Course Structure

Marketing
Segmentation
Research
Pricing

Defining Strategic Targeting

Distribution
Marketing Planning Channels

Positioning
Product
Strategies

Differentiation
Marketing
Communications
¨ Positioning is the act of
designing the company’s
offering and image to
occupy a distinctive place
in the mind of the target
market relative to its
competitors.
¨ Differentiation-based
positioning can be either
physical or perceptual
¨ Critical Capabilities,
Competitive Advantage,
and Positioning
¤ Competitive Advantage is
what the company gains
over its competition by
offering consumer greater
value.
¤ Competitive advantage
stems out of critical
capabilities
¨ Critical Capabilities,
Competitive Advantage,
and Positioning
¤ The bases of sustainable
competitive advantages:
n Organizational advantages
n Departmental and functional
advantages.
n Advantages based on
relationships with external
bodies
¨ Defining a competitive frame of reference for
brand positioning is to determine category
membership the products or sets of products with
which a brand competes and which function as close
substitutes.
¨ Defines which other brands a brand competes with
and therefore which brands should be the focus of
competitive analysis.
¨ Points of Parity
(POPS) are qualities that
your brand shares with
competitive brands
deemed to be excellent.
¨ Points of Distinction
(PODS) are attributes,
behaviors, or qualities
that make your brand
stand out from its
competitive set.
 115
Price in thousands of $

90

65

40
Performance
Positioning Maps
Developing and Communicating a
Positioning Strategy
¨ Marketers should decide to which level to anchor
the PODs
Developing and Communicating a
Positioning Strategy

Brand
Essence
Sheer
driving
pleasure
Developing and Communicating a
Positioning Strategy
¨ Competitor-based
positioning
¤ Focuses on using the
competition as a
reference point for
differentiation.
¤ Brands highlight a key
difference their
product/service offers in
their marketing to make
it seem favorable and
unique compared to
other options in the
marketplace.
Developing and Communicating a
Positioning Strategy

¨ De-positioning is
about
employing marketing
methods so that your
customers think you
are better than
others.
Developing and Communicating a
Positioning Strategy
¨ If your competitors
have taken a position
you are vying for,
through de-
positioning you make
your customers believe
your brand is better
than them.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation

¨ Differentiation is the process of adding a set

of meaningful and valuable differences to
distinguish the company’s offering from that of
the competitors’, namely:
1. Product differentiation
2. Personnel differentiation
3. Channel differentiation
4. Image differentiation
5. Service differentiation
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation
¨ Product Differentiation
Product differentiation is a
marketing strategy whereby
businesses attempt to make
their product unique to stand
out from competitors by
differentiating based on:
¤ Design
¤ Performance
¤ Consumer benefits
¤ Quality
¤ Features
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation

¨ Personnel
differentiation
¤ Competence
¤ Responsiveness

¤ Credibility

¤ Reliability

¤ Friendliness
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation

¨ Channel
differentiation
Channel differentiation
refers to a firm’s
initiatives to distinguish
itself from its
competitors via its
choice of product
distribution channels.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation
¨ Image Differentiation
¤ Image is the way the
customers perceive the
company and its
products.
¤ It delivers emotional
power beyond a
mental image.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation
¨ Image Differentiation:
¤ Symbol
n A symbol is an easily
recognizable
representation of a
deeper meaning.
n Marketing and small
business professionals
often use symbols
to represent their
business or brand
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation
¨ Image Differentiation
¤ Qualitative media
effect
n The impact that
the form of media in
which a message or
advert is delivered can
have on how it
is perceived.
n The image of
the media vehicle can
effect reactions to the
message.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation
¨ Image Differentiation
¤ Atmosphere
n Retail atmospherics refers
to store factors such as
display design and
fixtures, flooring, smell,
store lighting and
temperature, music, wall
coverings, and other
elements of store's
ambience, which can be
controlled by a retailer to
influence the consumer's
buying mood.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation

¨ Image Differentiation
¤ Atmosphere
n Atmospheric marketing
involves the display of
the product, the colors,
the smell, the sounds,
the promotions, and the
buying experience.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation
¨ Image Differentiation
¤ Events Sponsorship
n Event sponsorship is
when an organization
provides financial
assistance to an event
to achieve promotional
advantages.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation

¨ Services Differentiation:
When the physical product cannot be
differentiated, the companies resort to service
differentiation, namely:
¤ Customer training
¤ Maintenance and repair

¤ Customer consulting

¤ Ordering ease and delivery

¤ Augmented customer services

Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation

¨ Services
Differentiation:
¤ Customer training
n Customer training
programs are courses
created to help users,
use your product.
n Customer training is
also useful in helping
the intermediaries sell
your product.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation
¨ Services
Differentiation:
¤ Maintenance and repair
n Design for Maintainability
is the first step of an
effective maintenance
program, linking
maintenance goals to the
design process.
n Maintainability is
accomplished through
designed–in features such
as equipment accessibility,
standardization, ease of
maintenance, etc.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation

¨ Services
Differentiation
¤ Customer consulting
n Customer consulting to
gather information from
your client, understand
their goals, and
recommend the right
products.
Differentiation Strategies
Means of Differentiation

¨ Services
Differentiation:
¤ Ordering ease and
delivery
Differentiation Strategies

¨ Service Differentiation
¤ Customer augmented
services