Brand Positioning

Mkt4806
Product and Brand Management
Book: Kevin Lane Keller, Strategic Brand Management, 2nd Edition
Chapter 2 Customer-based Brand Equity
Chapter 3 Brand Positioning and Values

Lecture note by Polboon Nuntamanop

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What is a Brand?

 A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or

design which is intended to identify the
goods or services of one seller or group of
sellers and to differentiate them from those
of competitors.

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Brand Elements

 A variety of brand elements can be chosen

that inherently enhance brand awareness
or facilitate the formation of strong,
favorable, and unique brand associations:

 Brand Name
 Logo
 Symbol
 Character
 Packaging
 Slogan
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Why ‘branding’ ?
What makes a brand strong?
How do you build a strong brand?

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Customer-based Brand Equity

The differential effect that brand knowledge

has on consumer response to the marketing
of that brand.

Customer-based brand equity occurs when

the customer has a high level of awareness
and familiarity with the brand and hold some
strong, favorable, and unique brand
associations in memory.
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Brand Equity

Brand Association

Brand Awareness

Brand Positive Attitude

Brand Occasional users

Brand
Loyalty

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An example

 Brand loyalty (10,000 customers

Consume @4/month = 40,000 sales unit/month)
 Brand Occasional users (10,000 X@1 per 2 months
= 5000 units sales per month)
 Brand Positive Attitude – has a good chance to
purchase and consume the products under the brand if
motivated.
 Brand Awareness – has tendency to try, use or
recommend the products under the brand if convinced.
 Brand Association – has tendency to try, use or
recommend the products under the brand.
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Sources of brand equity

 Brand awareness
 Learning advantage
 Consideration advantage
 Choice advantage\
 Brand Image

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Consumer reasons for brand
choices – An example

 Past experience
 Price
 Quality
 Personal recommendation
 Advertising
 Rating on consumer report
 Environmental performance

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4 Steps of Brand Building

1. Ensure identification of the brand with

customers with a specific product that meet
customer need.
2. Firmly establish the totality of brand
meaning in the minds of consumers.
3. Elicit the customer responses to brand
identification and brand meaning.
4. Convert brand response to create an intense,
active, loyalty relationship between
customers and the brand.
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Brand Building Blocks

 Identity - who are you?

 Meaning - what are you?
 Response - what about you?
 Relationship - what about you and me?

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 Resonance 4 relationship

Judgments Feelings 3. response

Performance Imagery 2.Meaning

Salience 1.Identity

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 Loyalty
Attachment
Community
Engagement

Quality Warmth /
Creditability Fun / excitement
Consideration Security
Superiority Social approval / self respect

Product characteristics User profile

Reliability Usage situation
Effectiveness Personality and values
Style / design/ price History, heritage, experiences

Category identification
Needs satisfied

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Brand Resonance

 Behavioral loyalty
 Keep buying the same product and same brand
over years or generations
 Attitudinal attachment
 Believe in the brand
 Sense of community
 Use the brand because of sense of community or
vice versa, E.g. Apple, Harley Davidson
 Active engagement
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Product Category Structure
An example
Beverage

Water Flavored

Non-alcoholic Alcoholic

Coffee Soft Distilled

milk juice wine beer
& tea drink spirits

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Brand Positioning

Brand Positioning (as defined by Kotler) is “

an act of designing the company’s offer and
image so that it occupies a distinct and
valued in the target customer’s mind”.

 Finding a proper ‘location’ in the minds of a

group of consumers or market segment so
that they think about a product or service in
the ‘right’ or desired way.
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Establishing brand Positioning

 Target market
 Points of parity and Points of Difference

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Target market

 A market is the set of all actual and

potential buyers who have sufficient
interests in, income for, and access to a
product.
 A market segmentation – a distinct group
of homogeneous consumers who have
similar needs and behavior and thus
require similar marketing mixes.
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Segmentation bases
Consumer Business-to-business
Segmentation Bases Segmentation Bases

 Behavioral  Nature of good

 E.g. user status  E.g. Semi-finished
 Demographic  Buying condition
 E.g, age, income  E.g. Location
 Psychographic  Demographic
 E.g. values, lifestyle  E.g. SIC code
 Geographic  No of employees
 E.g, local, regional,  Sales volume
international

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Segmentation Criteria

 Identifiability: can segment identification be

determined?
 Size: is there adequate sales potential in the
segment?
 Accessibility: Can the segment be reached?
 Responsiveness: How favorable will the
segment respond to a tailored marketing
program>

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Segments of users

4 Groups of users based on strength of commitment.

 Convertible – highly likely to switch brands

 Shallow – not ready to switch but consider
alternatives/
 Average – comfortable with their choice, unlikely to
switch brands in the near future.
 Entrenched – loyal to the brand, unlikely to change in
the foreseeable future.

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Points of Parity (POP) and
Points of differences (POD)
Point of Parity  a particular dimension or
attribute or a brand which a group of
consumers believe that is ‘good enough’ or
meet their basic expectations.

Point of Difference  A particular attribute or

dimension of a brand which a group of
consumers likes and perceives as the
uniqueness of the brand.
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Point of Differences

Other names:
 Competitive Points of Parity
 Unique Selling Point

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Positioning Guidelines

1. Defining and communicating the

competitive frame of reference
2. Choosing points of parity and points
of differences.
3. Establishing points of parity and
points of differences.
4. Updating positioning over time

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Brand Values

Cores Brand Values

Set of abstract associations (Attributes
and benefits) that characterize the 5 to
10 most important aspects or dimensions
of a brand.
 When you think of a brand, what comes
to mind?

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Brand Mantras

Brand Mantra
brand essence
Brand core promises
An articulation of ‘heart and soul’ of the
brand.
Short phrase that capture the essence or
spirit of the brand positioning and brand
values.
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An example
A local (Thai) soymilk brand - Vitamilk

Core Brand Values

 Soy-based
 Quality
 Healthy
 Tasty
 Safety
 Filling
 For everyone
 Widely available anywhere anytime.

Brand Mantra
‘Vitamilk’ is a tasty healthy drink.

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