Positioning

SAMNAD.A
S3 MBA

Positioning Defined Positioning is about how you diffrentiate your product or service in the mind of your prospect.

 The Essence of Positioning

Positioning is a new approach to communication, advertising and marketing. It is an organized system for finding a window in the mind of your prospect in order to position effectively over there a product a merchandise, a service, a company, or a person against its main competitors. This system is based on the concept that communication can only take place at the right time and under the right circumstances.

 . The mind accepts only that new information

which matches its current state. It filters out everything else. In other words, positioning is a process by which a psychological anchor" has been placed into the minds of prospects so that they come to choose one specific person or company over another.

 Positioning is what you do to the mind of the

prospect you look for the solution of your problem inside the prospect's mind. Anyone can use positioning strategy to get ahead in the game of life.

 Positioning is a process that companies use in business marketing to create an image in the mind of the consumer. With all of the media

and the mass marketing we have in todays society, everyone is over powered with advertising messages.

 We have advertisements on the Internet,

television, stores and even before a movie at the theater. With the correct positioning a company can bring its product /service to the front of the consumers mind and make their product/service a stand out brand.

The objective of positioning

1. To create a distinctive place of a product or

service in the minds of potential customers. 2. To provide a competitive edge to a product or service. 3. Place an intangible service within a more tangible frame of reference.

4.Help influence both service development & redesigning of existing services. 5. Follow consideration of competitions possible moves & responses so that appropriate action can be taken. 6. To give the target market the reason of buying the services &then design the whole strategy. 7. To provide guidelines for the development of marketing mix with each element being consistent with the positioning

 SERVICE POSITIONING

Positioning means projecting the image of the service in such a way that consumers perceive its value distinctively from that of competitive offers. In other words, positioning intends to influence the perceptual process of consumers against a service.

 The studies on consumer behavior provide that consumers do perceive against a marketing stimulation. Since marketing stimulations are

many, a consumer may not respond selectively through a perceptual process. Thus, positioning will be required right from drawing consumer attention to influencing the consumer to take a positive decision, that is, in purchasing the service.

 Al Ries and Jock Trout who highlighted the value

of positioning say that positioning starts with a product-a piece of merchandise, a service a company, an institution, or even a person. However, position is no what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect that is we position the product in the mind of the prospect.

 There is no standard rule as to how to position a product or service. The only guiding principle is providing a simple and precise answer to the very

basic and fundamental question of the consumer, Why should I buy or prefer your offer? This may be against a need, value or competition.

 The need and value perceptions and competition scenarios do change in a marketing environment. Accordingly, service firms should develop new

answers to the consumers question. In other words, positioning needs to be changed or repositioning needs to be done as per the changing scenarios.

Effective positioning
Positioning influences Employees attitude Customer relation Policies & procedures of an organisation Responsiveness to solving customer problems

Positioning Process
1. Market positioning 2. Psychological positioning

*Objective positioning *Subjective positioning 3. Positioning approaches

Market positioning
Process of identifying and selecting markets or

segments Thorough knowledge of needs, wants and perceptions of the target market. Benefits offered by the service.

Psychological positioning
Use of communication to convey the identity

& image to the target market. To create a unique product image.

Types of psychological positioning

Objective positioning Relates to the objective attributes of the physical product. Subjective positioning It includes the mental perception of the customer.

Objective attributes of a physical product

Subjective positioning inspiring cultural heritage rather than physical attributes

Positioning approaches
Psychological positioning creates an image but

positioning approach completes the picture using visuals & wordsAppropriate approaches are selected based on information collected during market position & psychological positioning. Positioning by attributes, features or customer benefits: Marketers plays emphasis on the benefits of the particular features or attributes of the offering.

Positioning by price value: Value for money can be utilized for positioning the offering effectively. Positioning by use of application: Service offering is positioned on the basis of the reason for its use.

Positioning according to users or class of users: This relates to consumer segments using a service offering. Positioning with respect to product class: It could be based on functional benefits as well as symbolic and emotional benefits.

Positioning against competition: It is used to meet competition head-on to bring on differences between destinations. Positioning by endorsement: It involves use of celebrities or other product successes

my

HDFC Bank international Debit card is like an ATM Card I can shop with.Thatss like hitting a double century!

 Positioning strategies.

A Service company can use any of the following themes for positioning: Service attributes: A company can position the service attributes such as the facilitating services and the supporting services Service benefits: This strategy focuses upon the distinctive benefit the consumer can get with the use of the service

 Service application positioning: The service company makes the consumer identify the service need or desire and the suitability of the service

offered to satisfy his/her need or desire Service user positioning: A service company may identify the target group and position the service as the best for them Competitive positioning: The positioning may be against the competition or away from the competition.

 Quality positioning: The positioning focuses on quality leadership of the firm.

Price Positioning: The positioning is to

communicate the best value for the price the consumers pay. Leadership positioning: This communicates to the consumers that the service company is a major shareholder in the market and enjoys the acceptance of the majority. Some companies may focus on innovation leadership.

 Excellence positioning: The positioning is on the performance and the efficiency of the firm
Service firms hold study, time and again, the

effectiveness of their positioning strategy in influencing the consumers mind. Based on the results they need to initiate appropriate changes in the strategy.

THANKS