… Not irrelevant.

Is considered secondary to the quality benefits derived from using the

brand. Premium brands positioned at the high and the of the market use this approach
positioning.

Another way to use price/ quality characteristics for positioning is to focus on the quality or
value offered by the brand at a very competitive price. for example. the lands end ad shown
in exhibit 2-17 uses this strategy by suggesting that quality need not be unaffordable.
Remember that although price is an important consideration . the product quality must be
comparable to event better than. Competing brands for the positioning strategy to be
effective.

Positioning by use or application. Another way to communicate a specific image or position

for a brands is to associate it with a specific use or application .

While this strategy is often used to enter a market on the basis or particular use or
application , it is also an effective way to expend the usage of a product.

Positioning by product class . often the competition for product comes from outside the
product class. for example, airline know that while they compete with other airline, trains
and buses are also viable alternatives.. rather than positioning against another brand, an
alternative strategy is to position oneself against another product category.

Positioning by product user, positioning by product by associating it with particular user or

group of user is yet another approach. An example would be the valvoline ad shown in
exhibit 2-20 , this campaign emphasizes identification or association with a specific group.
In this case, people who receive pleasure from working on their cars.

Positioning by a competitor , competitors may be as important to positioning strategy as a

firm’s own product or services. As trout and ries observe , the old strategy of ignoring one’s
competition no longer works .in today’s market, an effective positioning strategy for a
product or brand may focus on specific competitors. This approach is similar to positioning
by product class. Although in this case the competition is within the same product category.
Perhaps the best known example of this strategy was avis, witch positioned it self against the
car rental leader.

Potioning by cultural symbols, aaker and myers include an additional positioning strategy
in witch cultural symbol are used ti different brands . for example, Speedy alka-Seltzer. Etc
Repositioning . one final positioning strategy involves altering or changing a position.
Repositioning a product usually occurs because of declining or stagnant sales or because
anticipated opportunities in other market position. Repositioning is often difficult ti
accomplish because of entrenched perception about attitude toward the product or brand.
Many company attempts to change their position have meet with little or no success.

Determining the positioning strategy having explored the alternative positioning strategies
available, the marketer must determine which strategy is best suited for the firm or product
and begin developing the positioning platform. As you remember form the promotional
planning process in chapter 1, the input into this stage will be derived from the situation
analysis- specifiacally, the marketing research conducted therein. Essentially, the
development of a positioning platform can be broken in to a six step process :

1. Identifying competitors. This process requires broad thinking. Competitors may not
be just those products and that fall in to our product class or with which we
competed directly. For example, a red wine competes with other red wines of various
position. It may also compete with white, sparkling and non alcoholic wines. The
marketer must be consider all likely competitors. As well as the diverse effects to use
and situations on the consumer.
2. Assessing consumer’s perception of competitors. Once we define the competition , we
must determine how they are perceived by consumers. Which attributes or product
benefits—most if not all of which are important. Much of marketing firm’s research is
directed at making such determination. Consumers are asked to take part in focus
groups or complete surveys indicating which attributes are important in heir purchase
decisions. For example, attributes considered important in the selection of a bank
may include convenience, teller friendliness. Financial security, and host of other
factors, this process establishes the basis for determining competitive position.
3. Determining competitors position. After identifying the relevant attributes and the
relative importance to consumers, we determine how each competitor is positioned
with respect to each attribute. This will also show how he competitors are positioned
relative top each other. Consumer research is required to make this assisment.
4. Analyzing the consumer preferences. Our discussion of segmentation noted various
factors that may distinguish among groups of consumers, including lifestyle, purchase
motivation and demographics different. Each of these segment may have different
purchase motivation and different attribute importance ratings. One way to determine
 these differences is to consider that ideal brand or product. Define as object the
consumer would prefer over all others, including objects that can imagined but do not
exist. Identifying the ideal product ca help us identify different ideals among
segments or identifying segments with similar or the same ideals points.
5. Making the positioning decisions. Going though the first four steps should let us
decide with position to assume in the market place. Such a decision is not always
clear and well defined, however and research may provide only limited input. In that
case the marketing manager or groups managers musk make some subjective
judgments. These judgments raise a number question :
 Is the segmentation strategy appropriate? Positioning usually entails a decision
to segment the market. Consider whether the market segment sought will
support an entry and whether it is in the best interest of the company to
deemphasize the remaining market. When a specific position is chosen,
consumer may be believe this is what the product is for. Those not looking for
that specific benefit may not consider the brand.
 Are the sufficient resources available to the communicate the position
effectively? It is very expensive to establish a position. One ad, is not likely to
be enough. The marketer must commit to along range effort in all aspect in the
marketing campaign to male sure the objective sought are obtained.
 How strong is the competition?? The marketing manager meus ask whether a
position sought is likely to be maintained. Given the strength of competition.
 Is the current positioning strategy working ? it may be time to consider an
alternative positioning strategy, but if they are working , a change is usually
unwise. Sometimes executives become bored with a theme and decide it is
time for change. But this change cause confusion in the market place an
weakens a brand’s position . unless there is strong reason to believe a change
in positioning is necessary, stick with the current strategy.
6. Monitoring the position. Ones a position has been established , we want to monitor
how well it is being maintained in the marketplace. Tracking studies measure the
image of the product or firm over time. Changes in consumers perceptions can be
determined , with any slippage immediately noted and reacted to. At the same time,
the impact of competitors can be determined.
 DEVELOPING THE MAEKETING PLANING PROGRAM

THE DEVELOPMEN THE MARKETING STRATEGY and selection of target market tell
the marketing department which consumer focus on and what needs to attempt to satisfy. The
next stage of marketing process involve combining various elements of the marketing mix in
to a cohesive, effective marketing program. Each marketing mix elements is
multidimensional and includes the number of decision areas. Likewise, each must consider
and contribute to the overall IMC program. We examine product , price and distribution
channels how each influences and interacts with the promotional program.

PRODUCT DECISION

An organization exist because it has some product, service, or idea to offer consumers,
generally is exchange for money. This offering may come in the form of physical product, a
service, a cause, or event a person . the product is anything that can be marketed and that.
when used or supported , gives satisfaction to the individual.

A product is not just as physical object; it is bundle of benefit or values that satisfies the
needs of consumers. The needs may be purely functional or they may include social and
psychological benefits. The term product symbolism refers to what a product or brand means
to consumer and what they experience in purchasing and using it. For many products , strong
symbolic feature and social and psychological meaning may be more important than
functional utility.

Product planning involves decision not only about the item it self, such as design and quality,
but also about aspects such as services and warranties well as brand name and package
design. Consumer look beyond the reality the product and its ingredients. The products
quality, branding, packaging, and even the company standing behind in all contribute to
consumers perception. In an effective IMC program, advertising, branding, and packaging
are all designed to portray the product as than more just a bundle of attributes. All of
coordinate to present an image or positioning of the product that extends well beyond its
physical attributes. Think for a minute about the ads for nike; the product benefit and
attributes usuallynot event mentioned—yet information about the brand is communicate
effectively.