3 QuestionsYou Need to Ask

About Your

Brand

Traditionally, brand positioning has been concentrated on

Points of Difference

But that alone may not be enough to sustain a brand against competitors

But that alone may not be enough to sustain a brand against competitors

There are two others aspects

of Brand Positioning

Frame of Reference

Points of Parity

The case of Subway’s Health

In the year 2000 Subway positioned itself as a healthy fast food brand.

In the year 2000 Subway positioned itself as a healthy fast food brand.

The campaign solely focused on its point of difference (Health) all the while neglecting its

point of parity (Taste)

The Subway Guy

Jared Fogle

But the company soon realized that fast food consumers prefer taste over health

And so Subway launched another

campaign focusing on taste

That’s okay, But what are these

questions you are talking about ?

Have we established a

frame of reference?

Brand positioning starts with establishing a frame of reference

(Superhero)

It signals what the people can expect to achieve from the

brand(no more bad guys)

Many brands can have the same frame of reference while having their own

points of parity and points of difference

Life cycle of a product influences the choice of frame of reference

A new product can use competitor’s products to establish a frame of reference

A new product can use competitor’s products to establish a frame of reference

As the product grows new opportunities may emerge to shift the frame of reference

Not shifting frame of reference at the right time may lead to

product failure

The case

of the

distant cousin

In 2009 Parle Agro launched Grappo Fizz as a cousin of Appy Fizz

In 2009 Parle Agro launched Grappo Fizz as a cousin of Appy Fizz

Both the products had common ads. Grappo never had its own campaign

In 2009 Parle Agro launched Grappo Fizz as a cousin of Appy Fizz

Both the products had common ads. Grappo never had its own

campaign

The company failed to position Grappo Fizz as a

player in a different category

In 2009 Parle Agro launched Grappo Fizz as a cousin of Appy Fizz

Both the products had common ads Grappo never had its own

campaign

The company failed to position Grappo Fizz as a

player in a different category

Thus it was always seen as an underling to Appy Fizz

Are we leveraging our points of parity?

Once a frame of reference is chosen, some points of parity (POP) must be met

with to establish the product as a legitimate and credible player in that

frame

New brands

The more the innovation more the

difficulty to fit it into one

established frame

For brand extensions

Brand ExtensionsMore the brand differs from a base brand,

greater the importance of focusing on frame of reference

Established Brands

Even established brands need to reassess their points of parity from time to time

Established Brands

Even established brands need to reassess their points of parity from time to time

The best strategy here is to create a point of parity from a competitor’s point of difference

The case of sensitive teeth

Up until 2011 sensitive toothpaste market was virtually nonexistent in India

Sensodyne made people aware about teeth sensitivity and made its place in the

market due to its point of differentiation

Because of the increased demand other brands

followed suit and introduced sensitive

toothpastes

Because of the increased demand other brands

followed suit and introduced sensitive

toothpastes

Colgate re-launched its sensitive toothpaste as Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief

Apart from sensitivity, over the years many brands have introduced points

of parity to counter other brands

Are the points of difference compelling?

While one shouldn’t solely rely points of

difference, they can’t be

ignored

There are three types of brand differences

Brand Performance Associations

Brand Imagery Associations

Consumer Insight Associations

Brand Performanc

e Association

s

Brand Performanc

e Association

sConsumption

Brand Performanc

e Association

sConsumption

Durability, Reliability and Serviceability

Brand Performanc

e Association

sConsumption

Durability, Reliability and Serviceability

Service Effectiveness, Efficiency and Empathy

Brand Performanc

e Association

sConsumption

Durability, Reliability and Serviceability

Service Effectiveness, Efficiency and Empathy

Style and Design

Brand Performanc

e Association

sConsumption

Durability, Reliability and Serviceability

Service Effectiveness, Efficiency and Empathy

Style and Design

Value Pricing

Brand Imagery

Associations

When consumers make choices

based on experience

Consumer Insight

Associations

When performance and imagery of different brands are the same,brands can show they have more insight into consumer problems

Anything else?

Filters through which to run your brand’s point of differentiation

Is it desirable ?

Is it deliverable ?

Desirability

POD must be relevant

POD must be believable

Deliverability

POD must be

Deliverability

Feasible

Profitable

Preemptive, Defensible and difficult to attack

POD must be

Even if a big brand is not

superior, it can use its big

ad budget to claim that it is

Putting it all Together

POP’s or POD’s should not contradict each other

Making it Last

The same brand positioning may not sustain a brand’s performance

The “Big Idea” identifies a

differentiating benefit that is important to

consumers and presenting, over time, a variety of

attributes that imply the benefit

BUT

Frame of Reference, Points of Parity and Points of Differences don’t stay static for long

Frame of Reference, Points of Parity and Points of Differences don’t stay static for long

The questions may not change but their context will

So Stay

Vigilant

Created by Ronak Jain, NIT Surat, during an internship by Prof.

Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.

www.IIMInternship.com