Brand Positioning Strategies


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POSITIONING STRATEGIES

 

A product can be positioned based on 2 main platforms: The Consumer and The Competitor. When the positioning is on the basis of CONSUMER, the campaigns and messages are always targeted to the consumer himself (the user of the product)

 

Peter England always campaigns their product concentrating on the consumer, the user of its product.

Louis Philip also concentrates on this kind of campaigns.

 

The other kind of positioning is on basis of COMPETITION. These campaigns are targeted towards competing with other players in the market.

 

Dettol television commercials always concentrate on advertisements, which show that this product would give you more protection, then the others.

 

A number of positioning strategies might be employed in developing a promotional program. The 7 such strategies are discussed below:

 

1.      Positioning by Product Attributes and Benefits

 

Associating a product with an attribute, a product feature or a consumer feature. Sometimes a product can be positioned in terms of two or more attributes simultaneously. The price/ quality attribute dimension is commonly used for positioning the products.

 

A common approach is setting the brand apart from competitors on the basis of the specific characteristics or benefits offered. Sometimes a product may be positioned on more than one product benefit. Marketers attempt to identify salient attributes (those that are important to consumers and are the basis for making a purchase decision)

 

 

For e.g.

 

  • Consider the example of Ariel that offers a specific benefit of cleaning even the dirtiest of clothes because of the micro cleaning system in the product.
  • Colgate offers benefits of preventing cavity and fresh breath.
  • Promise, Balsara’s toothpaste, could break Colgate’s stronghold by being the first to claim that it contained clove, which differentiated it from the leader.
  • Nirma offered the benefit of low price over Hindustan Lever’s Surf to become a success.
  • Maruti Suzuki offers benefits of maximum fuel efficiency and safety over its competitors. This strategy helped it to get 60% of the Indian automobile market.

 

2.      Positioning by Price/ Quality:

Marketers often use price/ quality characteristics to position their brands. One way they do it is with ads that reflect the image of a high-quality brand where cost, while not irrelevant, is considered secondary to the quality benefits derived from using the brand. Premium brands positioned at the high end of the market use this approach to 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. Although price is an important consideration, the product quality must be comparable to, or even better than, competing brands for the positioning strategy to be effective.

For e.g. the ICICI prudential ad and also the wheel detergent or Rin soap which always focuses on the value addition and price.

3.      Positioning by use or application:

Another way is to communicate a specific image or position for a brand is to associate it with a specific use or application.

For.e.g. Surf Excel is positioned as stain remover ‘ Surf Excel hena!’

4.      Positioning by product class:

Often the competition for a particular product comes from outside the product class. For example, airlines know that while they compete with other airlines, trains and buses are also viable alternatives. Manufacturers of music CDs must compete with the cassettes industry. The product is positioned against others that, while not exactly the same, provide the same class of benefits.

5. Positioning by product user:

 

Positioning a product by associating it with a particular user or group of users is yet another approach.

 

Misticmoto Motorola Mobile Ad

In this ad the persona of the user of the product is been positioned.

 

6. Positioning by Competitor:

 

Competitors may be as important to positioning strategy as a firm’s own product or services. 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.

 

For e.g. Onida was positioned against the giants in the television industry through this strategy, ONIDA colour TV was launched with the message that all others were clones and only Onida was the leader.
7. Positioning by cultural symbols:

 

An additional positioning strategy where in the cultural symbols are used to differntiate the brands. Examples would be Humara Bajaj, Tata Tea, Ronald McDonald. Each of these symbols has successfully differentiated the product it represents from competitors.

 

“Every advertisement must be considered as a contribution to complex symbol which is a brand image”- Comment.

  • To understand this statement it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the term BRAND IMAGE. Consumers vary as to which brand attributes they see as most relevant and the importance they attach to each attribute. They will pay the most attention to the attributes that deliver the sought benefits. The market for a product can often be segmented according to the attributes that are salient to different consumer groups. The consumer develops a set of beliefs about where each brand stands on each attribute. These set of beliefs about the brand make up brand image.
  • Brand identity and brand image need to be distinguished. Identity comprises the ways that company aims to identify or position itself or its product. Image is the way the public perceives the company or its products. Image is affected by many factors beyond the company’s control.

A brand in its simplest form is a summation of the product as well as the perception that the consumers form about the product.

BRAND = PRODUCT + PERCEPTION

Each ad that a company does for a product has an impact on the perception that the consumer has about the product. At the initial stages when the product is launched all the ad’s that a company does is to create an image of the product among its consumers. Over a period of time being exposed to the product, its ad’s, word of mouth publicity the consumers develop a perception with respect to a specific brand.

Fevicol ad’s initially just told the consumers that it was an adhesive which when used would assure that things remained stuck. As and when the people got exposed to its ad’s they developed the perception that Fevicol was the ultimate adhesive.

Now once the perception about the brand is build then the companies usually advertise just to reinforce the image created by it.

Pepsi ad’s about THE GENERATION NEXT created a perception among the consumer that the brand Pepsi stood for the dynamic people of the next generation.

Also one important aspect is that the process of building Brand image it’s a continuous process. As long as the brand exists the process of brand image keeps going on and the image gets modified in many cases.

Brand image for a brand is created over a period of time. Not only that all the things that you want to communicate about the brand cannot be done in a single ad. All the ad’s that company does for a particular brand contributes to the whole process of building a brand. Usually in case of all brands the initial ad’s that a company does is only to introduce the product and give out its functional benefits. Once the consumers are aware of the brand then the companies focus on the image they want to create.

Now each ad that a company does for a particular brand influences the consumer perception in some way or other. The influence may be positive or negative. Ads help companies strengthen or weaken the brand

Coke’s ad’s of “THANDA MATLAB COCA COLA” is just to strengthen the brand image of coke.

In many cases just one single ad erodes the Brand image which is created for a brand over the years. Sometimes companies get carried away and forget the basic image they want to portray.

Bisleri’s ad campaign of “PLAY SAFE” had such a huge impact on the brand that once synonymous with mineral water and market leader brand ran into all sorts of trouble. Its sales were affected drastically and it lost its leadership to Kinley (COCO-COLA) in the packaged water category. The campaign weakened the Brand completely and now it has got its focus back on track.

Lastly one important fact is that over a period of time with change in the business scenario it is necessary for companies to modify its brand image to target the consumers and their changing demand.


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