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Positioning your product and your brand
2. Housekeeping
• Slides will be available on our SlideShare page; the link will be
emailed to you
• Recording of the webinar will be available to download; the link
will be emailed to you
• Take the time to complete a post-webinar survey that will pop up
at the end
•
• You can type your questions throughout the session
• Time will be allocated in the end for the speaker to address your
questions
3. Your Presenter
Leland (Lee) Shaeffer
Managing Director – PLM Associates
Lee is on the advisory board of the Association of International Product Marketing and
Management (AIPMM) and is a Vice Chairman Emeritus of the Product Development and
Management Association (PDMA). He was the recipient of the AIPMM “Trainer of the
Year” award.
His expertise includes strategic business and product planning, product design, product
management and marketing. He has held senior positions in marketing, business development,
product management and engineering at companies including Apple Computer, Unisys and
Imagery/Eastman Kodak. He was also a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he
specialised in product and market strategy.
4. Webinar Objectives
• Review the important aspects of
positioning
• Discuss several common positioning tools
• Equip you to:
– Determine positioning for a new product
and/or brand
– Evaluate the positioning for an existing
offering and identify potential improvements
5. Agenda
• Four Key Positioning Elements
• Determining Your Positioning
• The Perceptual Map as a Tool
• Thirteen Examples of Ways You Can
Position Your Product/Brand
6. What is Positioning?
• Positioning: Arranging for an product or brand to
occupy a clear, desirable and distinctive place - relative
to competition - in the minds of target consumers
– Clear: easy for the customer to understand and remember
– Relevant: desirable and compelling for the customer
– Distinctive: different from the competition in way that is
meaningful to the customer
• (Ultimately the customer,
not the company,
determines the actual
position)
A Perceptual Map
Convenient
Inconvenient
Innovative
Conservative
Southeastern
1st Bank
BNY
Pierce Bank
First
Brighton
Tattinger
Royal Bank
7. 1. Target Customer: the market segment(s)
for which the positioning applies
• Different segments may require different
positioning
Four Key Positioning Elements
PLMAssociates
8. Frame of Reference: Something that is familiar to the
customers that they can use as the basis for comparison
(i.e., evaluating the relative merits of the product/brand
being positioned).
• May be expressed as:
– A product category
(e.g., smart phones)
– The core benefit provided
(e.g., mobile communications
and information)
– The leading/exemplar product
or brand in the category
(e.g., Apple iPhone 6)
Key Positioning Element #2
PLMAssociates
Sports Car
9. Points-of-Difference: How is your
product/brand better than the alternatives in the
frame of reference? Why should the customer
buy your offering versus the others?
• Usually is an expression of the
“Unique Selling Proposition” or
“Compelling Value Proposition”
Key Positioning Element #3
10. Reason to Believe: why should customers
believe the claims made in the positioning
statement?
May be expressed as:
• A credible explanation of how the claim is achieved
• Third party awards that reinforce the claim
• Customer testimonials and reviews
Key Positioning Element #4
Airline of the Year:
Emirates
11. Example
For (price conscious
replenishment shoppers),
ALDI food stores
offer everyday essentials at the
lowest prices possible
which is made feasible by:
• Concentrating purchasing power by
carrying only the most frequently
purchased grocery and household items
• Offering ALDI select (store) brands
• Eliminating every feature that increases
cost (and prices) so you pay only for
food — not frills.
Targeted customers
Frame of reference
(category)
Point-of-difference
Reasons to believe
Based on “Corporate Information” description at //aldi.us
PLMAssociates
11
12. Determining Your Positioning
Specify the target
market/segment
Identify the “Key Value Proposition”,
based on
• Relevance
• Distinctiveness
• Believability
Develop/communicate
the desired positioning
Determine the position in target
customers’ minds
Make adjustments as appropriate
1.
2.
3.
4.
2.
1.
1.
2.
13. The Perceptual Map as a Tool
• Displays the current position and, when done
periodically, shows changes due to competitive
moves or shifts in the market
• Identifies unoccupied space that could become the
distinct place for the product or brand to occupy
A
LuxuryValue
Conservative
Trendy
B
(Actual and
Desired)
(Actual)
B
(Desired)
B
(Potential)
14. Several Maps May Be Required
• Since customers within a given market
segment typically use multiple decision
criteria, several maps are usually required to
fully visualize the competitive landscape
“D” (2/5)
“C” (2/5)
(2) Weak Position
“F” (5/5)
“E” (5/5)
(3) Strong Position
Attribute “B” (5/5)
Attribute “A”
(5/5)
(1) Weak Position
Numbers in parentheses indicate relative importance to customers (“5” = very important)
15. Innovation
HighLow
Ease Of Use
Low
High
S
Apple
Price
LowHigh
Ease Of Use
Low
High
S
Huawei
Ease of Use: High
Low
Power/Speed
Low
Low (Value)
Features
Basic
Quality: High
Low
HighLow
RichHigh
S
Innovation
S
S
Raw Data
Price: High
Example: Smart Phones
Source: ad-hoc focus groups: Dubai, 9-Nov-2014, n = 14; Shanghai, 29-Oct-2014, n = 10
Price
Lower
Higher
S
Features
RicherLess
Rich
Samsung
Price
Low
High
S
Features
RichBasic
Samsung
16. 1. Key Features/
Attributes
2. Benefits
3. Price:
a) Low (bargain)
b) Moderately
low (value)
c) Moderately
high (premium)
d) High
(status)
4. Relative to
the Leader
Thirteen Positioning Examples
RALSTON
Sources: Paul Temporal, “Advanced Brand
Management”; PLM Associates
5. Usage
6. Target User
7. Problem –
Solution
8. Emotion
9. Personality
10. Aspiration
11. Corporate Identity
12. Causes and Values
13. Leadership (#1 or #2
in category)
17. Summary
• “Positioning” is the act of establishing a desirable
“position” in the minds of the target customers. The
message must be clear, relevant and distinctive
• Key elements include “target customer”, “frame-of-
reference”, “points-of-difference” and “reasons to
believe”
• A perceptual map is a useful tool for determining the
actual position, detecting changes over time and
identifying potential unoccupied space for a new position
• There are a variety of attributes that can be used to
position a product/brand – choose one that provides the
greatest clarity, relevance and distinctiveness
