brand positioning

Excel Books4– 1 Brand Management Text and Cases (Ed-2) Harsh V Verma

Copyright © 2002, Harsh V Verma

Brand PositioningC-4 4

C H A P T E R

4

Brand

Positioning




Cont….

Evolution

Positioning is the last step in the marketing strategy formulation.

Marketing strategy begins with identification of market segmentation and

later choosing a target for the marketing activity.

Marketing enjoys close similarity with a military conflict.

Strategy is a term that has been conventionally used in the context of

military warfare.

Strategy is a blueprint or plan developed to achieve the target by

outmanoeuvering the rival side.




Cont….

Advertising Persuasion

In the early years, marketers relied upon the powers of communication tools

like advertising to win customers. The belief that dominated this era was

that customers could be sold anything on the basis of persuasive

communication.

Message repetition, indeed bombardment or blitzkrieg, was believed to be

the key to drilling information into customers’ brains and thus influencing

consumer buying.

Accordingly, content took precedence over execution. Advertising came to

acquire an important status in the corporate functions.




Cont….

Unique Selling Proposition

Once advertising ceased to be as effective as it used to be as a persuader,

marketers turned to product. In order to create a hot button to pull in the

customer, marketers began to look for unique product aspects. The

attention shifted to product attributes and benefits that could become unique

selling propositions.

Rosser Reeves called this entire process of discovering uniqueness in the

product to sell the product as the ‘USP’, or unique selling proposition.

Reeves proposed three guidelines for the use of unique selling proposition:

it must involve a specific product benefit; to make it unique, it must not be

used by competitors; and finally, it must be good enough to sell the product.




Cont….

Brand Image and Personality

David Ogilvy pioneered the idea of brand image and personality2. He

argued that ‘every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to

the complex symbol which is a brand image’.

The argument of ‘brand image’ signified a leap forward in the way marketers

communicated with customers and persuaded them to respond favorably to

their products and services.

The marketed products do offer some utility for which they are bought, but

Ogilvy shifted the attention to a non-product area conceptualized as brand

image.

The brand reputation, image, esteem and prestige are crucial in developing

brand pull. This is especially true when we recall that customers in those

days were moving up the social ladder and becoming affluent.



Brand PositioningC-4 4Brand Positioning

Most successful brands occupy distinct position that sets them apart form the

competition and provides the target customer a reason to favor them:

Liril – freshness

Dominos – guaranteed pizza delivery in 30 minutes

Fair & Lovely – fairness cream

Pears – tender skin, like baby’s

Bata – value for money shoes

Woodland – sturdy shoes for adventure sports

Zodiac – fine quality shirts

Allen Solly – casual formal wear

Livon – after bath hair de-tangler

Ujala – easy-to-use liquid fabric whitener




Cont….

Position And Product Position The word ‘position’ is usually used to signify a location on a physical space,

for instance, in an architect’s drawing of a building or display shelves in a

store layout.

Positioning – in the advertising or marketing sense – is used in the context

of customer perceptions. It is something to do with the prospect’s mind or

perceptual space. A brand’s position is about building an image in the

prospects’ mind.

A product is a physical entity. It belongs to a physical space. A product’s

physical space could be measured in terms of its objective dimensions.

In a product category like cars, offerings of different manufacturers could be

evaluated on functional objective dimensions.




Cont….

Fiat Palio compared to Other cars in its category

Objective Attributes Comparison: Product Positioning

Features Palio NV Sport Swift Getz

Displacement 1596 cc 1298 cc 1341 cc

Power BHP 100 87 82.9

Torque 137 Nm 113 Nm 118 Nm

Engine DOHC 4 valve DOHC 4 valve SOHC 3 valve

Front leg room 1220mm 1150 mm 1180mm

Rear shoulder room

1350 mm 1280 mm 1330 mm

0-60 KPH 4.5 s 5.2 s 5.6 s

Source: Hindustan Times, HT City, April 19, 2006




Cont….

Mapping Position of Brands on Objective AttributesThere are many players in the Indian car industry, each offering a number of brands to target different segments. Two important criteria in brand selection are price and quality. Price is objectively measured in rupee terms and quality is measured through surrogate of problems per hundred vehicles. Using these two dimensions, the position of various brands could be mapped as follows:

Model/Prices*: Problems per 100 vehicles**

Maruti Alto Rs 2.70 116

Fiat Palio Rs 3.65 139

Maruti Zen Rs 2.40 176

Maruti Esteem Rs 4.30 129

Ford Ikon Rs 4.50 140

Opel Corsa Rs 5.00 212

Opel Swing Rs 5.85 212

Honda City Rs. 6.55 96

Hyundai Accent Rs 5.05 167

Maruti Baleno Rs 5.65 169

Toyota Corolla Rs 9.60 83

Chevrolet Optra Rs 7.50 119

Skoda Octavia Rs 10.90 198

Tata Sumo Rs 5.00 254

Tata Safari Rs 7.30 259

*Approximate prices; ** industry average 175




Cont….

