Positioning

CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
LESSON 2 PART 2: POSITIONING
Dennis T. Perez
Teodoro M. Luansing College of Rosario
WHAT IS PRODUCT
POSITIONING?
 Product positioning is the process of deciding and communicating how you want your market
to think and feel about your product (https://www.productplan.com/glossary/product-positioning/ )
 Product positioning is the process of determining new products’ position in the minds of
consumers. It includes analyzing the market and competitors’ positions, defining the position
of a new product among the existing ones, and communicating a particular brand’s product
image. (https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/product-positioning)
 Product positioning is a form of marketing that presents the benefits of your product to a
particular target audience (https://www.shopify.com/blog/what-is-product-positioning)
 Product positioning is a strategy that defines where a product or service sits in the
marketplace compared to those offered by a competitor (https://fourweekmba.com/product-positioning/)
UNDERSTANDING PRODUCT
POSITIONING
 The strategy considers the needs and wants of the target audience and endeavors to make a
lasting impression in customers’ minds.
 Product positioning requires that the business first determine how it wants its brand and
products to be perceived.
 To differentiate their brand from the competition, the marketing team must be able to describe
the product benefits and connect them to customer needs, mission, vision, brand essence, and
the market more generally.
 Product positioning must also be sensitive to the most effective communication channels and
competitor product alternatives.
Source: https://fourweekmba.com/product-positioning/
TYPES OF PRODUCT
POSITIONING
There are five main types of product positioning, with each having a different focus:
 Characteristics-based – some companies attribute certain characteristics to their products to
create associations. Most consumers associate Volvo with safety and Toyota with reliability,
for example.
 Use or application-based – a company that sells nutritional supplements may promote their
products to customers who are active and want to increase their performance during exercise.
TYPES OF PRODUCT
POSITIONING
There are five main types of product positioning, with each having a different focus:
 Price-based – where companies associate themselves with competitive prices. Supermarkets
and other retailers with access to economies of scale position their many of their products in
this way.
 Quality or prestige-based – instead of focusing on price, some brands positions their
products based on quality and prestige. Watch brand Rolex is one example.
 Competitor-based – some product-positioning strategies are based on the competition. To
promote its razor blades, Dollar Shave Club indirectly referenced Gillette’s expensive, feature-
rich razors, showed it understood the pain points, and then offered an alternative.
HOW TO DESIGN AN EFFECTIVE
PRODUCT POSITIONING STRATEGY
1. Understand the market
This is so much more than knowing which products are selling in your sector. It’s all about
analysing your market’s context, and seeing a bigger picture.
Watch out for:
• Demographic trends: age, gender, education, employment issues, e.g. Gen Z entering the
world of work.
• Technology trends: AI, VR, robotics, the 4th Industrial Revolution, e.g. how would voice
recognition augment your business?
• Rules and regulations: Scan the politics pages for debates about new laws on privacy,
security, consumer rights, compliance etc.
Source: https://www.qualtrics.com/au/experience-management/product/positioning/
1. Understand the market
This is so much more than knowing which products are selling in your sector. It’s all about
analysing your market’s context, and seeing a bigger picture.
Watch out for:
• Economy: Developments that might affect your business now and in the future e.g, higher
taxes on, or shortage of, certain commodities, environmental concerns.
• Competition: Expect the unexpected here; watch for new and disruptive competitors.
• Uncertainties: None of us has a crystal ball, but we can keep an eye on potential impacts and
be ready to act if they happen.
2. Ask your customers
 You won’t know exactly what they want unless you ask them. Invest in customer surveys,
market research and social listening to pick up current trends, needs and wants.
3. Tell a story
 We naturally find stories compelling, more so than a dry list of features, product benefits and prices
.
 Stories make us believe in things.
 Follow the traditional storytelling arc (problem, villain, hero saves the day) to convey your brand
narrative. E.g. a bathroom cleaner is the hero in the battle against dirt, vanquishing limescale and
saving the day with a spotless bathroom before your mom comes round.
4. Know your competitors
 Position products in a way that clearly shows your distinct differentiation from others. You’ll
need to do two things here: determine your competition to find out who you’re up against.
 You can do this with market research, customer surveys, and social media/forum searching.
 And research your competition to find out what products or services they’re offering; their
market position; their marketing strategies; their strengths and weaknesses; and compare and
contrast with yours.
5. Know your product’s unique selling point (USP)
 Once you’ve done competitor analysis, you’ll see patterns, strengths and weaknesses
emerging, as well as gaps.
 You’ll be able to identify what it is that you do better than the others, and this is what makes
your product unique in the market.
6. Craft a positioning statement
 Once you know your product and its market environment inside out, it’s time to create a
positioning statement. This is a one or two-sentence declaration of your product’s unique
offering to customers, and has a set formula: ‘For [users] who have a [need or want], [our
product/service] is a [solution] that solves it with [this benefit]’.
 Take this example from Slack: “Slack is the collaboration hub [our product] that brings the
right people, information, and tools together to get work done [need or want]. From Fortune
100 companies to corner markets, millions of people around the world use Slack [users] to
connect their teams, unify their systems, [solution] and drive their business forward [this
benefit].”
7. Test your product positioning
 You understand your market, your customers, and your competitors, you’ve got a USP, an
engaging brand story and a killer positioning statement.
 Now you need to test your model before getting your marketing plan underway.
 Market research is your way forward here, using a mixture of

qualitative and quantitative research drawn from surveys, focus groups, interviews and polls.
HOW TO WRITE A POSITIONING
STATEMENT
PRODUCT
POSITIONING
TEMPLATE
Source: https://www.zendesk.com/blog/positioning-statement-examples/
PRODUCT POSITIONING
Why is good product positioning important?
• Your product will stand out from the crowd as different
• Customers will hear your message above the general noise and chatter of advertising and
marketing
• It makes purchasing easier; people will buy what they know, like, and trust
• You will know your product’s value
• You can justify the price
• You’ll be able to write your product’s story, content and marketing messages from a position
of authority
• It informs creative visual design
CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
LESSON 2 PART 2: POSITIONING
Dennis T. Perez
Teodoro M. Luansing College of Rosario

Positioning

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CONSUMER

 Market research is your way forward here, using a mixture of

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