Brand Positioning

Sujit R Jagadale
• Imagine you want to buy a water when you
are travelling with your family- which brand
will you prefer?
• Cleanest, freshest, purest, healthiest, most
natural, most environmentally sensitive, most
socially conscious, most fashionable
 “Positioning is not A brand’s position “A position is a
what you do to a represents its cold-hearted, no-
Brand product, it is what
you do to the mind
location vis-à-vis
its competitors in
nonsense statement
of how you are
Positioning of a prospect” the mental maps perceived in the
(Ries & trout). that consumers minds of your
construct to prospects. A
represent the range positioning
of possible statement, by
solutions to their contrast, expresses
problems. how you wish to be
perceived”
(Beckwith).
 What Determines Positioning?

• Positioning is determined by the marketing mix

• Product offered
• Pricing charged
• Distribution implemented, and
• Message communicated

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 • Positioning statement is a strategic document
that communicates the unique value the brand
Crafting a would offer to a target market segment.
Positioning
• It is an answer to a question “why should I
Statement buy?”
 For whom, for when, for where?

Economic value

Essential What value?

Functional value
Experiential value
Social value

components of
Positioning
Statements Why and how?

Hyundai- “a brand-new luxury

car as spacious as the Mercedes
Relative to whom? S-class yet priced like a C-
class.”
The Uncola- 7’up
• For (target market), Brand X is the only brand among all
(competitive set) that (unique value claim) because (reasons to
believe).

A timeless expression of elegance and refinement, the Lady-

Datejust continues to go beyond its classic glamour with
exceptional engineering and the latest Rolex technology. This is a
story of perpetual excellence, the story of Rolex.
 Unique Selling Proposition

A type of value claim that

offers a prospective customer a
specific, unique, and superior
claim about a product or
service that provides a reason
to purchase it.

Successful product must be

better than its competitors.

Domino’s Pizza- “You get fresh,

hot pizza delivered to your door
in 30 minutes or less or it’s free”.
USP must hinge on a specific
benefit that competitors could
not copy and that was resonant
and relevant enough to
persuade consumers to buy.
Tide- “If it’s gotta to be clean, its
gotta be tide.”
 Creating Resonance

• Features/attribute-based claims (What is in

it?)
• Benefit-based claims (What’s in it for me?)
• Value-based claims (Why is it important
for me?)
• Zeitgeist
• Rejuvenation of Enfield bikes in
India
• Harley Davidson- “What we sell is
the ability for a 43-year-old
accountant to dress in a black
leather, ride through small towns,
and have people be afraid of it.”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=PsWOii1pODo
 Realistic

Addiction

Harpic

Celebrity endorsement

Social/emotional message
 Unique attributes
Three types of Shared attributes
attributes- Irrelevant
attributes

Being Distinctive Vertical positioning- 4G is faster

Horizontal positioning- we use

organic ingredients
 • A visual image of consumers mental
landscapes.

• Consumers are asked to compare and

contrast sets of brands across a set of
Perceptual Mapping attributes; then their answers are used to
map the spatial differences among
brands.

• Exercise- XSRM MBA programme.

Positioning
Questions

• Which brands are most interchangeable?

• Which brand competes more with Prius?
• Which brand(s) is attractive to segment 1?
• What market opportunity exists?
• Is this opportunity a reasonable offering?
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 • Two ways
• Attribute defense
Defensible • Defending positioning

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industr
y/services/advertising/amul-britannia-indulge-
in-bitter-battle-over-butter/articleshow/707091
50.cms
Durable
Positioning statement should be A band will only survive in the
durable, consistent, should long term if it can demonstrate
stand the test of time its relevance about the latest
changing needs of a market,
which is in a state of constant
evolution.
 Company Analysis

Being feasible Being favorable Being faithful

 PepsiCo

Identity brands

Gender bending

Brand Repositioning
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/being-safe-for-consumption-to-
a-healthy-snack-the-remaking-of-brand-maggi-119082601402_1.html
 Some Terms

1 2 3
Reverse positioning Breakaway Stealth positioning
positioning
Thank You!!!
 The Positioning Matrix

• Companies usually can’t be great at everything due

to limited resources
• Can a firm realistically hold the lowest price,
highest quality position?

• Marketers need to determine the “best” position for

the firm

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 All 4 Ps Matrix

• All 4P combinations are

possible
• However, some are
more optimal than
others

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Suboptimal
Matches

30
Suboptimal
Matches

31
Suboptimal
Matches

32
Suboptimal
Matches

33
Suboptimal
Matches

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Quality and Price
Align

• Optimal matches:
• High-End & Value
• Suboptimal matches:
• Overpriced: customers stop buying; firms drop price, increase quality or leave
market
• Good value: firms increase price or lower quality
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 Promotion &
Distribution Align

• Optimal matches
• Mass and Niche
• Suboptimal matches
• Hard to get: Why promote heavily if consumers can’t find the product?
• Under-advertised: If a brand has an exclusive image, why distribute it
everywhere? 36
Optimal Matches
16 combinations can be reduced
to two

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Examples of Brands in 4
Ps Matrix

• In the real world, many

brands occupy the natural
matches; however, some
brands appear in the
suboptimal combinations
• Have good reasons
for moving from
natural matches

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