11

Crafting the Brand Positioning

Marketing Management A South Asian Perspective

Chapter Questions
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?

Positioning of Caf Coffee Day

What is Positioning?
Positioning is the act of designing the companys offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market.

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

Dominos
A good hot pizza, delivered to your door within 30 minutes of ordering, at a moderate price

Defining Associations
Points-of-difference (PODs) Points-of-parity (POPs)

Associations that are Attributes or benefits not necessarily consumers strongly unique to the brand associate with a brand, but may be shared positively evaluate, and with other brands believe they could not find to the same extent with a E.g. Savlon entering competitive brand antiseptic market dominated by dettol E.g. Apple(design),Nike ( performance ) ,Lexus ( Quality )

PODs and POPs

Visa versus American Express: Am express built its credit card brand with appeals based on prestige & now defends itself against visa & other competitors by increasing the number of merchants that accept the card.

Establishing Category Membership

This four-in-one entertainment solution from Konica failed to establish category membership

Marketers must inform consumers of a brands category membership . For e.g. Lakme is leading brand of cosmetics , Raymonds is leading brand of mens formal wear

Conveying Category Membership (How) ?

Announcing category benefits
E.g. Antacids announcing efficacy

Comparing to exemplars
E.g. Tommy Hilfiger associating with Calvin Klein

Relying on the product descriptor

E.g. Fords vehicle called Free style
was designated as Sports Wagon & also to differentiate from its other models

Consumer Desirability Criteria for PODs

Relevance
E.g. Westin Stanford hotel Singapore is the tallest hotel in the world

Distinctiveness
E.g. Splendour overtook Equal as it differentiate a pdct derived from sugar without the drawbacks

Believability
E.g. Mountain Dew claims it is more energizing & supports claim by higher level of caffeine

Deliverability Criteria for PODs

Feasibility Communicability
E.g. Nivea wrinkle control cream

Sustainability
E.g. fashion brands like Prada, Hermes etc

Examples of Negatively Correlated Attributes and Benefits Low-price vs. High quality Taste vs. Low calories Nutritious vs. Good tasting Efficacious vs. Mild Powerful vs. Safe Strong vs. Refined Ubiquitous vs. Exclusive Varied vs. Simple

Differentiation Strategies

Product

Personnel
E.g. Singapore Airlines

Channel

Image

E.g.Godrej Natures Basket E.g. Marlboro,Van Heusen

Product Differentiation
Product form Features Performance Conformance Durability Reliability Reparability Style Design Ordering ease Delivery Installation Customer training Customer consulting Maintenance

Personnel Differentiation: Singapore Airlines

Natures Basket

Image Differentiation

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

Figure 11.1 Sales and Product Life Cycle

Figure 11.2 Common Product Life-Cycle Patterns

E.g. Small kitchen appliances like handheld mixers & bread makers

E.g. Pharmaceutical products first cycle , then another promotion push , next cycle

E.g. Sales of nylon showed scalloped because of uses like parachutes, hosiery, shirts, tires, carpeting etc

Figure 11.3 Style, Fashion, and Fad Life Cycles

Fashion cycle hard to Appears in clothing, predict .E.g. Automobiles art , homes etc become smaller it becomes less comfortable

Fads come quickly & decline very fast

The Pioneer Advantage

Wikipedia, the webs first & most popular reader created encyclopedia, may soon face competition from second-in-the market Citizendium , a similar site created by Wikipedia's founder

Figure 11.4 Long-Range Product Market Expansion Strategy

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 pricesensitive buyers

Stages in the Maturity Stage

Growth Stable

Decaying 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

A Product in Decline

Market Evolution Stages

Emergence

Growth

Maturity

Decline

Emerging Markets
Latent
Single-niche Multiple-niche Mass-market

Figure 11.5 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?