongst a
larger portfolio of solutions)
Understanding how each competitor is
positioning their business today (e.g.
claiming to be the fastest, cheapest,
largest, the #1 provider, etc.)

Cont
Documenting

the provider's own

positioning as it exists today (may not
exist if startup business)
Comparing the company's positioning to
its competitors' to identify viable areas for
differentiation
Developing a distinctive, differentiating
and value-based brand positioning
statement, key messages and customer
value propositions.

MARKET POSITIONING

The place the product

occupies in the consumers
mind relative to competing
products

Four major positioning errors

1. Underpositioning: Market only has a vague
idea of the product.
2. Overpositioning: Only a narrow group of
customers identify with the product.
3. Confused positioning: Buyers have a
confused image of the product as it claims too
many benefits or it changes the claim too often.
4. Doubtful positioning: Buyers find it difficult
to believe the brands claims in view of the
products features, price, or manufacturer.

Questions &
Comment