Price

The Position Map

Quality




Input: Product improvement efforts to

improve a product’s objective performance

characteristics

Input: Communication

efforts directed to influence brand perception

Recipient: actual

Recipient: prospect’s mind

Outcome: improved objective product performance

Outcome: changed brand associations (image) in

prospect’s mind

Efforts Directed to Improve Product or Brand Position




Cont….

3 Cs of Positioning Brand image is about connecting a brand with a customer relevant and

competitively different idea or proposition. It is important that a brand must

stand for a clear idea. Brand must appropriate a distinct idea.

The search for a successful position must end with an idea becoming

proprietary to a brand such that it achieves valued differentiation in its target

market.

In this process of finding a concept that simultaneously bestows the brand

with value and differentiation, an analysis of three sides to a marketing

exchange is essential:

• The target customer

• The target competition

• The company or brand




Positioning—The Search for Valued Differentiation

Customer: the value space: relevance

Competitors: the rival offers: uniqueness

Company (brand): valued differentiation




Competitive Positioning : POPs and PODs Many times, people responsible for brand creation focus too much on

accumulating points on which the brand could be differentiated. Successful

brands do need points of differentiation, but how this differentiation is

created is a crucial determinant of brand success.

Keller et al7 argue that managers often pay too much attention to points of

differentiation but pay little attention to two other aspects: Frame of

reference and Brand’s common features with competitors. Effective

competitive positioning does not require only paying attention to points of

differences but also to points of parity. Exclusive focus on creating points of

differences often causes the managers to ignore another important issue.

That is, point of the reference that customers use to see and evaluate the

brand.




Cont….

Positioning Strategy Positioning strategy is aimed at building brand differentiation within the

value frame of the target market.

The need for competitive positioning is primarily triggered by emergence of

intense competition in most of the product categories.

Positioning is increasingly seen as a device to gain control over markets by

means of customer pulling brand differentiation. A brand can choose from a

number of paths or strategies to position itself against competition.

Sengupta8 suggests that positioning strategies revolve around different

aspects of the brand. Four questions about the brand can draw attention to

possible ways in which a brand could be positioned. The four questions that

can reveal the totality of a brand are: Who am I? What am I? For whom am

I ? Why me?




Cont….

Who am I?

Through this question, the identity of a person is revealed to the audience. In the

context of branding, answering this question would reveal the origin or pedigree

of the brand: where it belongs, or where it comes from. Identifying family or origin

could give a brand a competitive advantage by allowing it to draw positives or

strengths of the family. Two options exist:

Positioning by corporate identity

Positioning by brand endorsement




Cont….

What am I ?

In this category of strategies, a brand’s functional capabilities are used for

positioning purposes. Within this group, four options exist:

Category Positioning

Benefit Positioning

Usage and Use Time Positioning

Price-quality Positioning




Cont….

For whom am I ?

This category of positioning strategies looks at the target market for

positioning the brand. A market consists of various segments.

There are many ways of segmenting the market. Depending upon the

segmentation scheme used to divide the market, a brand can focus on a

specific customer group for positioning purposes.

The market can be broken down into the following types of groups:

i. Demographic Groups

ii. Behavioral

iii. Psychographic




Why me?

This group involves positioning the brand on the basis of a unique reason or

clincher. Finding out a unique reason or argument to offer to prospects is key in

this category of positioning strategy.

Unique Attribute

‘Why me’ Positioning




Cont….

Positioning StrategiesA product or organization may exist in the perception of customer in the form of an association set. This is what creates overall impression. Positioning a brand or a company involves deciding about both what associations are to be created and emphasized, and what associations are to be removed and de-emphasized. In positioning, the reference point is competition. Broadly, there are six positioning approaches:

Attribute positioning

Here, the brand is associated with a product attribute, feature or benefit. Examples include Colgate’s Active Salt positioned as a brand that contains salt for effective teeth cleaning and gum protection. HLL’s Pears soap for long used the position as original glycerin soap. Annapurna salt of HLL positions itself as an iodized salt with protective benefits. Philips has been trying to position its CFL bulb range as small enough to easily fit in the lampshade. The lemon drink Limca was positioned as a thirst quenching drink because it contains isotonic salts.




Cont….

Price/ quality positioning

A brand can be positioned as ‘high price, high quality’ while others may take

the low price and low quality position. The first category appeals to quality

conscious customers and the latter may appeal to value conscious

customers. For instance, the Parker Beta and Vector take VFM position while

Waterman range takes the top end quality positioning. The Big Bazaar chain of

markets have been positioned as a value-for-money shopping destination (‘Isse

sasta aur accha kahin nahin’) and Life Style departmental stores are

positioned towards the higher end of the price quality spectrum. HLL’s

Wheel detergent brand is positioned as VFM and Surf Excel is positioned as a

premium brand.



Brand PositioningC-4 4 Use or application positioning Positioning by use involves building clear connections between the product

or brand and the use it is to be put to. Maggi Noodles for long promoted itself as a quick meal for kids when they return from school. Titan brand promoted its watches as a ‘gift’ for special occasions. Pidilite brand Mr Fixit is positioned as a paste to be used to solve the problem of leaking pipes. Vicks Vaporub brand used use positioning by promoting the product as a balm to be applied on a child’s chest for quick relief (‘touch therapy’).

