BRAND

POSITIONING

Bài giảng thuộc khóa học “Định vị Thương hiệu” trên Brands Vietnam. Đăng ký học tại brvn.net/dinhvi-thuonghieu
Describe following persons
1. PORTRAIT
Secret agent
Having license to kill

Rich

Always use premium products
(e.g. Omega, Heineken, Mercedes)


2. PERSONALITIES

Cold-hearted

Cool

Adventurous

Brave

Lady-killer






3. VALUES

Do good deed

Save the world



1. PORTRAIT

Office worker

Mid-aged

Buy & use cheap products


2. PERSONALITIES

Fun

Laid-back

Silly

Kind-hearted







3. VALUES

Bring humor through crazily funny action

 If these brands were “human”,
how would you describe them?

• Young male, 18-25 • Middle-aged male
• Brave • Rich & Successful
• Action • Elegant
• Defeat bad guys, save • Seducing beautiful girls
beautiful girls by his cold but romantic
style
• Young male, Brave
• Young male • Want to prove himself
• Always football • Easily influenced by
• Run, kick, defense peers
• Active • Thirst for conquering girls
• Confident to shine as its success shows a
sign of being a man
 • Young female, 16-25
• Young housewife • Middle-aged housewife • Young female, 16-25 • Optimistic
• Soft & tender • Very experienced in • Optimistic • Soft & tender
• Deeply understand her chores & understand her • Love fashion • Never believe in hype
family’s needs family’s needs • Seek a romantic love but real product quality
• Understand that • Seek for perfection, thus • Enjoy every moment of after experience
mealtimes can connect never stops looking for life • The real beauty comes
everyone better solutions from imperfection
• Young • Young • Middle-aged above • Young
• Upper class • Confined to cultural & • Low & mid class • Very “Hue”
• Sociable social principles • Traditional • Treasure tried & true
• Like networking & • Aspire to live a life he • Treasure the past beauty friendship
having fun wants
 WHEN REMINDING A BRAND,
CONSUMERS THINK ABOUT CERTAIN
ATTRIBUTES / FEATURES / “HUMAN
CHARACTERS” OF IT

BRAND POSITIONING
(Owning a distinct position with distinct images in the mind of consumers)
• “To position a product/service in the minds of
consumers relative to competitors” – Al Ries & Jack
Trout (Authors of “Positioning: the battle for the mind”)

• “It is not what we say about us, it is what they say

about us” – David Taylor (Author of “The brand gym”)

• “Products are created in factory, brand are created in

the mind” – Walter Lander
In multi-national companies, a persistent positioning
strategy ensures:
• What and how to do next for the brand
• Consistency of brand executions
• Visionary understanding of how the brand is built in
3-5 years
WHY’S BRAND POSITIONING IMPORTANT?

EXPLOSIONS OF

• COMMERCIALS (ATL & BTL)

• NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES
NORMALLY CONSUMERS PERCEIVE
A BRAND THROUGH...…

1. Brand identity (logo, slogan)

2. Product purchase & usage (benefits, claims, ingredients)

3. Packaging (design, material)

4. Pricing tier

5. Distribution channel

6. Communication activities

7. Others (e.g. CSR, customer service)

1. Brand identity (e.g. logo, slogan)

Premium Strong Kiddy

Different Brave Magical
Innovative Adventurous Fairy tale linked
 2. Product (e.g. benefits, claims, ingredients)

Premium brand (as having The brand suits babies (as having Product attributes are
expensive ingredient) the authority endorsement) defined by usage
 3. Packaging (design, material)

The brand promotes The brand promotes

Premium brand
“Nature” attribute “Science” or “Expert”
attribute
 4. Pricing tier

Upper mainstream
Value brand Mainstream brand brand Premium brand
 5. Distribution channel

The brand specializes in The brand’s expertise in Premium brands

a certain treatment hair treatment
 6. Communication activities

Feel the brand characters: Feel the brand characters:

Young, happy, excited Expertise in cleaning, pro, scientific
 7. Others

Good customer service A brand promotes attribute

creates a professional image “Responsible for society”
A BRAND IS PERCEIVED THROUGH
BRAND EXECUTION

