Crafting

the Brand Positioning

Tutored by : Prof. Sunil D’ Anto
 Learning Agenda

• How can a firm choose and communicate

an effective positioning in the market?
• How are brands differentiated?
• What marketing strategies are
appropriate at each stage of the product
life cycle?
• What are the implications of market
evolution for marketing strategies?
 Value Propositions

• Scorpio (Mahindra & Mahindra)

A vehicle that provides the luxury and comfort of
a car, and the adventure and thrills of an SUV
 Value Propositions

• Domino’s
A good hot pizza, delivered to your door within
30 minutes of ordering, at a moderate price
 Defining Associations
Points-of-Difference
(PODs)
• Attributes or benefits
consumers strongly
associate with a brand,
positively evaluate, and
believe they could not find
to the same extent with a
competitive brand
Points-of-Parity
(POPs)
• Associations that are
not necessarily unique
to the brand but may
be shared with other
brands
PODs and POPs
 Establishing Category Membership* for
defining Competitive Frame of Reference

• This “four-in-one
entertainment
solution” from Konica
failed to establish
category membership
Consumer Desirability Criteria for PODs

Relevance

Distinctiveness

Believability
Deliverability Criteria for PODs

Feasibility

Communicability

Sustainability
Examples of Negatively Correlated Attributes and Benefits

• Low-price vs. High • Powerful vs. Safe

quality • Strong vs. Refined
• Taste vs. Low • Varied vs. Simple
calories • Efficacious vs. Mild
• Nutritious vs. Good
tasting
 DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES

• Competitive advantage is a company’s ability to

out- perform competition in one or more ways
• Leverageable advantage is one that a company
can use as a springboard to new advantages.
A company hopes to continuously inventing
new advantages
Customers must see any competitive
advantage as a customer advantage.
Ref : Determinants of Customer Perceived Value

Total customer benefit Total customer cost

Product benefit Monetary cost

Services benefit Time cost

Personnel benefit Energy cost

Image benefit Psychological cost

 Differentiation Strategies

Product *
Personnel *
(& Service)

Channel * Image *
 Product (& Service) Differentiation

• Product form • Ordering ease

• Features • Delivery
• Performance • Installation
• Conformance • Customer training
• Durability • Customer consulting
• Reliability • Maintenance
• Reparability
• Style
• Design
Product Differentiation
Channel Differentiation
Personnel Differentiation:
Singapore Airlines
Image Differentiation
 Positioning
of Café Coffee
Day
 What is Positioning?

Positioning is the act of designing the

company’s offering and image to occupy a
distinctive place in the mind of the target
market.
 Positioning Strategies: David Aaker & Gary Shansby

How should By Attributes and Benefits?

Benefits
we position?
By Price or Quality?
Quality

By Use or Application
Application?

By Product Class?
Class

By Product User
User?(group)

By Competitor?
Competitor

By Cultural Symbols
Samples…

Singapore Girl

Kellogg's Tony the Tiger,

Pillsbury Doughboy, Ronald
McDonald, Duracell Bunny
etc.
 Claims of Product Life Cycles

• Products have a limited life

• Product sales pass through distinct stages
each with different challenges and
opportunities
• Profits rise and fall at different stages
• Products require different strategies in
each life cycle stage
Product Life Cycle
Common Product Life-Cycle Patterns
Style, Fashion, and Fad Life Cycles
 Product Life-Cycle Strategies

PLC Stages • Begins when the

company develops a
• Product development new-product idea
• Introduction
• Sales are zero
• Growth
• Investment costs are
• Maturity
high
• Decline
• Profits are negative
 Product Life-Cycle Strategies

PLC Stages • Low sales

• High cost per customer
• Product development acquired
• Introduction • Negative profits
• Growth • Innovators are targeted
• Maturity • Little competition
• Decline
Marketing Strategies: Introduction Stage

• Product – Offer a basic product

• Price – Use cost-plus basis to set
• Distribution – Build selective distribution
• Advertising – Build awareness among early
adopters and dealers/resellers
• Sales Promotion – Heavy expenditures to
create trial
The Pioneer Advantage
Long-Range Product Market Expansion Strategy
 Product Life-Cycle Strategies

PLC Stages • Rapidly rising sales

• Average cost per
• Product development customer
• Introduction • Rising profits
• Growth • Early adopters are
• Maturity targeted
• Decline • Growing competition
 Marketing Strategies: Growth Stage

• Product – Offer product extensions, service,

warranty
• Price – Penetration pricing
• Distribution – Build intensive distribution
• Advertising – Build awareness and interest in
the mass market
• Sales Promotion – Reduce expenditures to take
advantage of consumer demand
 Strategies for Sustaining
Rapid Market Growth
• Improve product quality, add new features, and
improve styling
• Add new models and flanker products
• Enter new market segments
• Increase distribution coverage
• Shift from product-awareness advertising to
product-preference advertising
• Lower prices to attract the next layer of price-
sensitive buyers
 Product Life-Cycle Strategies

PLC Stages • Sales peak

• Low cost per customer
• Product development
• High profits
• Introduction
• Middle majority are
• Growth targeted
• Maturity • Competition begins to
• Decline decline
 Marketing Strategies: Maturity Stage

• Product – Diversify brand and models

• Price – Set to match or beat competition
• Distribution – Build more intensive distribution
• Advertising – Stress brand differences and benefits
• Sales Promotion – Increase to encourage brand
switching
 Stages in the Maturity Stage

Decaying
Growth Stable
maturity
Marketing Product Modifications

• Quality
improvements
• Feature
improvements
• Style improvements
Marketing Program Modifications

Prices

Distribution

Advertising

Sales promotion

Services
 Ways to Increase Sales Volume

• Convert nonusers
• Enter new market segments
• Attract competitors’ customers
• Have consumers use the product on more
occasions
• Have consumers use more of the product
on each occasion
• Have consumers use the product in new
ways
 Product Life-Cycle Strategies

PLC Stages • Declining sales

• Low cost per customer
• Product development
• Declining profits
• Introduction
• Laggards are targeted
• Growth
• Declining competition
• Maturity
• Decline
A Product in Decline
 Marketing Strategies: Decline Stage

• Product – Phase out weak items

• Price – Cut price
• Distribution – Use selective distribution: phase
out unprofitable outlets
• Advertising – Reduce to level needed to retain
hard-core loyalists
• Sales Promotion – Reduce to minimal level
Market Evolution Stages

Emergence Growth

Maturity Decline
Emerging Markets

Latent

Single-niche

Multiple-niche

Mass-market
Maturity Strategies
 Marketing Debate

 Do brands have finite lives?

Take a position:
1. Brands cannot be expected to last
forever.
or
2. There is no reason for a brand to
ever become obsolete.
 Marketing Discussion

 What strategies do firms use to

try to position themselves on the
basis of pairs of attributes and
benefits?
 The Hindu Tamil edition launch
The Hindu in Tamil now
Tamil Nadu-based media
publication Kasturi & Sons has
launched its first regional
newspaper yesterday
(September 16) after 135 years,
with an aim to make its presence
felt in the Rs 1,500 crore Tamil
newspaper market (including ad
spends and circulations).
http://www.afaqs.com/news/st
ory/38710_The-Hindu-in-Tamil-
now