User positioningUser positioning involves developing connections between the brand and the user or user class. For instance, there is no ambiguity about the user of the Johnson & Johnson soap, body oil and talc. The brand is positioned for kids and infants. Mountain Dew clearly signals the user class. Creative Line brand of woolens is positioned ‘sweaters for women’. Amul lean milk is positioned as the milk for young, figure conscious women. The Energic 31 brand is positioned as health supplement tablets for middle-aged men who experience fatigue. Cont….




Cont….

Product class positioning

Some marketers position their brand with respect to a product class by

developing class related associations. Nescafé is positioned as instant

coffee (product class) whereas Bru brand is related with filter coffee

(product class). Perk Brand of Cadbury’s chocolate-coated wafers

attempted positioning itself not as a chocolate but as a quick snack.

Suryansh diamond brand is positioned as a good investment option (product

class).




Positioning with respect to competition

This strategy involves making direct or indirect reference of competition.

This allows the brand to exploit the competitor’s image. By making

reference to competition, the brand gains ground as something that is good

enough to be compared (if not as good) with an established brand. One

often cited example is that of Avis rent-a-car which was a distant second to

the market leader, Hertz. By claiming ‘We are number two…’ the brand

exploited the competitor’s position. Currently, the Indica Xeta brand is being

positioned as a better alternative to Maruti Alto, in print ads.

Adapted from: David A. Aaker and J. Gary Shansby, ‘Positioning your

product’, Business Horizon, May-June 1982.




Cont….

Brand Success

What first comes to mind when one thinks of the following brands?

Rasna

Moov

Krack

Ujala

Anchor White

Lijjat

MDH

Action

Shehnaz Hussain

Tortoise

The chances are that these brands would lead to primacy of concepts like: drink

concentrate; remedy for backache; cream for cracked heels; liquid fabric

whitener; ‘vegetarian’ toothpaste; papad; quality spices; durable economy sports

shoes; herbal cosmetics; and mosquito repellent coils.




Cont….

Core Benefit Identification

What benefits would the brand promise to customers? Benefits pull the

customers to the brand. The manager must decide on what benefits the brand

should be associated with. For instance, in the context of a toothpaste brand, the

benefits sought may be numerous, like the following:

Teeth whitening

Decay prevention

Economy

Herbal properties

Fresh breath

Being vegetarian

Flavour

Lasting effect

Gum protection

Sensitive teeth




Cont….

Own Key Words

Once the benefit set is

chosen for building a brand’s

core association, the next

issue focuses on the choice

of the word that represents

that benefit. Words represent

the brands in the memory or

perceptual space. Words are

short signatures of the

brands. Words signify what

the brands in question are all

about.

The following are some of the brands in the Indian

marketing space. These brands owe their success to the

words they own in consumer’s mind:

Rooh afza - refreshing drink

Roopa - comfortable innerwear

Nataraj - long lasting pencil

Bisleri - bottled water

Hajmola - tasty digestive tablets

Symphony - coolers

MDH - quality spices

Usha - sewing machines

Action - inexpensive sports shoes

Servo - engine oil

The following are some of the brands in the Indian

marketing space. These brands owe their success to the

words they own in consumer’s mind:

Rooh afza - refreshing drink

Roopa - comfortable innerwear

Nataraj - long lasting pencil

Bisleri - bottled water

Hajmola - tasty digestive tablets

Symphony - coolers

MDH - quality spices

Usha - sewing machines

Action - inexpensive sports shoes

Servo - engine oil

Brands and the ‘Owned Words’




Cont….

Connect the Word with Means–end Element

Customers believe that Pepsodent toothpaste remains effective even after

brushing because it contains an attribute called ‘germi-check’.

In the initial years of communication, the Close Up advertisements showed

mouthwash flowing from a bottle to the past to lend credibility to its claim

that it is a freshness toothpaste.

The means–end hierarchy connects the product with the customer’s end

states of existence through attribute to benefits to values (end states of

existence).




Cont….

Reinforce Hold on Core Benefits

The brands positioning must evolve in tune with changing times.

Evolution implies that brand must maintain its hold on the core benefits that

form its essence or core selling proposition. Brands operate in a competitive

environment.

Accordingly, competitors cannot be physically prevented from launching

attacks. Unless core benefits are reinforced, the brand faces the risk of

being attacked by competitors in two ways:

i. ‘More is better’ strategy

ii. ‘Multiple situation’ strategy.




Add More Benefits

There is more about creating a successful brand than simply owning a word.

Owning a word overly simplifies the process.

Besides the key word associated with the brand, a network of association

must be formed to develop linkages in a more complete fashion. A brand’s

key word cannot stand in isolation.

Accordingly, the brand associations should be extended to build a complete

picture. The first association concerns the core benefits that are defined as

a part of positioning. These are further linked with means–end elements to

form the positional benefits. And finally, the brand develops a value

proposition.

brand positioning

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brand management

unique selling

physical space

perceptual

core benefits

valued differentiation

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