MID-Term Answers

Submitted by:
Name: Moupia Saha
ID: 191051014
Dept: MBA
Course name: Consumer Behavior

Submitted to:
Name: Moinak Kanungo
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh
Submission Date: 27.08.2020
 1. Why do marketers sometimes reposition their products or services? Illustrate your
answers with examples.
Marketers tend to reposition their products for various reasons. Because they has made the major
decision to reposition a product which is a timely and expense exercise, it is clear that there must
be significant concerns with the current performance or outlook of the brand or product. With
that in mind, the following table outlines the more common reasons for considering repositioning
as an option.
 Change in consumer needs: Over time (say 10-20 years), there are changes in consumer
needs and lifestyles (as the next generation moves through), which may result in the key
benefits of a product no longer being as relevant to the target market. As Example,
mobile banking like bkash, Nexus pay app, Nagod gets lot of popularity because it
creates a platform for easy banking.
 New/strong competition: A product may be challenged by a new (perhaps more relevant)
or stronger competitor in their positioning space, requiring the task of repositioning to a
less competitive arena. As example, Tesla decided to break into the electric vehicle (EV)
marketplace with a luxury sports model. At this time, the electric vehicle market valued
economy over form and function. Tesla decided not to compete with the Chevy Volt or
Toyota hybrids and instead go after the high-end market. In 2017, Cover Girl faced
shifting attitudes in the cosmetics industry. No longer just an everyday product for
women, some consumers began using cosmetics as a means of self-expression.  The 60-
year-old “Easy, Breezy, Beautiful” tagline didn’t do enough to reach the growing pool of
diverse consumers. As such, the brand shifted its focus with a new tagline: "I Am What I
Make Up."
 Lack of perceived differentiation: A firm may have found their products with many
points-of-parity and few points-of-differentiation, requiring a revised positioning in order
to highlight their particular advantages. Improved product: If a firm invests in a
substantial product improvement, it is likely that additional benefits (or relative
advantages) will be delivered, which means that product repositioning could be
warranted. Domino’s realized that their pizza had a bad reputation from the significant
amount of negative feedback they were getting online and through dismal sales numbers.
In order to transform their “garbage pizza” brand into something more magnificent, they
 repositioned their brand by changing their recipe and basing their marketing campaign
around the fact that their pizza was now “new and improved.” They essentially changed
their main product, thereby changing the perception that customers had of their brand and
they did so in a charming and pretty honest way, they admitted that their pizza was
terrible and that they had fixed it. A refreshed logo, updates of their delivery locations
and website, and a whole new messaging platform and campaign focus brought
Domino’s back from the dead.
 New target market: Sometimes alternate target markets may be more attractive.
Therefore, a product may need to be repositioned to more directly appeal to the newly
defined target market. Brick-and-mortar retailers faced challenging times when the
internet turned into the source for all products, even lower cost CPG items.
However, Walmart didn’t abandon its brick-and-mortar locations to focus entirely on
digital sales. Instead, it tied the digital and physical together through its mobile
initiatives. The brand focused on convenience features for consumers.
 Positioning drift: If a product’s positioning is not clearly defined by the firm, has
inadequate support, or is carelessly managed by the firm over time; then it is likely that
the resultant product positioning will not be in line with positioning goals and
repositioning will be required to correct this ‘drift’. Amazon is a young company.
However, that youth doesn’t trump its need to innovate. Amazon, through the
development of its smart speaker and Alexa digital assistant, has disrupted the industry
by creating a new means of online shopping: voice ordering. The industry could account
for up to $40 billion in sales by 2022. Amazon, being the primary purveyor of smart
speakers, is set to profit exponentially from this trend.
2. Describe the stages in the positioning process and apply them to positioning a product of
your choice.

The positioning process is important to be identified and followed by any organization which
wants to implement its marketing strategy soundly. It is a difficult task to identify and select a
positioning strategy and thereby the correct positioning process for an organization. There are 6
main steps in positioning process. In each of the steps, marketing research techniques can be
employed to get the necessary information. These steps with Pepsi are discussed as follows:
 Identifying the Competitors: A first step is to identify the competition. This step is not
as simple as it seems to be. For example, ‘Pepsi ‘ might define its competitors as follows:

(1) Other cola drinks

(2) Non-diet soft drinks

(3) All soft drinks

(4) Non-alcoholic beverages

(5) All beverages except water

One thing is that there is basically two types of competitor, Primary competitors i.e.,
competitors belonging to the same product class, Secondary competitors, those belonging
to other product category. In the above example other cola drinks are primary competitors
and other drinks and beverages are secondary competitors.

