8/2/2021

Ekta Srivastava
ektasrivastava@iimk.ac.in
FC-08, Phase V, IIM Kozhikode Campus

Positioning and Differentiation

Introduction

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 2

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Positioning

• What is Positioning?

• The act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a

clear, distinctive and attractive position relative to competing
products in the minds of the target market

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 3

Positioning
• Positioning is not what you do to a product
• Positioning is what you do to the mind of a prospect

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 4

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Positioning
Answers 3 questions-
1. Who are the consumers?
2. What is the set of needs that the product fulfills?
3. Why is the product the best option to satisfy those needs?

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 5

Brand’s Position
• Location of the brand vis-à-vis its competitors in the mental maps
that consumers construct to represent the range of possible solutions
to their problems

• Strong brand positions

• POP and POD are clear

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 6

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Commodity
• No differentiation = No positioning

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 7

Positioning Statement
4 essential components
• For whom, for when, for where?
• Type of person, usage situation, usage location
• What Value?
• Economic, functional, experiential, social value
• Why and how?
• Providing reasons to believe (evidence) for the brand’s claims
• Relative to whom?
• FoR

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 8

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Positioning Statement

• Expresses how you wish to be perceived

• For [Target Market], the [Brand] is the [PoD] among all [FoR]
because [Reason To Believe]

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 9

Unique Selling Proposition

• Value claim that offers a prospective customer a specific, unique and
superior reason to purchase a product

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 10

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Brand Positioning

Consumer Analysis Competitive Analysis Company Analysis

Relevant Distinctive Feasible
Resonant Defensible Favorable
Realistic Durable Faithful

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 11

Laddering
• Why is it important to me?
• Value Positioning

• What’s in it for me?

• Benefit Positioning

• What’s in it?
• Feature Positioning

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 12

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Brand Positioning

Competitive Frame of
Reference

Points of parity / difference

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 13

Competitive Frame of Reference

Identifying Competitors
Analyzing Competitors

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 14

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Points of Parity / Difference

Points of Parity Points of Difference

POP POD

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 15

Positioning

Points-of-Difference (PODs) Points-of-Parity (POPs)

• Attributes or benefits consumers
strongly associate with a brand,
positively evaluate, and believe they
could not find to the same extent with
a competitive brand
• Associations that are not necessarily
unique to the brand but may be
shared with other brands

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 16

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Vertical and Horizontal Positioning

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 17

Why Positioning is important?

• Solving the positioning problem enables a company to solve its
Marketing-mix problem

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 18

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Differentiation
A good positioning reflects a competitive differentiation

• Vertical Differentiation
• Horizontal differentiation

Any element of marketing mix can be a primary instrument of

differentiation

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 19

Repositioning
• Evolutionary Repositioning

To be used only for instruction purpose at IIMK 20

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