IN ORDER TO ENSURE CONSISTENCY

OF BRAND EXECUTION, THERE MUST
BE GUIDELINING PRINCIPLES
 BRAND POSITIONING MODEL

BRAND DNA

Key building principles

• Strategic intent: not a statement of how

consumers see us now, but of what we
intend to build the brand towards in 3-5 [VẼ LẠI THEO HÌNH DNA]
years time.
• Language: contain simple and inspiring
language, using the voice of the brand

The lecturing sessions focus on

• Definition, features, importance of each

elements (WHAT & WHY)
• Building each elements properly (HOW)
MARKET DEFINITION
• Define market potentials via indexes such as
value, volume, growth/decline trend,
penetration, consumption per capita: Business
owners Commercial Directors / Business Unit
Directors make decisions whether to jump in or
how much money should be invested

• Define direct competitors & substitutions: a base

for current & future source-of-growth (SOW).
Each SOW requests different marketing strategies
DIRECT COMPETITORS SUBSTITUTIONS
DIRECT COMPETITORS
SUBSTITUTIONS
 All branded non-alcoholic beverages

All daily hair care products from wash

and care to styling!

All brands or products providing skin

moisturizing solutions
TARGET CONSUMER
 1. SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC

• Gender (male, female)

• Age (baby, teen, mid-aged, old)
• Income
• Marital status (single, married, divorced)
• Education level (university, high school)
• Employment status (housewife, office worker,
unemployed)
• Geography (South, Central, North)
 2. PERSONALITY

• Optimistic, caring, soft, tender, nice, kind,

protective, energetic

3. WORLDVIEW & LIFESTYLE

• “Living is waiting for no one, so I always live at
the fullest everyday”
• “Music can kick away all disturbance, so I
often listen to music to get away temporarily”
• “Beer is a joy of friendship, so I often enjoy
tasty chilled beers with my true friends”
 COMMUNICATION TARGET
vs CONSUMER TARGET

1. IF DIFFERENT
(e.g. baby-related category: powder milk,
diaper, toy, milk bottle,)
Communication must hit Mom’s insight

2. IF NOT DIFFERENT
(e.g. beer, beverage, dishwashing liquid)
In communication, choose an influencing age
group that can inspire the rest
GILLETTE CASE
14-25 year-old men, fairly cool but still limited in
experience of women. Chasing girls, getting
chased by girls, getting girls is a way of defining
themselves as individuals and men. Peer group
approval is critical.

22-30 women, low-mid household income. She’s

busy doing all chores. Though under pressure,
she’s still optimistic that she can handle all as it’ll
be good for her family. She’s good at choosing
value-for-money products

Millennials aged 14-35 who enjoy watching or

participating in action sports. They are always
looking for a new thrill
INSIGHT
 DEFINITION

• “Deep discovery” about our consumers that can be

leveraged to change attitude or behavior

• It’s told in such a captivating way that makes

consumers stop & say “hmm, I thought I was the only
who felt like that”

• Unknown or overlooked knowledge about consumer

behaviors & attitudes
 CLASSIFICATION

1. Insight for Positioning

• Setting a foundation to build strong connection
between the brand & its target consumer
• Role of the brand must address the consumer insight
• Should be exploited from an interesting & surprising
angle
EXAMPLE – AXE & SURF
 CLASSIFICATION

2. Other Insights
Explaining phenomena surrounding consumer
attitudes & behaviors
 EXAMPLE
FACT
FACT Young clubbers mix energy drink into liquor

WHY?
Diluting liquor can take longer time to get drunk

WHY?
They want to play all night long

They want to ignite themselves in the maximum

WHY? experience

“Youth is the best time in life but very short, thus

INSIGHT
should not be wasted. When being still young, I have
to maximize all experience length as well as enjoy at
the fullest.”
 CHECKING AN INSIGHT

Ask yourself “Is it deep enough?”, “Is it

from the bottom of the heart”?

Can it inspire an innovation?

Can it inspire a new segmentation?
Can it open up a new trend?

Can it be leveraged to drive attitude or

behavior change?

Can it make people say “Ahhhaaa!!!”

or “Correct! It’s me!”?
 3 STEPS TO A GOOD INSIGHT

1. Direction: Firstly take note of the phenomenon that you

want to find the insight, then choose a suitable research
method (e.g. focus group discussion, in-depth Interview,
observation, home visit)

2. Discover: Keep asking “Why” until finding a happy

insight judged by your own intuitions

3. Double-check: Via criteria “Checking an insight”

+ Is it deep enough?
+ Can it inspire an innovation?
+ Can it be leveraged to change attitude/behavior?
+ Can make people say “ahhhhaaaa”?
Q: Why you switch to liquid hand soap?