 Determining how the Competitors are Perceived and Evaluated: The second step is
related to determining the product positioning which is basically done so as to see, when
the competitors’ products are purchased by the customers. It is to see comparative view.
An appropriate set of product attributes should be chosen. The term ‘attributes’ includes
not only product characteristics and consumer benefits but also product associations such
as product use or product users. In any product category, there are usually a host of
attribute possibilities. For example, Pepsi’s toughest competitor is Coca-Cola. Pepsi
always go along with Coca-Cola, for example, Pepsi sponsored sports programs like
Coca-Cola does, Pepsi always offers discount on their products as well as they creates
unique marketing advertisement very frequently like Coca-Cola.

 Determining the competitor’s positions: Next focus should be to determine how

different brands, including our own brand are positioned with respect to the relevant
attributes selected under the previous step. At this point it should be clear about what is
the image that the customer has about Pepsi? , how are Pepsi positioned in respect to each
other? Does other soft drinks brand competitors are perceived as similar and which as
 different? This judgment can be made subjectively. For example: Coca-Cola and Pepsi
are literally everywhere! Their products are sold in more than 200 countries over the
world throughout supermarkets, cafes, restaurants, vending machines, gas stations, movie
theaters and so on. Thus there is not a big difference between availability of Coke and
Pepsi. 

 Analyzing the Customer: There are various approaches to segmentation but out of all
benefit segmentation is relevant here, which focuses upon the benefits or attributes that a
segment believes to be important. In order to specify that benefit segments, it is useful to
highlight the role of ‘ideal object’ as a tool. For example, Coca-cola restrains itself to
include celebrities or any kind of socially popular individual in its advertising videos,
Pepsi is all about displaying influencers. Pepsi has rich history in celebrity endorsement
that includes professional athletes and pop stars, now growing to be impacting bigger
audiences through collaborating with social media influencers. The list of Pepsi celebrity
endorsers comprises Michael Jackson, Madonna, Ray Charles, Beyonce, Britney Spears,
Kendall Jenner and so on.

 Monitoring the position: An image objective, like an advertising objective should be

measurable. It is necessary to monitor the position overtime, for that you have variety of
techniques that can be employed it can be on the basis of some test and interviews which
will help to monitor any kind of change in the image. For example, In order to compete
with Coke, Pepsi has positioned itself as a follower and repositions the competition. As a
follower, Pepsi tries to appeal to a different customer segment than Coke. It tries to
associate its brand with a younger, more energetic, and fun-loving segment. Because
Pepsi and Coke are so similar in product, there is not a vast array of unique positions to
carve out. Therefore, Pepsi repositions the competition as well. Through creative
advertising techniques, including the “Pepsi Challenge,” where consumers blindly taste
both Pepsi and Coke and choose which one they prefer, Pepsi Cola has attempted to make
consumers view the competition in a different way. Ultimately, Pepsi is a good example
of a brand which relies heavily on product positioning.
3. What are perceptual maps, and how are they used in positioning brands within the same
product category? Illustrate your answer with a product/brand/service of your choice.
Perceptual mapping is a diagrammatic technique used by asset marketers that attempts to
visually display the perceptions of customers or potential customers. The positioning of a brand
is influenced by customer perceptions rather than by those of businesses

 Perceptual maps help marketers understand where the consumer ranks their company in
terms of characteristics and in comparison to competing companies.

 Perceptual maps can display their ideal combinations of product characteristics.

 When creating a new product, a company should look for a space that is currently
unoccupied by competitors and that has a high concentration of consumer desire.

 A perceptual map is usually based more on a marketer’s knowledge of an industry than

market research.

 Areas without any significant consumer desires, typically found in ideal point maps of
perceptual mapping.

 The measurement of how changing one economic variable affects others.

Perpetual map of Xiaomi Mobile Phone: