Developing and Establishing an Effective Brand Positioning

- Arushi Agrawal IIT Kanpur

Positioning is the act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market.

POSITIONING

Strike the right balance between what the brand is and what it could be

How to determine positioning?

Determining a frame of reference by identifying target market and relevant competition.1

Identifying and Analyzing Competitors

INDUSTRY COMPETITION: Products close substitute to each other

MARKET COMPETITION: Companies satisfying same customer needs

Identifying optimal points of parity and points of difference

2.

POINTS OF DIFFERENCE

Attributes or benefits that consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively evaluate and believe that they could not find the same extent with a competitive brand.

POINTS OF PARITY

Attributes or benefits that may not be unique to the brand but may in fact be share with other brands

Savlon highlighted its ‘no sting’ property to counter the category perception and strong brand association created by Dettol.

COSTUCTING A BRAND POSITIONING BULL’S EYE

3.CREATE A

BRAND

DESIGNING A BRAND MANTRA

• COMMUNICATE : Define the category

• SIMPLIFY : Should be memorable

• INSPIRE : Meaningful and relevant

Disney adopted an internal brand mantra of “FUN FAMILY ENTERTINMENT” to serve as a screen for proposed ventures

Establishing Brand Positioning

After determining the brand positioning strategy, marketers should communicate it to everyone so it guides their words and actions

Alternative Approach to Positioning

1.Brand Narratives and Storytelling2.Brand Journalism3.Cultural Branding

RECAP

• Positioning• Methods to determine positioning• Establishing brand positioning• Alternative approach to positioning

These slides were created by

Arushi Agrawal, IIT Kanpur, during a Marketing internship by Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow

(See www.IIMInternship.com )