Brand Mgmt Assignment

8/8/2019 Brand Mgmt Assignment

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BRAND POSITIONING GUIDELINES

Any marketing strategy is built on “STP” – Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. A

company discovers different needs in the marketplace, targets those needs that it can satisfy in a

superior way and then positions its offering so that the target market recognizes the company’sdistinctive offering and image. If a company does a poor job of positioning, the obvious resultwill be a generalized confusion. On the other hand, if a company does an excellent job of

positioning, then the rest of its marketing planning comes along smoothly.

The word “positioning” was popularized by two advertising executives, Al Ries and Jack Trout.Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive

place in the mind of the target market. A good brand positioning helps guide marketing strategy

by clarifying the brand’s essence. The result of positioning is the successful creation of a“customer-focused value proposition”, a convincing reason why the target market should

consider buying the product. The brand positioning guidelines include the following steps:

1. Defining and Communicating the Competitive Frame of Reference

2. Choosing Points of Parity and Points of Difference

3. Establishing Points of Parity and Points of Difference

4. Updating Positioning Over Time

Defining and Communicating the Competitive Frame of Reference:

A starting point in defining a competitive frame of reference for brand positioning is to

determine Category Membership. Membership indicates the products or set of products withwhich a brand competes. Communicating category membership informs the consumer about the

goals that they might achieve by using a product or service. Determining the proper competitiveframe of reference requires understanding the consideration sets consumer use in making brandchoices. Once the competitive frame of reference for positioning has been fixed, marketers can

define the points of parity and points of difference.

Choosing Points of Parity and Points of Difference:

Points of Parity: Points-of-parity (POP) are driven by the needs of category membership tocreate category of POPs and the necessity of negating competitors’ Points of Difference (POD)

to create competitive POPs. In choosing points-of-difference, two important considerations are

that consumers find the POD desirable and that the firm has the capabilities to deliver on the

POD.

Category points-of-parity are associations consumers view as essential to be a legitimate and

credible offering within a certain product or service category. They represent necessary but notsufficient conditions for brand choice. Category points-of-parity may change over time due to

technological advances, legal developments or consumer trends.



Competitive points-of-parity are associations designed to negate competitors’ points-of-

difference. If a brand can achieve the same performance in those areas where the competitors are

trying to find an advantage and obtain advantages in other areas, the brand should be in a strongcompetitive position.

Points of Difference: Points-of-difference are attributes or benefits consumers strongly associatewith a brand, positively evaluate, and believe that they could not find to the same extent with a

competitive brand. Creating strong, favorable, and unique associations as points-of-difference is

essential in terms of competitive brand positioning.

The POPs / PODs are based on the following criteria:

1. Desirability: In terms of a) Relevance: Target consumers must find the POD personally relevant and important.

b) Distinctiveness: Target consumers must find the POD distinctive and superior

c) Believability: Target consumers must find the POD believable and credible. A brand must

offer a compelling reason for choosing it over the other options

2. Deliverability: In terms of

a) Feasibility: Can firms actually create the POD? The product and marketing must be designed

in a way to support the desired association.

b) Communicability: The key issue in communicability is the consumer’s perception of the

brand and the resulting brand associations.

c) Sustainability: Is the positioning preemptive, defensive, or difficult to attack? Can brandassociation be reinforced or strengthened over time? Sustainability depends on internal

commitment and use of resources as well as external market forces.

Establishing Points of Parity and Points of Difference:

In order to achieve points-of-parity on a particular attribute, a sufficient number of consumers

must believe that the brand is good enough on that aspect. If consumers believe that, they may be

willing to base their evaluations on other factors potentially more favorable to the brand. On theother hand, with points-of difference the brand must achieve clear superiority. Often, the key to

positioning is achieving all the necessary points-of-parity. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the company to compete on equal terms. After acquiring the required minimum level in order to be recognized as a competitor on that market, the company can focus on achieving as many

points-of-difference as possible.

Difficulty is in the fact that many of the attributes that make up the POP or POD are negatively

correlated. For eg. - Low cost vs. High quality, Nutritious vs. Taste etc. This problem is resolved by using the following three approaches:



1. Separate the attributes: Launch two marketing campaigns, each one devoted to a different

brand attribute or benefit.

2. Leverage Equity of another Entity: Link the brand with a well-liked celebrity, cause or

event.

3. Redefine the Relationship: Use attitude change strategies to convert negative perspectives

about the brand to positive ones.

Updating Positioning Over Time: Updating positioning overtime raises the following

two issues

1. Laddering: This strategy is to deepen the meaning of the brand to tap into core brand values

or other more abstract considerations. Laddering involves movement from low level needs to

high level needs and a progression from attributes to benefits to value creation. (Maslow’s

Hierarchy)

2. Reacting: This could imply no reaction to moderate or significant reactions depending on

level of competitive threat.

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Brand Mgmt Assignment