A: It’s more convenient

Q: Why’s it more convenient?

A: It’s faster in hand cleansing

Q: What’s clue showing that?

A: It’s faster in creating foam, resulting in faster cleansing

Q: Why you need faster cleansing?

A: As a housewife, I have to do many chores. In order to finish

them all, I have to make it fast
 Men want to be seen to make progress in life

Beauty is a female instinct that shouldn’t be denied

My dreams are in defiance of my destiny

BENEFITS
 DEFINITION

1. Functional benefits: physically impact on

consumers (e.g. coffee helps awake, tea helps
quenching)

2. Emotional benefits: emotionally impact over

consumers (e.g. this soft drink brand makes me feel
outburst, this shampoo brand makes me more
confident)

3. Sensorial benefits: a part of functional benefits

(e.g. tasty, fragrant)
 + Functional: whitening & freshening breath
+ Emotional: give you confidence to be close-up
with your partner

+ Functional: thirst quenching, provide vitamins & ions

+ Emotional: revive your spirit to keep going on

+ Functional: provide complete nutrition for full development of the

child in each stage
+ Emotional: reassure moms of nutritional choices
 CRAFTING GOOD BENEFTIS

1. Point of parity (POP):

• Must-have product attributes of the category
• For Flanker brand in Brand Portfolio Strategy:
neutralize competitor’s unique difference

2. Point of difference (POD):

• Offer greater product benefits, relative to
competitors’ ones

In some industries (e.g. banking, airlines,

telecommunications, food & beverage) POP is set
priority due low difference in product/service
benefits
VALUES, BELIEFS &
PERSONALITIES
 DEFINITION

1. Values:
• Good qualities & virtues the brand stand for
• Often linked with solutions the brand offer to
target consumers

2. Beliefs:
• Expressing views of the brand about the world
• Often similar to world view of target consumers

3. Personalities
• Human personalities of the brand, shown in
communication tone & mood
• Often similar to personalities of target consumers
 CRAFTING HUMAN SIDE OF
THE BRAND

1. Crafting values & Beliefs:

• On the basis of Insight & solutions from the brand

2. Crafting Personalities:
• On the basis of Personalities, World view &
Lifestyle of target consumer
REASON-TO-BELIEVE
(RTB)
 DEFINITION

• Justifying the question:“Why should our target

consumer believe in our brand?

• RTB can derive from either functional or

emotional benefits of the product, or even from
various emotional elements associated with the
brand (e.g. endorsement from an expert, brand
heritage, product format, country of origin)

• Often shown up in communication ads /

product concept testing board
 CRAFTING A STRONG RTB

1. Brand history
• Beer Kronenbourg – since 1664
• LeVi’s – since 1879
• Givral – since 1950
• Skinfood – since 1957

2. Product ingredients
• DHA associates with brain development
• Collagen associates with skin nurture
• Salmon associates with premium
3. Product format
• Shower gels that contain tiny beads are perceived to
enhance skin massage
• Detergent powders that contain tiny beads are
perceived to enhance detergency
• Dark ale is perceived to be made from premium malt
• Highly dense dishwashing liquid is perceived to be
concentrated, associating with high detergency &
saving

4. Packaging
• Tiger Crystal packaging associates with low alcoholic
level
• VIM specially designed bottle neck associates with
the toilet cleaning expertise product
5. Endorsement
• Shampoo researched & developed by Elida Paris Hair
Research Institute
• Tooth paste recommended by Dentist Associates
• Tooth brush recommend by dentists
• Anti-acne facial wash clinically tested & proven
• Anti-dandruff shampoo being used by Ronaldo

6. Comparison
• Detergent liquid delivers 3x faster cleaning
• Shower gel delivers better moisturizing than bar soap
• Beverage delivers better Vitamins & minerals
absorption
• Skin care delivers more whitening after 7 days

7. Country of origin
• Tooth paste made in Thailand
• Electronics made in Japan
• Cosmetics made in Korea
DISCRIMINATOR /
DIFFERENTIATOR
 DEFINITION

The most important factor makes target consumer

choose the brand, mostly coming from:

• POD (your brand delivers an important product

benefit that competitor brands do not)

