Brand positioning

Brand positioning

1.Brand positioning is all about identifying the optimal

location in our customers’ minds for our Brand and our
competitors
2.The act of designing the company’s offer so that it occupies
a distinct and value placed in the mind of the target
customers
3.The process of promoting buyers to form a particular
mental impression of our product relative to our
competitors
Ctd……
 Positioning is how a product appears in relation to
others products in the market
 When a new brand appears in the market, the consumer
gets acquainted with it and starts collecting information
about it. On the basis of this information the consumer
creates an opinion of brand and establish a brand image
 The position of a brand is its perception among target
consumers
What Did Maggi Do?

The market results show it found a vacant, strong position

and sat on it as “good to eat, fast to cook” anytime
snack. On the other hand Kelloggs positioned itself as a
nutritional breakfast only. Today no one even thinks of
taking Kelloggs corn flakes in the evening.
Components of Brand Positioning
 Product class
 Consumer segmentation
 Perceptual mapping
 Brand benefits and attributes
Product class
 A product class or product market can be
defined as the set of products and brands
which are perceived as substitutes to
satisfy some specific consumer need
Toothpaste Segmentation
Four main segments
 Sensory segment
 Flavor and product
appearance
 Sociable
Flavor, Brightness
 Brightness of teeth
 Worriers
 Decay Prevention
 Independent 3 stripes, one for
 Low Price each of the 3 main
Decay Prevention segments
Consumer segmentation
 What is the profile of consumers whom our
brand will serve and what are their needs?
Ctd…..
Buying behavior
 Loyal users are consumers who buy a particular brand on a more
or less consistent basis most or all of the time
 Competitive loyals are consumers who buy a competitor’sproducts
most or all of the time. These can be further divided into
 Intense loyals – These are the competitor loyals who are convinced
of a particular brand’s merits to such an extent that for them other
brands do not exist.
 Value seekers – These are competitor loyal’s who buy the
particular brand for they believe that it provides the most utility for
the cost even if it is not the best in the market.
Ctd..
 Habit bound buyers – are those consumers who purchase the
brand not because they have made a conscientious study of its
perceived value and price in comparison to that of other products,
but because, it has become their habit to do so.
 Switchers are the consumers who purchase a variety of brands
within a particular product category. People who switch brands do
so for a variety of reasons and hence can be categorised as
 Value switchers –Value switchers are consumers who evaluate the
price-value relationship for each brand, on each shopping trip,
choosing the brand that appears to be the best buy on that
particular occasion. For instance a person might like aqua-fresh but
may buy close up instead if the price difference is more.
Ctd…
 Occasional usage switchers – Occasional usage switchers are the
consumers who buy different brands within the same category to
fulfill discrete needs – a classic example is the beer drinker,
whose choice of a brand depends on the company he has for
enjoying the drink.
 Variety switchers – These are the consumers who switch from one
brand to another simply to seek variety.
 Price buyers are the consumers who consistently purchase the
lowest priced brand on the market.
 Non users are people who don’t use any product in the category as
they have some negative attitude about the category
Market Segmentation

1. Geographic
 Region
 County size
 Urban/suburban
 Climate
 Seasons
Ctd..
2. Demographic
 Age
 Sex
 Family size
 Family life cycle
 Income
 Occupation
 Education
 Religion
 Race
 Nationality
Ctd….
3. Behavioral
 Purchase occasion
 Benefits sought
 User status
 Usage rate
 Loyalty status
 Readiness stage
 Attitude toward product
 Actual purchase
Ctd..
4 Psychographic
 Lifestyle
 Social class
 Personality
Perceptual mapping
Perceptual mapping is a graphics technique
used by marketers that attempts to visually
display the perceptions of customers or
potential customers
 perceptual mapping refers to methods to
analyze and understand consumer
perceptions of products
Ctd..
 1. Identifying Product Weaknesses
Maps show how products are viewed or rated on specific
attributes or dimensions. Analysis of maps can identify
weaknesses on attributes and suggest new advertising and/
or positioning strategies.
 2. Concept Development and Evaluation
Proposed new product concepts can be developed and
evaluated by examining how they stack up against existing
products.
 3. Tracking Consumer Perceptions
Product mapping is an ideal way to track shifts in consumer
perceptions of products or services over time.
Ctd…
 4. Identifying Differences Among Groups
You may want to determine whether distinct groups of
people (ie. users vs. non users, men vs. women)
perceive your products differently. Product mapping is
an excellent way to determine if differences exist
between the perceptions of distinct groups. Perceptual
maps represent the positions of products on a set of
evaluative dimensions.
Perceptual maps and positioning studies do not tell us:
• how to obtain a certain position; or
• possible new attributes not currently available in
existing brands
Brand Attributes and Benefits
The physical existence of a brand is no assurance that it has a
position in the target consumer’s mind. To enter that coveted
territory-the consumer’s perceptual space-and to secure a
‘position’ there, the brand must satisfy his question: “What’s in
it for me?” It must offer a benefit, which is of importance to
him. This is elementary. So, when we talk of brand attributes,
we must remember that these are the manufacturer’s views of
the brand. The consumer’s frame of reference requires that
those manufacturer’s claims or brand attributes be translated
into consumer benefits in order to map consumer perceptions.
Thus, when we talk of positioning a brand with reference to an
attribute or when we ask a consumer to rate a brand along an
attribute, we must reinterpret that attribute as a meaningful
consumer benefit.
Ctd……
Product attributes and features are tangible and are
expected to lead to benefits to the customers. Marketers
might choose to
highlight their attribute or benefit.
For example,
Fair Glow
cream has Oxy-G which leads to benefit of fairness. What
should it highlight?
Brand Loyalty
 Brand loyalty is the repeat purchase made by
the consumer out of commitment to the brand.
In many cases of loyalty, marketers may do well
to check if the repeat purchases are made out
of commitment
 Brand loyalty is indicated when the consumer
deliberately chooses a brand from a set of
alternative brands.
The World’s Strongest Brands
1.Coca Cola
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
4. GE
5. Nokia
6. Intel
7. Disney
8. Ford
9. McDonald’s
10. AT&T
Famous Brand Logos

 2007 Business Week

survey of the top 10
brands and their earnings:
1. Coca-Cola ($70 billion)
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
4. General Electric (GE)
5. Nokia
6. Toyota
7. Intel
8. McDonald’s
9. Disney
10. Mercedes-Benz