Positioning Error

By: Aditya D. Shetty

As companies increase the number of claims for their brand, they risk disbelief and a loss of clear
positioning. In general, a company must avoid major positioning errors.

There are various positioning errors, such as-

• Under positioning

• Over positioning

• Confused positioning

• Irrelevant Positioning

• Double Positioning

There are some well known pitfalls which one can avoid in selecting the specific positioning for
a brand. The most common pitfalls are:

1. Under positioning: Failing to present a strong central benefit or reason to buy the product.
For example, Magnavox brand of TVs from Philips in US does not promote a strong
reason to buy it instead of Sony’s Vega TVs.
2. Over positioning: This happens when a brand is positioned at a very narrow customer
base that most of the potential customers will overlook the brand. For Example, the web
based grocery retailer - Peapod.com targeted the busy professional and ignored the mass
market.
3. Confused Positioning: By claiming two are more benefits that contradict each other. This
is the most common of the mistakes in positioning. Routinely one can see a statement
"Highest quality & lowest price". (A Google search on the phrase Highest quality &
lowest price" resulted in over a 100 million hits. )
 4. Irrelevant Positioning: By claiming a benefit which few prospects care about the brand
will have an irrelevant brand position. For example, "The world’s slimmest cell phone" -
Motorola’s Razr V3. People don't buy phones because its thin, people buy cell phones for
its utility.
5. Doubtful Positioning: Claiming a benefit that customers will doubt that the brand can
actually deliver. For example, a mutual fund offers 100% returns on investment. Another
example will be the claims for various products in QVC channel: Oxyrich - which claims
to clean better than all the leading brands, Ashvini hair oil - which promises to stop hair
loss, Weight loss pills etc.

Selecting a clear, meaningful and trustworthy brand positioning is a critical step in the overall
brand positioning. By having a well defined brand position will not sell the product. One needs
to convince the customer the value of the product. This is done by selecting a suitable value
position for the brand.