• Or a strong RTB (your brand has a stronger RTB than

your competitor brands do)
 CRAFTING A STRONG DISCRIMINATOR

In the category where POD & RTB are not well defined

1. Define the strongest benefit / product attribute of the brand

(based on consumer perception)
+ Cif focuses on its cleaning power for kitchen
+ OMO focuses on its cleaning power for clothes

2. Explain how this product benefit address consumer insight

+ Cif cleans your kitchen surfaces, bringing your home a
prefect beauty
+ OMO cleans your kids’ clothes, removing your worries about
laundry

3. Make the statement differentiated from competitors,

reflecting emotional benefits
+ Only Cif loves your home like you do, only Cif can deliver
absolute cleanliness to your home, bringing your home a
perfect beauty
+ Only OMO encourages parents to let their children get dirty &
experience life because it removes worries about laundry
5. Endorsement
• Shampoo researched & developed by Elida Paris Hair
Research Institute
• Tooth paste recommended by Dentist Associates
• Tooth brush recommend by dentists
• Anti-acne facial wash clinically tested & proven
• Anti-dandruff shampoo being used by Ronaldo

6. Comparison
• Detergent liquid delivers 3x faster cleaning
• Shower gel delivers better moisturizing than bar soap
• Beverage delivers better Vitamins & minerals
absorption
• Skin care delivers more whitening after 7 days

7. Country of origin
• Tooth paste made in Thailand
• Electronics made in Japan
• Cosmetics made in Korea
Only Breyers gives me both the taste I crave and the
naturalness I prefer.

Only Hellmann’s gives me the most pleasure moment I

love

Only Lux beautifies in a playful way, unleashing women to

express their feminine spirit without constraints.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES
 DEFINITION

A product development guideline involves what to do /

what not to do in developing product formulation,
comprising of: choosing product ingredients, choosing
good supplier, choosing suitable packaging, ensuring
high-standard manufacturing process

The need:

1. From business view: to ensure product quality

consistency in diversified brand & product portfolio

2. From consumer view: to reassure consumers over

product quality in manufacturing process (high-
quality ingredients, certified production, reliable
suppliers)
CRAFTING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES

Lush cosmetics – “We believe in making effective products from

fresh organic fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe
synthetics. We believe in buying ingredients only from companies
that do not commission tests on animals and in testing our products
on humans. We make them fresh by hand using little or no
preservative or packaging, using only vegetarian ingredients and
tell you when they were made. We believe that experience from
nature brings you the best beauty out of it”
PART 1 – focus on strong points of products, based PART 2 – focus on both functional & emotional
on consumer’s concerns (e.g. ingredients, product benefits, saying these differently from
manufacturing process, supplier choice) competitors

“We believe in making effective products

from fresh organic fruit and vegetables,
the finest essential oils and safe synthetics.
We believe in buying ingredients only from
companies that do not commission tests
“We believe that experience from nature
on animals and in testing our products on
brings you the best beauty out of it”
humans. We make them fresh by hand
using little or no preservative or packaging,
using only vegetarian ingredients and tell
you when they were made.”
We promise that anything innocent will always taste
good and do you good. We promise that we’ll never
use concentrates, preservatives, stabilizers or any
weird stuff in our drinks. And if we do, you can tell our
mums. We only ever make 100% natural products
that are 100% good for people. We procure our
ingredients ethically and use ecologically sound
packaging materials.

Everything about Comfort from our rich, soft, creamy

liquids and pleasurable reassuring fragrances to each
element (ingredients, packs, labels) ladder up to comfort
in-wear for the whole family.We adopt a similar caring
and responsible approach towards our environment,
seeking to improve every day
BRAND ESSENCE
 DEFINITION

• A slogan to express the brand’s missions, the reason

why the brand exists

• Short, sharp, succinct but meaningful to clarify the

most important brand role

• To inspire marketers in developing brand

communication ideas, new product ideas, etc.

• In some brands, brand essence is expressed in the

form of slogan
 CRAFTING A BRAND ESSENCE

Distilling your answers to following questions in a sharp,

succinct & meaningful statement:

• Why does our brand exist for?

• What do we promise to do for our target consumers in
long-term?
• What would our target consumers miss if you brand
disappeared?

Hint: think further about the brand role, leaving behind

all commercials (sales, shares, profits)
 EXAMPLE

• Barrack Obama – Yes, we can!

• Hellmann’s – Eat for real!
• Google – Never do evil!
• Virgin – Screw it, let’s do it!